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Everyday Street Scenes in Barcelona

6/23/2017

Barcelona is a destination you don't want to miss. Play on some of the best beaches in the world, enjoy luscious parks and recreational areas, get worked into a lather at international sport tournaments, and discover secrets of world-reknowned historical buildings and museums.

Me? I went to Barcelona for the awesome architecture!

What amazed me were the gorgeous buildings that dot the city. Not just the most popular tourist attractions, but exquisite structures that get less attention. On their way to work, people walk past these places without taking notice. They're just part of the everyday landscape where they live.

I marveled at the buildings, grabbed my camera and captured their beauty. All of these buildings were photographed within a short walk from La Sagrada Familia, which is a Barcelona landmark and World Heritage site.

This opulent facade is an expression of the power and prestige of its owner. 

Cathedral influenced by the Gothic architectural style.

Gothic architecture, which evolved from Romanesque architecture, arrived in Spain in the 12th century as a result of influence from other European countries, especially France. Its characteristics include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault, and the flying buttress.

Architectural styles were combined with traditional cultural design elements to create unique buildings.

Detail of an exquisite upscale residence on Carrer de Valencia.

Decorative iron railings and ornate plasterwork adorn the building above. Many buildings in Barcelona have offices and shops on the ground level and apartments above.

Notice the organic Modernisme elements that were incorporated into this edifice.

In the late 19th century, Barcelona experienced a burst of architectural creativity known as the Catalan Modernisme movement. This style, which used organic forms for inspiration, was a significant departure from previous architectural styles.

La Sagrada Familia was designed by the brilliant architect Antoni Gaudi in the Catalan Modernisme style.

La Sagrada Familia, one of Barcelona's gems, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site because of its unique, innovative, and artistic architecture. Construction of the basilica began in 1882 and is expected to be completed in 2026. When construction is finished it will be the tallest religious building in Europe. When you visit Barcelona, make this Number 1 on your "Must See" list.

Beautiful ironwork detail and marble pilasters decorate this massive entrance on an otherwise ordinary Barcelona street.

The architecture was astounding, breathtaking, phenomenal! Wandering around the city, getting the flavor of life here, was equally fascinating. Europe is so European. That's why I love it so much! It's not the United States. The customs and pace of life are completely different. The people are wonderful, and contrary to what you might think, many of them don't speak English. So ramp up your Spanish language skills and come on over!

You'll find tiny fruit and vegetable stores on almost every city block. There's also at least one baked-goods shop on each block, with delicioso croissants!

Motorcycles and mopeds are everywhere. You have to keep a sharp eye out when crossing the street so you don't get run over.

Flowers burst out of the store and onto the sidewalk.

Many bars, shops, and restaurants (not in food-prep areas) are dog-friendly. Fido can even travel on the metro and local trains.

Every street corner has cozy outdoor seating for evening drinks and food. Perfect for romance! Spanish people are intensely social and take every opportunity to sit with their friends and family to dine al fresco.

Pouring at Teoric Taverna Gastronomica.

I'll let you in on a secret: Teoric Taverna Gastronomica is a wonderful little tapas bar just off Carrer de Valencia. When I visited, it had been open just six months and hadn't yet been discovered by the masses. The owners, Teo and Ori, offer highly original tapas using locally sourced ingredients. And the menu is amazing!

Olives with vermouth and orange. Duck, turnip and plum tacos. Life is an adventure--run with it!

Seasonal vegetables and cheese toast. Not like any cheese toast I ate as a kid!

Go to Barcelona. Go to Teoric. You'll need a reservation. Check out their website. It will make you hungry. http://teoric.cat/

Click here to read La Sagrada Familia

Personal Care Culture Shock

5/23/2017

“Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore,” said Dorothy to her terrier in The Wizard of Oz.

I'm in Spain. My Spanish language skills are woefully inadequate. As I fumble around creating a new life in L'Eliana, I have goofy experiences.

