Coyote, coiot

First, I have to explain that posting may be erratic, as I am having problems with access.  Blogger is blocked at work (grrr) and the internet where we are living is slooooooooooowwwww to non-existent.  I'll see what I can do.
Primer, us haig de explicar que tinc dificultats de penjar aqui per temes d'access electrònic.  No puc entrar a blogger on treballo, (grrr) i el internet on quedem va MOLT LENT, si no, no hi ha de vegades.  Faré tot el que puc, però.....i el corrector no està obrint i hem deixat els diccionaris a Toronto.  Em sap greu per el meu català.


ara, una histora.  Now, onwards.


Yesterday morning I got up pretty early for a run, with the Chuckster, and we did hills.  Half an hour of hills.  Still nothing compared to Catalunya, but what can you do in flat old TO.....  Chuck was a little squirrelly in some spots, he could smell some sort of living thing in the bushes, skunk? Raccoon?  Fox?  Coyote?  I make great time running when he sees something nervous or that makes him a little uneasy.  See, when I'm walking, my feet are on the ground providing friction and braking, but when running, there's that air time and sometimes the strides get REALLY Lllloooooooooooooooooong.


Ahir al matí vaig aixecar molt aviat per anar a córrer, amb en Chuck, i vam fer pujades.  No sé exactament com es diu en català, però vull dir que vam anar a córrer amunt i avall unes quantes vegades.  Per un mig hora.  Res en comparació de Catalunya, però és Toronto, i no hi ha molt que podem fer.  En Chuck li trobava una mica nerviòs en alguns llocs, podia sentir o olorar un animal en el bosc.  Mofetes?  Un ós rentador? Un guine?u Un coiot?  Puc córrer molt rapidament quen en Chuck li posa nerviós perquè, quan estic caminant, les meus peus sempre tocan la terra, amb frició i frenant, però quan corro, hi han aquests moments quan estic en l'aire i, de tant en tan, els pasos van MOOOOOOOlllllt larg.

Anyway, we'd finished up the run I had planned, and had headed on over to the dog park, his Chuckiness was off leash lying in a puddle at the far side of the park while another dog was running towards him.  Behind him was a hill that runs the length of the park.  Enter Coyote, full speed, running along the side of the hill.  The other woman calls her dog, who comes, and I just try to keep his royal Chuckiness' attention.....and the coyote streaks across the field behind him....and then Chuck sees him....and is OFF like a missile.  
Doncs, vam acabar la ruta que vaig pantefar de fer i vam anar cap al parc de gossos, i un cop allà, en Chuck lliure i estirat en un toll o bassiot amb una altra gossa corrent cap a el.  Al darrer d'en Chuck hi havia un tross de terrany més alt, i que anava des d'una banda del parc cap a l'altre, i en una cantonada, un coiot arrivava...córrent tan ràpid!  Passava al darrer d'en Chuck, qui jo estava cridant, i pensava que el coiot aniria en el bosc al final a l'esquerra, però no, va gira una 90º i va anar cap a mi, bé no a mi perquè era un 100 m a la meva esquerra, però en Chuck li va veure i le va seguir!  

Takes off into the distance, down into the ravine after the coyote, and I figure that if he meets up with that coyotes family, I'm down one dog.  Els dos van desapareix en la distancia i jo tenia po que si en Chuck trobava el coiot i tota la resta de la seva família, no tindré un gos.

Thankfully, he reappears. Por fi, va reaparei.

Goes on leash, and that was the end of that adventure.  Li vaig agafar i aquesta aventura va acabar.


And plenty of adventure for one morning.  Ja vam tenir prou per un matí.

The weekend? El cap de setmana?

Bring. it. on.  Por fi, jaaaaaaaa.

How to solve running in TO, com solucionar el problema de córrer a Toronto c

FINALLY I am online.....between jetlag, no access to blogger at work, no wifi at home and exhaustion....this took a while.  Hopefully back to more regular blogging soon!

Here's the thing.  I am, it would seem, extremely quickly bored.  This would seem to play out in my lifestyle too....and running down a flat road on a sidewalk or bike path, however lovely the park I'm in, quickly becomes tedious.  Really quickly.  Running in circles, same same same.

Mira, és aixì.  Em sembla que m'avorreixo molt senzillament.  Pots veure aquest caràcter en la meva vida, no?  I corrent per un carrer, o vorera pla i recte malgrat que sigui en un parc super maca, ràpidament, ho trobo tediós.  Molt ràpidament.  Si estic corrent donant voltes?  Igual igual igual.

Back when I was biking a lot, commuter biking worked well, aside from being quite dangerous, especially in the winter...wiped out I know not how often and got hit by a car once....I loved it.  There was something challenging to think about all the time, other than the fact that you were riding down the road.  I mostly thought about cars and pedestrians and lights and who was going to kill me first.  It was interesting every single moment.

