Burgers at Bernie’s

Despite the weather forecast of showers all day, Saturday was warm and mostly dry. Our mission was to visit the Barcelona Cathederal and the Gaudi Museum next door, operated by the Diocese of Barcelona. And to have a hamburger at Bernie’s Diner on the other side of Via Laietana. In short order, we accomplished all three by early afternoon.

We did not remember the Gaudi Museum the last time we visited Barcelona. It  certainly looks and feels brand new, with latest smart phone audio guides and interactive touch screen displays throughout. The building itself is quite old, with Roman ruins on display through the floors and walls. So you get sort of an extra dose of history for your admission ticket.

The Gaudi exhibition is organized along the lines of his life and his work, tracing his heritage as the fourth-generation descendant of coppersmiths and his early fascination with the shapes of nature. All the rooms are relatively small but they are densely packed with artifacts, documents and models that tell the tale of Gaudi’s development as an architect. Invoices for Gaudi’s labors are on display in most rooms, adding to the real world feel of the museum.

Although the Sagrada Familia cathedral is given its due at the end of the tour, the most fascinating section discusses the design and development of the Colonia Güell church, which was never completed. Only the crypt was finished, before the fortunes of Gaudi’s patron and founder of the community, Mr. Güell, declined. Gaudi’s plans for the church were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, but scientists from the University of Innsbrook have recently been able to organize the fragmentary evidence and actually construct a model of what Gaudi intended.

gaudi-model
This scale model of Gaudi’s church in Colonia Güell was constructed after scientists at the University of Innsbrook were able to piece together the plans that were destroyed in a fire.

The exhibit also includes Gaudi’s innovative method of modeling, in which he used strings hung with weights to show the parabolic curves he planned in the building. The models were therefore created upside down, and Gaudi would simply stiffen them and turn them right side up to make this plans.

Overall, the museum is a fascinating, educational experience that should be on your list if you have any interest in Gaudi’s architecture. In fact, I would recommend going through the museum before touring any of Gaudi’s main works, as the museum helps explain his views and techniques that form the works themselves.

The Barcelona Cathedral is next door, and we joined the steady stream of visitors walking through the front door. Lynn said we had seen the cathedral before, but I didn’t remember it. As European cathedrals go, Barcelona’s is just fine, a grand Gothic work mostly built in the 14th century.  The cathedral is built over the site of earlier churches that date back to the fourth century A.D. and the Visigoths. Interestingly, the current Gothic facade was not added until the 19th century, and the soaring Gothic towers were not built until the early 20th century.

barcelona-cathedral
The choir is set right in the middle of the cathedral, so it blocks the view of the altar from the entrance to the church. Still, you can appreciate the Gothic features.

The side altars are beautiful and of interest (as they are in most cathedrals), because so many historic figures are interred in the sides. Behind the main church, the cloister serves as the historic home of 13 geese. That number reportedly is in honor of St. Eulalia, for whom the cathedral is named and who is a co-patron saint of Barcelona. She was 13 years old when she was martyred, and her body is entombed in the crypt.

Our religious and architectural curiosity could no longer hold off our hunger for a hamburger at Bernie’s Diner, a thoroughly mid-century American eatery. Bernie’s also serves a Bloody Mary for 5 euros, which we will taste later in our stay here. But now it was time for burgers. And Bernie’s serves them up big, European style.

One hint about European hamburgers–they will cook the meat exactly as you order it. So medium well (Lynn’s) was pink on the inside and medium (mine) was near bloody in the center. All of which makes for a most juicy burger. And a big one at that. A 200 gram burger is nearly a half pound of meat.

After packing away a huge lunch like that, washed down with cold draft (we could have ordered Budweiser!), we were ready to head back for a Saturday stroll through the old town that spreads behind our apartment.

I was ready to explore some more, but Lynn preferred to spend her Saturday afternoon resting and reading. While she did that, I took a walk around the harbor and shopping mall complex we view right in front of our building. There at a transient slip was just about the largest private vessel I had ever seen up close and personal.

phoenix-2
That’s one big boat–90 meters.

At 90 meters (297 feet), the Phoenix2 was built for the Polish billionaire Jan Kulczyk, who paid $160 million for her in 2010 then died in 2015 of complications from minor surgery. He started as the first Volkswagen dealer in Poland and ultimately became the richest man in Poland, worth an estimated $4 billion when he died. His boat makes the other mega-yachts in the marina look like dinghies.

 

 

 

 

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