Barçelona Pictures

That stack of spires to the left? Gaudi’s Familia Sagrada, seen from the roof of La Pedrera

Miró sculpture 

Altarpiece detail

Interior

 La Pedrera

Mercado

 de la Bouqueria

Picasso

 self portrait at 15 

Altarpiece

 detail

Rooftop La Pedrera 

Gòtic

 district street 

Picasso, one of the pigeons series 

La Pedrera from

 the interior courtyard

Miró 

Madonna of Humility

, Fra Angelico 

Plaça Catalunya 

Hallway

, La Pedrera 

St Peter of Alcantara

Miró 

Barçelona, Catulnya

This was my second visit to Barçelona and I am so happy I decided to return. I stayed several blocks off La Rambla - the famous promenade in the old city. The narrow curving streets give a romantic air to the most everyday stroll. The Rambla begins at Plaça Catalunya and leads directly to the ocean. The port is forested with sailing masts and even in this off-season it is filled with tourists. (Well, not literally, they’re all on the shore.) It’s February and not really warm, but the fountains are running, the flowers blooming, the sun shining and the sky is blue. I like how they do winter here.

Coming back here allowed me to see the things I didn’t have time for previously. Mostly, that’s meant visiting museums. The Catalonian Musuem of National Art, the Joan Miró Foundation and the Picasso Musuem. The first was a fantastic experience because I non-devoutly love religious icons and religious paintings (the ones that aren’t gory or melodramatic). The highlight for me was Fra Angelico’s Madonna of Humility. The luminosity of the work, the tender use of colour, the infinite detail - I spent a long time admiring it. It may be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever laid eyes on. 

I learned a lot about Miró’s art and began to understand his use of line and symbols, and appreciate his use of colour, by the end of my visit there. And the Picasso Musuem was a revelation because it covers his work from his teens to old age. You can see his process in the reworking of his (and reinterpreting of others’) paintings. It’s fascinating and the very existence of the musuem a little surprising since he objected so thoroughly to the Franco regime. 

And, finally, I got to see the inside and the rooftop of Gaudi’s La Pedrera - a building he designed inside and out, from the underground parking (way ahead of his time) to the undulating rooftop with its sculptures. The apartment is so beautifully lit because it is in a doughnut shape around an inner courtyard and each room and hallway is exposed to light from the windows. Even if I’d never seen the Familia Sagrada, even I could recognize the genius of the man from this work. When you read all that he did here you wonder why each and every architect didn’t decide to use his ideas in some way. Absolutely unique and absolutely brilliant. 

Egypt pics

Egypt

What to say about Egypt? It is everything you think and hope it will be. Cairo is an immense, sprawling city of 19.5 million residents.  Buildings rise and fall in every corner. The sprawl reaches to the Pyramids and Sphinx. They sit in splendour on desert land, no longer isolated from modern life. The pyramids are spectacular - especially Cheops’ Great Pyramid, and particularly when you realize how tall each layer of enormous stone blocks is. It’s not like a set of steps, they’re waist to shoulder height - you had to be strong to hoist yourself up each level in the days when people were allowed to climb it. I rode a camel to the panoramic view point. I touched that ancient stone. The sight of the Sphinx brought a surprising rush of tears to my eyes. 

The Cairo Museum is a wonder that holds countless treasures from the many, many tombs of Egypt’s pharaohs, priests, builders, etc. The most extravagant are those of Tutankhamen, of course, not because his tomb was large or especially grand but because it’s the only king’s tomb found intact. But the museum is crammed with everyday items for the afterlife such as beds and sandals; and funerary items such as alabaster jars and painted sarcophagi; and mummies, thousands of years old, whose hair and nails are preserved, cheekbones high, noses distinctive, features clear. Except for their dark leather coloured skin, they could be sleeping. 