Personal Care Products
I hoped to find American cosmetics and body care products in Spain. No such luck. No Burt's Bees lotions or lip gloss. No Dr. Bronner's soap. No brand names that I recognized. So far I hadn't found any non-toxic products, but my search continues.

The stores didn't carry my favorite products; I had to start from scratch. Reading cosmetic package labels and translating them with my phone app was hilarious.

My translator app didn't know what Nispero meant. It's a "loquat," which is a fruit that originated in China.

I ran out of body wash and I'm rather particular about what I use. I don't care for heavily-scented products. I'm sure the sales clerk in the store thought I was completely crazy as I lifted the caps and sniffed every bottle of body wash on the shelves. There was too much scent and too many unpleasant chemicals in the formulas.

Switch to Plan B: buy a bar of soap. That seemed simple enough. I selected a bar that looked relatively non-toxic, with pictures of pretty white flowers and olives (for olive oil, I guess) on the wrapper. Of course, I sniffed the package. It had a pleasant citrus scent. Score!

I happily carried the bar of soap back to my AirBnB apartment, unwrapped it, and placed near the bathroom sink. But wait! What was that scent? Not citrus. It took me several minutes to figure it out. The soap smelled like CHERRY KOOLAID! Gaaaawww!

Body Butter
In this dry Spanish climate, I needed heavy-duty body lotion. The local Mercado (a market much like larger grocery stores in the U.S.) had a good selection. Once again, I opened every container and took a sniff. After all, I needed to be able to enjoy the scent with lotion all over me.

The only problem was, they all smelled the same. They had kind of a fishy overtone. That made no sense at all. Then I ambled around to the other side of the aisle and saw, to my surprise, the fresh fish counter! Aaarrrgghhh!

It was difficult enough to find a scent I liked. Even more challenging when the products were near the seafood aisle!

Grocery Store Gaffes
It was challenging for me to communicate in Spanish while paying for my groceries at the check-out counter. Truthfully, my conversations were rather limited. I could usually remember “Hola” (hello), “Buenos Dias” (good morning), and “Gracias” (thank-you). Although once, under pressure, I said “Buenos Dias” when I should have said “Adios” (good-bye). Okay, so I choked.

Giving the correct amount of money was simple enough. I held out my hand and let the cashier pick the right coins. Easy-peasy!

I needed fruit and vegetables. I carried my handbasket to the produce aisle in the Mercado and made my selections. I noticed other people putting their produce in individual plastic bags, so I followed suit, except that I used just one bag to conserve resources.

At the check-out counter the cashier rattled off something in Spanish that I, of course, couldn't understand. At some point it dawned on me that I hadn't weighed the food or applied UPC labels, since our produce in the U.S. has little UPC labels on each vegetable and piece of fruit.

By the time I realized what I should have done, the cashier had already hustled back to the produce aisle and weighed the apple, orange, carrot, green pepper, and zucchini. She returned to the check-out counter with my produce bag plastered with five UPC labels. It took her three tries to properly scan all the labels because the scanner had a hard time reading them individually. They were too close together.

After all was said and done, and I'd wasted at least ten minutes of the cashier's time, I learned my new word of the day. "Lo siento." I'm sorry.

Manzana is "apple." Note to self: always remember to weigh produce and apply the UPC code.

The next time I went to the grocery store, I was prepared. Not only did I bring my reusable shopping bag, but I knew how to weigh and label produce. I was on my game. I confidently selected apples and oranges, put them in individual bags, weighed them, and applied the UPC labels.

I saw several people looking at me in an odd way. What? Wasn't I doing this properly? After careful observation, I noticed other shoppers were wearing a plastic glove on the hand they used to touch the produce. I made another grocery store gaffe! Lesson learned. Now I know where to find the plastic gloves. And I kept mine to reuse later and conserve resources.

$Picture$

That's my hand in a plastic glove. It's a weird-looking photograph in which my hand looks like an alien appendage.

