Gypsy Rhythms

There are still two towers guarding the former city walls

Our final week in Spain we spent three days in Valencia and four in Barcelona.

So from Seville we grabbed a nine-hour train to Valencia, where we did two things of note - went to the massive aquarium and went to a flamenco show.

The aquarium, or L'Oceanografic, is the biggest in Europe and is home to thousands of species of fish, birds and aquatic mammals. It has new tanks and lots of english information, which is great because its always a plus when I understand what is going on. It was expensive; but we spent five hours wandering through the exhibits and the various climate displays. The dolphin show was packed with daring tricks that to my knowledge aren't standard in North America - a trainer would have a pair of dolphins throw her up into the air ten or fifteen feet to do flips and dives, for example.

The flamenco show we saw was small. The venue was a gently lit bar full of locals, mostly - the kind of place where performers know their audience. We grabbed a glass of vino tinto and settled into a bench against a side wall as a guitarist, a drummer and a singer took their place on the stage. Flamenco music is beautiful. It's a gypsy art taken to new heights by the Spanish; the intricate rhythms and graceful, yearning melodies pack a powerful, wild sadness.

Just as we'd become resigned to the idea that we would be only seeing a music show, which is common, a woman in a feathery black and white dress joined them sitting on the stage. She looked nervous - maybe she doesn't perform often - but she put on a hell of a show. Swaying to to the rises in the music, twirling her hands and twisting about, then suddenly the stacatto of her heels and her arms snap sharply. As the music became more intense, she beat the crazy rhythms out and swirled and snapped faster - gorgeous. By the end of the show I was standing on the bench to see because the enthusiastic crowd had moved up from the bar and I wanted to watch her feet.


I'd been hesitant about going to a show in Valencia because I'd heard that flamenco is just not the same away from its heartland in the south of Spain. I could not be happier that we stumbled on such an informal, intimate show.

We grabbed a bus the last Saturday afternoon in April and headed to Barcelona, only a four hour ride and on a decently comfortable bus.

We'd heard a lot about the pickpockets in Barcelona - a few years ago there was apparently a real problem, and even today it isn't safe to take too many valubles out onto the streets. dan noticed a couple of guys watching me closely when we first got into the metro system with our giant backpacks (obviously holding everything we own...) but we were careful to be aware and over our four days we felt as safe as in any other big city.

Me and Mindy on a tapas mission

The next day we met up with Mindy and Lindsay, who I worked with in Ottawa - Dan and I got day-drunk with Mindy, hopping from bar to bar while we wandered looking for beer and tapas and catching up on each others' adventures. Lindsay's flight didn't make it until late in the evening, at which point her and I got the full Barcelona experience and stayed out til six in the morning talking to Brits and drinking tequila. I was obviously pretty rough the next day, although I didn't have to catch a flight like the girls did. It was so great to see familiar faces - good luck in your travels, ladies!

Sagrada from Park Guell - Just. Massive. 

Barcelona was a great city to wander around - the buildings in the old city are gorgeous and the streets are alive with patios and revelers every day of the week (when the weather is nice!). And the architecture... we spent a full day on Gaudi. We bought day passes for the metro and flitted from site to site to check out the most famous sites - the Sagrada Familia and the Park Guell.

The inside of the Sagrada

The Sagrada Familia is well known as the church that has been under construction since the 1880s (and is certainly nowhere near finished) but the architecture is what astounds people once they get anywhere near it. Two of the three facades on the outside of the building are finished - elaborate illustrations of the life and death of Christ in the form of statues and carvings, overlooked by masive towers, the grandest of which are as yet also unfinished. Gaudi took much of his inspiration from the natural world, so the columns on the inside are designed to appear as trees stretching up to a leafy canopy. The most intricate details are drawn from Gaudi's research into the mechanics of the natural world, and the rejection of straight lines makes for a daring and unique look that stands out in a country already known for its giant cathedrals and elaborate churches.

I feel as if I could spend weeks in Barcelona and barely scratch the surface. I was worried that because I had fallen so in love with Portugal, I wouldn't enjoy Spain, but I worried needlessly. Spain is a stunner and I'd go back in a heartbeat.

S