I visited temples to the gods (on the east, or sunrise, bank of the river). Huge temple complexes with entry pylons, public halls,  halls of columns and inner sanctums. And mortuary temples (on the sunset bank) where Egyptians were meant to worship their demi-god pharaohs once they had died and had become gods entire. Giant statues improbably sitting amongst farmers’ crops and the colourfully painted oversized tombs in the Valley of the Kings. 

But maybe the most impressive temples were Abu Simbel - not for themselves, although they are grand, but because when threatened with submersion after the Aswan Dam was built, these two temples were cut into pieces, each piece numbered, and then reassembled on higher ground. Why is this so extraordinary? Well, they were built into bedrock, carved monoliths like the churches of Ethiopia. The entire hillside had to be reduced to pieces and built again. Egypt is a testament to man’s outsized aspirations and possibilities, past and present. Lake Nasser, which necessitated this move, is a storage lake for the Aswan dam. It is the largest man made lake in the world, stretching from Aswan city for 500 km, including 180 km into Sudan.

To reach Abu Simbel, we drove hours through the barren Sahara desert where not even a cactus grew. The sky stretched out in all directions. The sand on either side of the road was a soft yellow, drifted into piles and scudding across the road. And then, in the distance, small mountains rose from the desert floor. Shimmering and reflecting in the grey-blue water of a lake. What an odd place for water, you think. And it is -odd, that is, because it’s a mirage. And there is a restaurant named Mirage across the highway because that mirage is a constant in the landscape, not a fleeting thing. Everything I hoped for, and more. 

Pictures Jordan 1

Writing on the rocks, Wadi Rum.

Wind sculpture, Wadi Rum.

Temple of Hercules, Amman

Seven Pillars

 Mountain

Entrance to tiny canyon with writing on stones

Circle in the sand, drawn

 by desert iris

 View from top of ampitheatre, Amman. The only kid who was afraid of heights like me. 

Jordan, The Hashemite Kingdom

Amman is an old city, first settled in Neolithic times. Like Rome, it was built on seven hills and when you climb to the ruins of the citadel you can see other mountains rising around you. Today the city covers 19 hills. Below the citadel is the Roman Amphitheater which sat 6000 people, and when I was there it was filled with families, children playing soccer at the bottom, others scrambling up and down its deathly steep sides as if there were no danger at all. 

The Romans called Amman “Philadelphia” - the city of brotherly love. And Jordanians have a reputation for being generous and giving much, even when they have little. One meaning of the “Hashemite” Kingdom derives from the word “hashem”, and it refers to generosity to the poor. Refugees outnumber native Jordanians. When the government said they could not accept any more refugees, the king stepped in and over rode them. And the people agreed with him. He is much loved and known for his generosity and common touch. 

Countless people welcome you to Jordan. Without trying to sell you a thing. I must look like I’m in need because Jordanians gave me small presents. One girl gave me a necklace because she liked my eyes, one man a magnet, “Not for business reasons but because you talk nice”. (Must be the Canadian accent.) At the Turkish bath, my scrubber/masseuse sang as she worked - another kind of gift. I checked with Sal, our guide, about the necklace, not wanting to owe for something I hadn’t asked to buy; he talked to her then assured me that she wanted to give me a gift. No one asked for my email address, or followed me to get me to buy something, or anything.

Jordan has phenomenal natural beauty. At the entrance to Wadi Rum (Valley of Peaks) stands Seven Pillars Mountain, immortalized by TE Lawrence (of Arabia). It is easy to see why he fell in love with this mountainous desert of surrealistic geology, its people, and the way of life. It is utterly tranquil there, with only the silence and the wind to be heard at night. The sky is littered with stars but otherwise the dark stretches out forever. Camels dot the landscape - none wild. Goats scale the rocks. We walked a 4 hour loop one morning and everywhere you are seems more stunning than the places you have been. The wind has everywhere written on stone. 

