Buoys will be boys

Okay, we made it to Barcelona without incident and, after a day just ‘getting oriented’ , it’s siesta here.  Siesta—truly one of the greatest contributions to the world by the Spanish people.  It is one of the most civilized customs—and, sadly, one that Americans refuse to adopt.  Then again, there was that period in the early 80s when people took a ‘disco nap’ early in the evening before heading out for a night of dancing…but this is about Barcelona.

First, I have to get something off my chest (and we promise not to use this blog as a screed).  It’s about image and branding.  We’re staying at El Palace.  Sounds nice.  It is.  Then again, it was nice when it opened by Cesar Ritz as THE RITZ over a hundred years ago. So, one has to wonder why they’d forego a century’s worth of name recognition and ‘luxury branding’ that was the very essence of ‘The Ritz’.  Perhaps it’s fear of the Marriotts.  Who knows, but for some reason, they changed the name to El Palace.  So, after arriving very early this morning, we hopped into a cab and I proudly trotted out my new-found Spanish.  The driver didn’t bat an eye and took off for downtown.  I even understood when he phoned in that he was taking us to ‘The Palace’.  Everything seemed to be going fine—until he started to turn off the Gran Via (fortunately, we had looked at a map).  In a moment of panic—and completely without thinking, I asked him (in Spanish) where he was going…and he proceeded to tell us (in Spanish) that we were going to a hotel called ‘The Palace’ and pointed off into another direction.  After explaining that we wanted to go to ‘El Palace’ ON the Gran Via, he smugly shrugged and said, ‘El Ritz’.  Apparently, he didn’t know that the Marriott clan can be vicious.  My thought is that, if taxi drivers still call it ‘The Ritz’, any money was spent on rebranding was wasted.  On the other hand, it provided an opportunity so see if the Spanish lessons paid off.  I can’t swear to it, but I’m guessing that the other ‘Palace’ couldn’t have been nicer than this.

After a short nap (who ARE those people who fall asleep before they leave the US and awake just as breakfast is being served prior to landing?), we were off to explore The Ramblas.  This pedestrian-friendly wonder was packed—and this is hardly high tourist season.  First came Rambla of the Birds—where, apparently, every child takes their parents to whine until they are bought a pet—most typically, small birds—although the stalls included bunnies, guinea pigs and some large turtles that seemed VERY active.  Then again, it might have been the scorching heat lamps that did that.  Then came the Rambla of the Flowers.  Do you really need to be told what this is?  After that we ducked into the Mercado de San Josep—but more widely known as La Boqueria.  By now, it was the middle of the afternoon and the place was still jumping—filled with fish, cured meats, fruits and hundreds of people vying for 15 stools so that they could be fed by entertaining ‘counter men’.  Having seen the price of figs here—we’re certain that it would make more sense to fly over and buy them, rather then raise them in the future.  Back to Las Ramblas...we continued down to the sea and the Columbus Monument—that spot where Columbus triumphantly returned from the New World with some native Americans in tow.  He was treated like a rock star and the native Americans were trotted off to the Cathedral for baptism.  Beyond the monument, the floating Rambla of the Sea undulated out into the harbor and their fanciful buoys.

But, now it’s siesta.  Hopefully by 10PM, we’ll be ready for an early supper.  What seemed most evident today was:

1. This city is all about style and design.  Everything, from the airport to the roadways to the inlaid terrazzo of the Ramblas is beautiful—nothing done without design input—and something that they’ve apparently been doing for a long, long time.
2. When it’s sunny and 62 in Barcelona, the locals break out winter coats.  The touring Brits wear shorts.
3. The pace of life here is wonderful.  Taking a long, late lunch is just the thing to put one in the mood to nap.  Fortunately, they invented that siesta-thingy.