On the way, the
Swiss Alps
A week ago I flew from SFO to Amsterdam to Rome to Barcelona. I’ve been eating ever since.
Barcelona is a wonderful town for eating.
Barcelona is ancient city, founded by the father of Hannibal in 230 BC. The gothic quarter is a labyrinth of narrow streets. I wandered for miles.
A fragment of a Roman aqueduct and the original city wall.
Throughout most of its history, Catalonia has been a country unto itself with its own language and lots of pride. Franco did his best to obliterate the culture and the language but Catalonia is prospering, like a rose bush once pruned that snaps back with more vigor than before.
Ferdinand and Isabella greeted Christopher Columbus and the six natives he brought back with him in 1492 in the building on the left. The locals once claimed that Columbus was a Catalan.
The roof of the house by Antoni Gaudi (on the right), a standout even in this city with more art nouveau architecture than any other in the world, is draped with a giant, multi-colored lizard’s tail. The tail belongs to a dragon, the very same dragon that St. George slew. Naturally, St. George was also a Catalan.
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