Wishy Washy
Washing clothes when on the road can be a big challenge. It's difficult to find a self-service laundromat. In Spain, many homes have washing machines but do not have tumble driers. Clothes are dried on a clothes line or drying rack, which is a bit tricky on rainy days. In my case, simply purchasing laundry detergent became a daunting task that even my trusty phone translator app wasn't quite up to.

I located the aisle at the Mercado that had the best shot at having washing detergent of some sort. I attempted to read the labels. I made guesses based on the size of containers and the little pictures on them. I queried my translator app. I stood there for over an hour attempting to choose the right product to get my clothes clean.

Was it laundry detergent? Did it contain scary-looking chemicals? Was the scent too strong? (Yes, I sniffed the bottles.) Was it stain remover? Bleach substitute? Fabric softener? Dishwasher detergent? One package looked like cat food.

When queried, my translator app was marginally useful, when it could have saved me from tremendous aggravation and self-doubt. The first words I needed translated were sin lejia which meant “without bleach.” So far, so good.

The next word was quitamanchas. Translator responded “quitamanchas.” Not helpful at all. That could have been key, because it meant stain remover.

I didn't know that until I got home and asked my real computer what the word meant. Two more successes: lavadora was “washing machine” and manchas was “stains.” Now I was getting somewhere. But then another unanswered question: rozaduras. Translator responded “rozaduras.” What?

Tejidos was “fabrics,” cuellos was “necks,” punos was “cuffs.” We were getting somewhere now. That bottle was stain remover. But then blanqueante came back as “teeth whitening systems.” I don't think so.

Eventually I found bottles with pictures of washing machines and shirts. I was pretty sure I'd found the right products. The considerations at that point were whether to buy liquid or powder, what size of container, and if it contained environmentally un-friendly ingredients.

I settled on an orange box with a picture of what appeared to be Castille soap squashed into convenient little tablets. There was a picture of a happy tree, sunshine and a rainbow next to the words activos biodegradables. Even I could understand “biodegradables.” The front of the carton gave me joy: Detergente Lavadora Tabletas. “Washing machine detergent tablets.”

SUCCESS! I'm not back in Kansas, but at least I'll have clean clothes.

Moving to Europe Part 1: My first stop was Germany.

5/13/2017

Touching Down in Germany.
Saturday, April 29
My cell phone can't speak German. At least, that seemed to be the problem when it wasn't able to connect with any cell towers after landing at the Frankfurt airport. Apparently, my phone didn't bother to read about its' new International Plan. Because the phone wasn't functioning, I was anxious that I wouldn't be able to contact my Aussie club host.

My arrival in Germany was a familiar mix of excitement and anxiety. I was delighted to be following my dream of living in Europe. Figuring out my way around airports, train stations, and cities – with directional signs in foreign languages – is equal parts of uneasiness and adventure.

My plan was to take a train from the Frankfurt airport to Bonn, where I'd be picked up and taken to my hotel. I'd never taken the train before and didn't know where the station was located.

I wandered around the Frankfurt airport for a while, looking for the train station. I finally found it. I struggled my way through buying a train ticket from a machine, and took the “lift” (elevator) down to Track 6. My next challenge was deciphering the train schedule. I managed to get on the right train and was delivered to the Bonn station. The difficult part of the trip was over.

A delightful young man, Phillip, picked me up and took me to the charming Hotel Zur Börsch in Niedercastle. Several excellent restaurants and the historic Rhine river were just three blocks away. I had a delicious dinner of Asian food at MayDao, went back to the hotel, and fell sound asleep. Several nights later I enjoyed an Italian dinner with friends at Ristorante Da Pino, and I highly recommend both restaurants if you make your way to Niedercastle.

The Hotel Zur Börsch in Niedercastle where I stayed during my time in Germany. The hotel's restaurant was outstanding.

Car ferries take vehicles across the Rhine river. The Rhine is culturally and historically one of the great rivers of the continent and among the most important arteries of industrial transport in the world.

