Fondue in Andorra

It´s zero degrees Celsius, and it´s only 10 in the morning out in the patio of Hotel Coma-Bella. We´re bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the bracing walk in the woods, with a trail leading straight from the back of the hotel up 600 metres toward the best ride in the world.

Well, at least the best cruise ever for me in a non-motorised vehicle -- the Tobotronc, a sort of toboggan, strapped to rails running 5,200 metres in a descent of 400m through breathtaking forest. What a rush of adrenaline, despite the fact that we used the handbrake at sharp turns. A little precaution to avoid flying in an unauthorised vehicle. (Hmm, I´m starting to use formal language here, having just begun my driving theory lessons in Rambla Catalunya.)

Our thighs ache a little with the climb, but it´s all worth it. Worth the views of the mountain range... and the fondue, glorious cheese fondue for two. All four of us dig in anyhow, and it satisfies with entrecot on the side and brandy cake with cortado (espresso with a little milk) to top it off.

Then a siesta out in the sun on deck chairs in front of the restaurant. Mmm, with salchichón (a salami-type sausage) and fruit offered by Alex the mountain man. And the smell of the outdoor grill with fragrance of the woods to boot.

Dinner is ox-tail with rice. I opt for fried mushrooms with eggs for starters while Juan Luis goes for the boiled veggies with smoked bacon. Alex, el médico trabajador and firm friend of Juan Luis, enjoys a tipple after dinner and we all drift off in somnolence.

It´s Anna´s day tomorrow, for shopping. Or at least, window shopping... We drive to Sant Julià de Lòria, a parish in the far south of the country. But we buy little. I think the clothes are a bit garish and feel, like Juan Luis does, that the mountains are a tad claustrophobic. We feel hemmed just on the second day and are glad to greet milder hills in Cadi, down south on the way home to Barcelona.

• The Principality of Andorra is a small landlocked country in western Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. Once isolated, it is currently a prosperous country mainly because of tourism and its status as a tax haven.
  
• El Tobotronc is the longest toboggan ride in Europe at 5.2km, situated almost 2,000 metres in altitud. This attraction, which slides through a curving path among the forest of La Rabassa. Only for those above12. Price * (01/06/2008) 8,5 € for adults and 5,5 € for children. Information: tel. (+376) 75 97 98 – (+376) 75 97 76 – (+376) 32 38 68 * Subject to change.

Sing your heart out

Black is beautiful.
For sure it´s beautiful when you´re in esteemed company of the Harlem Gospel Choir. (At least, that´s what I imagined this night to be, having been told the marvelous experience of Trine, my Norwegian friend.)
We were actually mere fledglings in the Institut de Gospel Barcelona, 19 of us this Monday night. Giving it a go at breathing properly, from the diagphram, ooh-ing and mmm-ing to the rhythm of a primal beat. Yes, we´re just learning how to breathe and hum, building a good foundation from which to launch our voices in unison.
Before all that jazz, we begin building rapport, facing one another, and sharing our most tender memories of childhood, adolescence and more, very often with total strangers. Liberating? Yes.
Then there´s mime or sketches to draw us together, often in laughter and competitive seriousness.
We´re all a good mix, ranging from teenagers, 20-somethings and beyond who have taken to each other in endearing ways.

La visión de Gustav Klimt

En una pintura de mitología y alegoría, que es en un estilo decorativo y simbólico, aparece La Muerte por la izquierda, totalmente alargada y siniestra. Está cubierta en matices de azules fríos y está agarrando un garrote en sus manos, mirando sus víctimas potenciales con alegría. En otro lado tiene una aglomeración de humanos – que viven, respiran y aman la vida en pleno sentido.

Ellas son mujeres inocentes, todas abrazan la vida, el calor y el vigor de un hombre fuerte y musculoso en el centro. Él parece totalmente inconsciente de la inminente amenaza.

Surge una pregunta. ¿Por qué el hombre, que estaba en el centro de la masa de las inocentes, era curiosamente vulnerable en su ignorancia del peligro de la muerte?

Arriba del hombre aparece la vida en toda su gloria, representada por un bebé varón, abrazado a su propia madre, hermana y, quizás, su abuela que muestra un rostro de sabiduría y melancolía.

Las figuras están semi-desnudas en su vulnerabilidad. El resto de sus cuerpos están cubiertos en alegres, coloridas telas con estampados geométricos que muestran sencillez, algo ordenado y de buen sentido.