And then there is the man-made beauty. Petra left me speechless - the site is a huge necropolis. Steps bring you up to fine views over the tomb-pocked hillsides, paths lead to splendid buildings, and even the insides of the (empty, all empty) tombs are spectacular with stunningly, naturally coloured rock. There are layers of civilization. A Roman road, amphitheatre, temple and other touches overlay the brilliant Nabatean works. I said the tombs were empty, but today a few Bedouin families still occupy the caves that were once tombs. (Most of the families moved to a village specially constructed for them when Petra was declared a World Heritage site.) Their goats roam the site. The narrow road between canyon walls leads you to the spectacular Treasury, and that is only the beginning, that only scratches the surface of what there is to see. Jerash, near Madaba, is the spectacular ruin of Roman city, complete with hippodrome, amphitheatre, forum, cardo, temples,  nymphaneum, and Hadrian’s Gate. 

Jordan is another land of “people of the book”. It is filled with sites of religious importance such as Mount Nebo and the Moses Spring. The River Jordan and the Dead Sea. Sodom and Gomorrah. Jericho. Christians reside here, and
have since the Romans were defeated by the Muslims in the 7th century, and allowed to remain here without being forced to convert. The Edomites, Moabites, Bedouin, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, and Muslims - all have had their day in Jordan. It’s an ancient land with a history that reaches a long way back. It’s a wonderful place to visit because, it seems to me, Jordanians have succeeded in building a welcoming, generous society where citizens genuinely are encouraged to apply the golden rule. 

Tel Aviv pics

Shabbat in Tel Aviv

Sunset on the Mediterranean 

The beach

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv was a complete change from Jerusalem. It is a large city with busy streets and sidewalks. Women don’t cover their heads or wear wigs here. Men don’t wear black pants and long coats and hats - or tallits (prayer shawls). (Well, some might but they are not predominant here.) It’s a secular city. 

Our location was not only a beautifully designed apartment but ideally located. We spent the first day (not a full day) at the Carmel Market - which sells everything you’d want, including the veggies and olives we wanted. The second day, we went downtown to the Modern Museum of Art and saw a newer part of the city. On the way home, we stopped for some of Tel Aviv’s famous roasted whole cauliflower and a chicken liver stuffed pita. (Delicious, by the way.) And the third and last day we went to the old city of Jaffa, now a district of Tel Aviv really, with its markets selling old furniture and light fixtures, and hopping restaurants with music pumping into the narrow streets. All of this within walking distance of our place; although we took a bus to Jaffa, we walked back on the long promenade by the Mediterranean Sea. 

The Mediterranean Sea was high with waves crashing in and spraying up against the rocks on the shore. The beach is full of activity; beach volleyball, both traditional and the football kind; workout equipment where mostly men did chin ups and used equipment of various sorts; tons of people walking, or eating and drinking at a café; people playing a paddle ball game with super fast reflexes; folks sitting in chairs, gazing at the sea and the surfers; others riding bikes, scooters or skateboards - motor powered or people powered. The motorized skateboards amazed me as they shared the busy road with cars and busses, sometimes two people at a time on them. But motorized skateboards! That kind of blew my mind. 

We left on Shabbat - the sabbath day, which is Saturday here. The first Shabbat meal occurs on Friday evening and Liz and I were lucky enough to be invited to two of these meals. The first, in Jerusalem, was with our orthodox hosts and their 3 children. We washed our hands repeating a ritual blessing, heard the blessing of the wine and bread, which is then dipped in salt and shared, then ate our kosher meal in the correct order. There was tons of food, singing of prayer by the father and son, serious discussion, and some religious instruction. Last night, in Tel Aviv, we had a very different Shabbat meal. We helped a bit with prep. Our hosts had invited about 20 people (including about 10 kids 8 and under). The candles were lit with a blessing, the blessings for wine and bread were said, and there was tons of great food. That’s about it for similarities. The guests were from various countries, spoke English with different degrees of fluency, and were a cheerful lot. Not that there was no serious discussion, but there was none of a religiously educational nature. There was lots of noise, wine, and family fun. A completely different experience and I wouldn’t have missed either of them.