The Magnificent Cologne Cathedral
Sunday, April 30
Phillip and his mother, Elke (el-kay) treated me to a tour of Cologne, Germany. We admired the city's cathedral, explored a Roman history museum, viewed the entire city from atop a tower, and hiked across the Hohenzollern Bridge over the Rhine river. Phillip was the best tour guide! He shared his knowledge of Cologne's history from World War II to the present day.

Cologne Cathedral exterior with my tour guide Phillip. The cathedral suffered fourteen hits by aerial bombs during World War II. Although badly damaged, it nevertheless remained standing.

The Crucifix of Bishop Gero is the oldest large sculpture of the crucified Christ north of the Alps. It is carved in oak, and painted and partially gilded. Constructed around 965–970 and standing over six feet tall, it was one of the largest crosses of its time.

Arches rise over 140 feet in the medieval east end of the cathedral. The foundation stone of the cathedral was laid in 1248. In the early 16th century, construction was halted, due to a lack of money and interest. In 1842, construction began again and the cathedral was finally completed in 1880.

The Cathedral's towering stained glass windows are part of the largest collection of early 14th century windows existing in Europe. Today they are threatened by air pollution. Glaziers are constantly working on their maintenance and restoration.

Padlocks, Pretzels and Pubs

To fortify ourselves for hours of walking, we stopped at a Cologne bakery next to the town square. The almond-encrusted treats and warm-from-the-oven croissants and pretzels were irresistible!

Railings on the Hohenzollern Bridge are covered with “Love Locks” which are considered one of Cologne's most charming traditions. Couples fix padlocks on the railings, and to ensure everlasting love, they throw the key into the Rhine river. Tens of thousands of couples and friends from Cologne and all over the world have sworn their loyalty to each other in this way.

To cap off the day, we ate dinner at the Frühe Brauhaus where I was introduced to Kölsch (curl-sh) ale. The name Kölsch can only be used to describe a beer brewed in Cologne. The Kölsch Konvention stipulates: 1) the beer must be brewed in the Cologne metropolitan area, 2) must be pale, 3) must be top-fermented, 4) must be hop-accented, 5) must be filtered, and 6) it must have a gravity between 11-14% plato (whatever that is). Another tradition around Kölsch is that you will be served the ale one after another if you don't say "no" and put the beer pad (coaster) on top of your glass.

Moving to Europe Part 2: Aussies in Germany.

5/11/2017

Rainy Day for a Dog Show
Monday, May 1
May Day (Der Erste Mai, Tag der Arbeit) is an ancient festival to welcome the spring weather and to drive away evil spirits. It's a German national holiday. That meant only one thing to Aussie fanciers – hold a show! I had the privilege of judging conformation for the seventh time in Germany. It was a pleasure to see some excellent dogs and note the continuous improvement made by dedicated Aussie breeders.

Puppy Fix Day!
Tuesday, May 2
There's nothing cuter than Aussie puppies! I played with a litter of adorable six-week old babies, chatted with their breeder, and learned more about her breeding program. This litter was sired by BIS BISS AKC Multi Ch.McMatt Blue Graffiti (Garrett) and out of Dt.Ch (VDH), Dt.JCh (VDH), CASD JCh, Club Jug. Sieg. 2015 Cool-Paws Amazing Shooting Star BH, RO-B, RO-1, OB, O1, DNA-VP, CHR (Lara).

I was impressed by the equipment used to expose these puppies to a variety of stimuli. In Germany, dogs are allowed to travel almost everywhere with their owners, including on trains, in restaurants and stores, and in other public places. Introducing puppies to a wide variety of sights, sounds, and footing builds confidence when they are faced with unusual situations. Watch for my next blog post that will show a video of the fun equipment this litter has to play on. It may spark new ideas on how you can enhance your puppy socialization.

Blue merle female

Red tri female

Red merle female

Red tri male

Beethoven in Bonn
After a bit of time to recover from puppy bliss, I was taken on a quick shopping trip to Bonn. Elke and her lovely daughter, Bianca, assisted me in buying chocolate bars and a new piece of luggage to carry them. We took time to appreciate a monument of the famous composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn in 1770.

