Documentary Day

Three documentaries began my day. How Much Does your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster? is an examination of the creative process through the life and work of Norman Foster. Best known for “the Gherkin” [and it’s Barcelona Torre twin] and the spectacular Millau Viaduct, Foster’s work has redefined modernism with new efforts toward “Green” building and massive, carbon-neutral projects. Filmed with an almost sensual reverence to his design we are given the opportunity to see what Foster saw in his efforts. This prodigious genius doesn’t slow down for anything including cancer and a heart attack. He still has the energy to cycle daily and participates in a grueling ski marathon every year. The title is from a question his great friend Buckminster Fuller posed; that simple, almost childish inquiry was Foster’s epiphany. My second film was The Sons of Tennessee Williams. In a series of interviews with several Mardi Gras elders the once secret and now embraced Gay Mardi Gras Krewes are revealed over their 5 decades of struggle. The director informed us before the film that he edited for laughs and there are plenty but the individual stories are of courage and perseverance. The costumes, oh the costumes! The third documentary was just added to my itinerary because of the buzz I overheard while waiting in line. Everyone was gushing over Louder Than a Bomb. Many of you know that I am not a fan of poetry. Well I am now and enthusiastically so, at least the style displayed in this wonderful, joyous and thought-provoking film. The filmmakers chose the world’s largest poetry slam held yearly in Chicago. It only features local high schools but the participation is monumental. The young people featured not only write but also perform their works. I do mean perform; they verge on theatre. This is a story of lives transformed and I am one. My last film of the day was a confusing and phantasmagorical journey form Transylvania to Germany and on to Liverpool and a gentlemen’s club which provides sex slaves trained to portray great literary characters. You will be reminded of Terry Gilliam’s work with splashes of Fellini. It is inventive on many levels but special effects can’t hide the lack a cohesive narrative. Bibliotheque Pascal was produced in Hungary and spoken in Rumanian, English and Hungarian.

Barcelona

Barcelona
Last night was our first of six “formal” dining experiences. We got dressed up [Tie & Jacket is accepted as “formal” now] and had dinner with a couple from Perth, Australia. Murray and Lynn have a horse ranch and stud facility there. Lynn’s Arabian Palomino is one of the most beautiful horses I’ve seen with a white, silky tail to the ground. Of interest to at least two of you, they also have a Shelty… pictures to follow. The food on the ship is exceptional. I am most taken by their cold soups. We had cold Rhubarb a couple of days ago and last night it was cold sour cherry. I followed that up with Beef Wellington while the rest of the table went for the lobster. I can’t believe I didn’t dine like this on the last cruise… of course I didn’t have appropriate pants.
We left the ship at 9AM and took the T3 bus to the Placa Portal de la Pau at the foot of Les [or Las] Ramblas. The plural of the word applies as every block or so it is considered a different “rambla” [from the Arabic for a dry river bed]. There are 5, maybe 6 different monikers. Barcelona is truly a walking city. It seemed that in just a few minutes we were at the Placa de Catalunya at the top of the Ramblas [1.2 miles]. For all practical purposes the shops were closed. They get a very late start here, as they stay open very late. Few restaurants open before 8PM. Victor Hugo and Garcia Lorca both sang the praises of La Rambla. The architecture is varied with highlights like the Casa Bruno Quadros by Josep Vilaseca near the Placa de la Boqueria. This Art Nouveau / Moderisme confection draws from the popular Japonisme influence with crests, geishas, parasols and Ukiyo e images. A great blue dragon protrudes from over the door and it hovers over an umbrella escaping from a Rene Magritte painting. WE walked one more block east to Placa d’Urquihaona for a sit-down. We then walked down Carrer de Trafalgar to the Modernisme Arc de Triomf, a red brick Modernisme monument decorated with bats, angels and allegorical figures. Southeast toward the sea we came to the City Park, which houses a Zoo, Modern Art Museum and geological and zoological museums. We walked SW to the 14th Century Cathedral of Barcelona. It is undergoing a facelift and the area was quite crowded. We then grabbed a cab to the “other” cathedral. I must say I was disappointed with La Sagrada Familia. It’s not as big and imposing as I had hoped. It is still absolutely magnificent in design and execution. The crowds were overbearing and we headed for the Bus Touristic. This is a great way to see the city. The lower level is enclosed and air-conditioned. The upper deck is open. The seats are as bad as Coach on United Airlines. They do provide an excellent recorded tour with free earbuds. How do people keep them in their ears? I’m deformed. They will not stay in there. If you wish to see and photograph everything go up top. Many of the seats below have limited visibility especially if you sit tall. The windows are also partially covered with that pointillistic screen advertising so photos suffer. There are long lines at the big tourist draws but everywhere else the on and off feature was great.
We rode up into L’Eixample and the West then down through Montjuic and back to the port. We saw the old Exposition site and the Olympic Stadium as well as the new Barca Stadium, Calatrava’s Radio Tower and the funicular [tram] that provides bird’s eye views of the mountain and port. We hoped back on the T3 and were back on the ship by 5PM. Craig and I went out later for a few hours using our “all-day” pass to take the green line out to the Forum and Diagonal del Mar, a 3-story shopping mall that sprawls over a couple of city blocks. We returned to the ship by 10:30PM and we were underway by 11PM.