Barcelona Directory
| Home | Links |
Many tourists are drawn to Barcelona To see Antoni Gaudi's incredible architecture.
Barcelona celebrates the 150th aniversary of Gaudi's birth in 2002.
Gaudi's work was essentially useful. La Casa Mila is an apartment building and real people live there.
The complicatedly named and curiously unfinished Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Family is the most visited building in Barcelona .
Barcelona is such a great place to live. People there really put a premium on socializing. Imagine it being more important to go out with your friends than to get that big promotion . Even when you're, gasp, pushing 30. They say there are more bars in Barcelona than in the rest of the European community combined .
Dont get me wrong, I dont mean that everyone gets drunk all the time --bars are for hanging out and talking or for having a cup of coffee (espresso, of course).
The opinions expressed on this page are mine and mine alone.
1. It means Paul in English
2. In 1963, I believe
H 2 O
This first picture shows the entranceway to the Mercat de la Boquería, the central market that is just off the Rambles. It's an incredible place, full of every kind of fruit, meat, fish, or whatever you might happen to need. It took me a long time to get up the nerve to actually take a picture there. You might say I'm kind of a chicken, but since I lived there, it was just sort of strange. Do you take pictures of your supermarket?
I love how they stack up the fruit and vegetables. I'm always tempted to take a pepper out of the bottom row, but of course, you're not supposed to touch them at all. Which I guess makes sense. Sort of. Ok, so you're at the market and there are ten thousand other people milling around. Once in a while they have those number machines, where you take a number and know your place. But usually, you ask the people around you "Who's Last?" which is an ingenious method. Someone says "Me" and instantly they're not anymore and you are, and you know who you're after and your big responsibility now is to answer the next person when they ask "Who's Last?". Nobody pushes, nobody cuts, you don't have to guard your territory.
This building, that some might say looks like a church, is actually the Hampshire County Courthouse. If you ever get called to be on a grand jury, or a traverse jury for that matter, this is where you should report. The venerable old structure, located on the corner of Main and King Streets, is bolstered by a newer, modern annex just behind it. It has a great set of front steps, that are often taken advantage of by lunching grand jurors. And within walking distance, you can find some thirty restaurants, from Japanese to Moroccan, Mexican to Indian, and lots more inbetween. It's not only restaurants, though, that make Northampton a lively town. Main Street is lined with interesting shops. I could do with a few more hardware stores and a few less boutiques, but still, it's a pretty nice town.
This triplex on South Street is a good example of multi-family dwellings in the area. Built as a one family home in the 30s, it has been converted to a three family with separate entrances, heating and electricity. Thanks to the area colleges--Smith, Amherst, UMass, Mt. Holyoke, and Hampshire-- Northampton has a booming rental industry.