Bonn, Germany was the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven, who was a tremendously influential composer.

My wonderful Aussie club host, Elke. The Cologne Cathedral is peeking out above her shoulder.

A view of Cologne Cathedral's spires, and the Hohenzollern Bridge, which carries more than 1200 trains daily.

Goodbye Germany, Hello Spain!
Wednesday, May 3
It was time to leave Germany and head to Spain. Sandra drove me to the train station, hoisted my luggage onto the train, and we said our farewells. My trip back to the Frankfurt airport was speedy and smooth. Miraculously, my cell phone began to work, and I caught my flight to Spain for the next slice of my adventure.

Aussies and Adventures in Europe: The Journey Begins.

4/7/2017

On April 28, I'll head to Europe. My home base will be on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, and I'll be traveling all over Europe. I'll judge and attend shows, visit Aussie breeders, and videotape and photograph their dogs, whose pedigrees trace back to famous Australian Shepherds in the U.S. I'll also explore the cities I visit and discover the best places to eat and gorgeous sites to see.

Join me on this grand adventure as I share my experiences and photos with you!

First stop is Bonn, Germany, where I'll judge an Aussie Specialty. After the show I'll play with a litter of puppies sired by BIS BISS Multi CH McMatt Blue Graffiti "Garrett." The litter will be five weeks old, and you know there's nothing cuter than baby Aussies at that age! I'll capture them on video so you can enjoy them too!

Next stop is Barcelona, Spain. There I'll meet “Garrett,” take photos and videos of him, and have a chance to talk to his owner, Cristina Freixes. She's the driving force who is introducing Aussies to her country, and her dogs have been very successful in the show ring.

After photographing Cristina's lovely dogs, I'll head into downtown Barcelona to enjoy sights in the city and eat delicious local fare at the charming tapas restaurants. Then it's on to Valencia to photograph stunning Moorish architecture, and more exploration of villages along the Mediterranean coastline.

My third stop is in Cerilly, France, where I'll judge the French Aussie Club's National Specialty. Following that, I'll travel to the Cote d'Azur (French Riviera) and meet Aussie breeders from that region. Their breeding programs will be fascinating, and I'll document their dogs in photos and videos to share with you. Sailing on the Mediterranean and sampling local wines are on the agenda, too.

And there's even more! (This all takes place the first month I'm in Europe.) I'll head to Nice, France, to watch the French National Dog Show. It will be the perfect opportunity for me to be a “ringside judge,” meet and take photos of European Aussies, and chat with Aussie breeders from all over the country.

After this whirlwind of experiences, it will be time to head back to my home in Spain. There will be a lot of photo and video editing to do, Spanish language classes to take, salsa dancing, and enjoying my new life.

My plans include trips to southern Germany, Switzerland, and Italy to see the wonderful sights and get to know Aussie breeders in those countries. Next spring I'll be judging a show in Sydney, Australia, and will explore that country and it's neighbor, New Zealand. Many more countries entice me, so stay tuned as I travel the world!

Follow me on this wonderful journey!

Forward>>

Everyday Street Scenes in Barcelona

Personal Care Culture Shock

Moving to Europe Part 1: My first stop was Germany.

Moving to Europe Part 2: Aussies in Germany.

Aussies and Adventures in Europe: The Journey Begins.

Don't miss a thing!
Pop your email in the box below and I'll let you know once a month about my fun new posts.

Paula McDermid

Categories

Everyday Street Scenes in Barcelona

Personal Care Culture Shock

Moving to Europe Part 1: My first stop was Germany.

Moving to Europe Part 2: Aussies in Germany.

Aussies and Adventures in Europe: The Journey Begins.

Don't miss a thing! Pop your email in the box below and I'll let you know once a month about my fun new posts.

Paula McDermid

Categories

Don't miss a thing!
Pop your email in the box below and I'll let you know once a month about my fun new posts.