back at the ranch.... 
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Day 20, The Three Angels
Today we checked off the last place on our Barcelona Top 10 sights to see--the beautiful Parc de la Ciutadella.
There, we saw the most gorgeous fountain, and a statue of an enormous mammoth. We had refreshments--a diet coke for Sal and a cafe Americano for me--and enjoyed the lovely weather and the families and the happy dogs trotting alongside their people. (Barcelona is extremely dog-friendly.) We snapped pictures of strange trees yet to be identified and took in all the sights except the zoo.
We have been warned repeatedly about pickpockets since our arrival nearly three weeks ago now, and we try to be careful all the time. As we were leaving the park today, we were juggling our bags and cameras to shrug out of our jackets, and three young girls stopped to speak to us. The language barrier was nearly insurmountable, but the spokesperson of this unlikely trio forged bravely on, glancing back nervously, working hard to get the message across. It finally distilled down to this: the girls had seen some thieves targeting us, and they'd been brave enough, and persistent enough, to get the message across to us.
If these girls are representative of our young people, and I sincerely believe they are, we can trust their leadership and their character.
There are always thieves, that's true.
But there are also angels.
There, we saw the most gorgeous fountain, and a statue of an enormous mammoth. We had refreshments--a diet coke for Sal and a cafe Americano for me--and enjoyed the lovely weather and the families and the happy dogs trotting alongside their people. (Barcelona is extremely dog-friendly.) We snapped pictures of strange trees yet to be identified and took in all the sights except the zoo.
We have been warned repeatedly about pickpockets since our arrival nearly three weeks ago now, and we try to be careful all the time. As we were leaving the park today, we were juggling our bags and cameras to shrug out of our jackets, and three young girls stopped to speak to us. The language barrier was nearly insurmountable, but the spokesperson of this unlikely trio forged bravely on, glancing back nervously, working hard to get the message across. It finally distilled down to this: the girls had seen some thieves targeting us, and they'd been brave enough, and persistent enough, to get the message across to us.
If these girls are representative of our young people, and I sincerely believe they are, we can trust their leadership and their character.
There are always thieves, that's true.
But there are also angels.
Day 19, Barcelona (March 31)
Yesterday was "museum" day. Sally and I slept in--we've been doing a lot of that lately--and then took a cab to the first of two museums we planned to visit: Funcacio Joan Miro. (There should be accent marks in that name, but my keyboard doesn't have them.)
The day was beautiful, and there was a long line to wait in. We enjoyed watching people loll on the lawn, beyond the 'keep off the grass' sign, while we stood around. :) Once inside, we bought our tickets and headed straight for the first exhibit, bearing the title, "Murals".
OK. Call me unsophisticated, call me just plain ignorant, but I cannot for the life of me understand why some of this stuff is called "art". Two of the murals were enormous blackboards, for instance, and the artist had drawn little flying saucers and other spacey things on one, and the second was composed of a brainstorming cluster-type diagram of all the things he was afraid of. All this was done in white chalk, and resembles nothing so much as a first grade art project.
The second museum, Museu d'Art Contemporari, I believe it's called, boasted an all-black canvas with undertones of blue. People stood around, looking intellectual as they were contemplating the meaning. Hint: the Emperor is not wearing new clothes. He is, on the contrary, bare-a** naked.
I'm trying not to be such a rube, I really am. Picture me contemplating the meaning of black with blue undertones...
The day was beautiful, and there was a long line to wait in. We enjoyed watching people loll on the lawn, beyond the 'keep off the grass' sign, while we stood around. :) Once inside, we bought our tickets and headed straight for the first exhibit, bearing the title, "Murals".
OK. Call me unsophisticated, call me just plain ignorant, but I cannot for the life of me understand why some of this stuff is called "art". Two of the murals were enormous blackboards, for instance, and the artist had drawn little flying saucers and other spacey things on one, and the second was composed of a brainstorming cluster-type diagram of all the things he was afraid of. All this was done in white chalk, and resembles nothing so much as a first grade art project.
The second museum, Museu d'Art Contemporari, I believe it's called, boasted an all-black canvas with undertones of blue. People stood around, looking intellectual as they were contemplating the meaning. Hint: the Emperor is not wearing new clothes. He is, on the contrary, bare-a** naked.
I'm trying not to be such a rube, I really am. Picture me contemplating the meaning of black with blue undertones...
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