La Muerte, al contrario, está cubierta en las señales de las cruces (cruz) y refleja una actitud de gran rebelión. Su visión del futuro es cruel y sombrío, su cuerpo, sinuoso y fluido, como su pensamiento y deseos. ¨El contemporáneo de Freud ... quisiera recorrer esos nuevos territorios que son el sueño y el inconsciente.¨ También, ¨sus visiones de una mujer... están hechas de carne y de quimera.¨

Alphonse´s Seduction

He moved the world in hypnotic ways, treating his art with love and sensual affection.Sharing his vision of women, full-blooded and captivating, in myriad ways.
Alphonse Mucha was as much a pioneer of modernism as he was of graphic design, inspiring countless imitators of his realistically ephemeral world.
He worked on diverse projects such as the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, and later on commercial projects in the United States and elsewhere in Europe including the then new state of Czechoslovakia (founded in 1918), designing posters, bank notes and stamps.
From 19 September 2008 till 4 January 2009, CaixaForum Barcelona holds an exhibition of Alphonse´s works under themes of Theatre, Beauty, Mystery and Modernity.
http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/centros/infoserveiscfbcn_es.html
´´Mucha executed many advertisements, his works were used on packaging for sweets and perfumes (anticipating contemporary product presentation),and a Mucha soap was even produced, prefiguring modern merchandising. Luxury, hedonism, eroticism and fantasy are the basic elements of an advertising discourse that seeks to persuade viewers based on the splendour of its forms, an elaborate style and inventive typography.´´

Thanksgiving II (Acción de gracias II)

There´s no room for pity, but plenty for compassion. Don´t these children put adults to shame with their eagerness to learn? Amid the odds, amid the unforgiving cold.

And why are they standing? Simply because they have no classroom to call their own. So teacher and students in threadbare clothes and worn out shoes stand or huddle in a corner of a compound to absorb the lesson of the day, no doubt more substantial than what they would have eaten, or dreamt to have eaten for breakfast.

No hay lugar para la lástima, pero sí para la compasión. ¿No provocan vergüenza estos niños en los adultos con su entusiasmo por el aprendizaje? En medio de las probabilidades, en medio del implacable frío.

¿Por qué están de pie? Simplemente porque ellos no tienen su propia aula. Así que la profesora y los estudiantes en ropas raídas y zapatos gastados se quedan de pie en un rincón de un recinto para absorber la lección del día, sin duda más substanciosa que algo que hayan comido, o hubieran soñado comer para desayunar.

Thanksgiving

There´s always time for thanksgiving when we slow down to savour the little moments of timelessness. Yes, time is personal, it sways and ebbs, pulls and pushes you to action or inaction as the case may be.



If by Rudyard Kipling
...

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And which is more; you'll be a Man, my son!

Honest Barcelona

If it´s good honest food you´re looking for in Barcelona, try out these gems:

Restaurante Can Maño -- freshest seafood in Barceloneta

It´s a no-fuss coffeeshop-style restaurant good for spying on locals (and more on what they´re eating). Don´t miss the grilled mackerel called barat in Catalan, grilled squid and baby squid called chipirones. In short, head for the seafood and give the meat dishes a miss and down it all with Free Damm, the local beer with or without alcohol. Top it of with a cortado, espresso with a little milk, and save some bread to dip into the rich coffee. Closed Saturday evenings and Sundays.

http://barcelona-guide.info/es/restaurante-can-mano

Taktika Berri -- best Basque tapas in town

It opens at 8.30pm, but get ready to queue at 8.15pm. Worth standing up if you can´t get seats at the counter. The trick is to wait for the hot stuff which comes out of the kitchen around 8.45pm. There is however a good choice of cold tapas. Go easy and wait for the best to come. Chicken satay, blood sausage with rice, hake omelet, cod croquettes, battered anchovies and more do a bold debut each night (save Saturday evenings, Sundays closed), tempting eyes and palates.

Seal your encounter with sidra (cider), chacoli (young wine) or mosto (grape juice).

http://barcelona-guide.info/index.php?page=search&lang=es&search_string=taktika+berri&show_R=on&show_E=on

Shanghai 1930

Here´s a place for home-cooked favourites and cuisine with a Mediterranean touch. Roast duck, steamed fish and tofu pair well with their rice and noodle dishes. For the diehard Spaniard, there´s jamón to savour. Ask for cili padi, chilli muy picante, if you´re Malaysian.

http://www.bcnrestaurantes.com/eng/barcelona.asp?restaurante=shanghai-1930

Any suggestions on Catalan cuisine? I´m at a lost here.