Fa temps, quan vaig anar amb bicicleta molt, per anar i tornar, a treballar o a les cases de amics, em va anar molt bé fins i tot a l'hivern quan pot ser força perillós....vaig caure!  No sé quantes vegades i una cotxa em xocava una vegada també, però ho m'encantava.  Era una repta, havia de pensar tota l'estona, i no simplement pensant que estic corrent, o fent bici.  Pensava, dels cotxes, senyals, vianants...qui em matarà primera.  Em va anar molt de gust.


Trail running, so the same.  You don't get to see much scenery, but you spend every moment thinking about something, where to put your feet, where the dog's gone (cause he ain't at the end of the d*mn lead) birds, who else is going by, horses, horse turds, and it is up and down and up and down and up and down.
Corrent pels muntanyes als camis és igual.  No pots veure molt dels vistes perquè has de passar tota l'estona pensant on posés els peus, on ha anat el gos - perquè no ha de ser lligat (por fi) - ocelles, que em passa si fos gossos, cavalls, i pujo i baixo i pujo i baixo i pujo i baixo.....

So I'm trying to think of a way to keep up the running here without losing my marbles.  Commuter running is one solutions I've thought of.  The man and girls can drive or take the TTC to a friend or family members house, and I'll head off running, they'll carry a change of clothes.  I always figure that if I can walk a distance, I can run it, just a question of how often and for how long I have to stop, but I'll get there.  The route won't be as pretty, cause it won't be trails, indeed, I think I'd prefer to run where there are more other folks, I can think about avoiding them etc.....

Per tant, estic intentant de trobar una manera d'anar a córrer sense fent-me boja.  Corrent d'un lloc cap a un altre podria ser una solució.  L'Home i les nenes podrien anar-hi amb cotxe o transport publica i jo aniria corrent.  Els podrien portar una recanvi de roba.  Sempre penso que si puc caminar una distancia, puc córrer-la també simplement depèn quantes vegades hauria de caminar, però arribaria.  La ruta no serà maca, ni amb camirols, però quan hi ha una gentada, haig de pensar de evitar-los.

Such a squirrelly head I seem to have.  Sembla que el meu cap no para mai.

The man can sit on a rowing machine for an hour, or run around a track for an hour.  I. so. cannot.  Another friend was talking about how much he loves swimming, in a pool.  Back and forth and back and forth for an hour or more.  Swimming hard.  I cannot imagine doing it.  Open water with waves slapping me around....yeah, a challenge, something to think about.  A bit of an edge to it.
L'Home pot fer una erg (aquest maquina per remar) per una hora o córrer donen voltes als pistes per un hora.  Jo. no. puc.  Un altre amic em va dir que li encanta anar a nadar, en una piscina.  Per aquí i allà i aquí i allà...i s'esforça molt.  No ho puc imaginar.  En el mar, amb ones donant-me cops, potser...una repta, hauria de pensar, una mica de adrenalina.

Is it a kind of meditative thing?  I can't quite fathom it.  Potser és una tipus de meditació...no ho veig clar.

It does make me wonder what it is with my head though.  Al final encara tinc dubtes de com va el meu cap.

Finally, finalment

I have internet access, but no time to write...all well here, more later

Tinc accès al internet, però no tinc temps....tot bé...fins ara.

Best teaching gig evaaah....el millor treball d'ensenyar mai.

Check these out:  Mira-les:

See the close up?  I més a prop?

These are 150 year old hand painted tiles, framed.  They were a gift from a friend who we have been helping with English for the last couple of weeks.  The one who got the job as a tour guide, and wanted to brush up his English a bit?  The one who's taken us on three different tours of BCN?  I mean really, lovely company, learning lots of new stuff about BCN, getting to visit it all, and then this gift?  Excellent.  All I had to do was correct some English!

Són rajoles amb unes 150 anys d'antiguitat....pintat a mà i posat en una marc.  Estan un regal que ens va donar un amic.  Hem estat ajudant-li amb anglès aquests últims setmanes.  El que ha guanyat feina com una guia turístic i volia millorar el seu anglès.  El que ens va portar per tres tours de BCN?  Vull dir, seriosament, bon company, hem après molt de BCN que no vam saber abans, hem fet visites - guiades - i un regal a sobre?  I tot el que havia de fer era corregir una mica d'anglès!

Yeah.  Sí

Pretty cool, no?  Impressionant, no?

Thank you so very much, if your reading.  Moltíssimes gràcies si estas llegint.

They are beautiful.   Són molt maques.  Però molt.

The Gothic Quarter, el barri Gothic

Went on another walking tour of BCN - an English correcting one!  The Man had the camera.....

I don't know which church this is, though I suspect it is Santa Maria del Pi

In the Plaça del Pi - it says the plaça of the unknown militia.  Don't know what that is referring to.

This is definitely inside Santa Maria del Pi

And this too, I'd never been in the church before, so it was pretty interesting, as churches go.

Cleaning up some graffiti...

Plaça de I-have-no-idea, but I could take you there, and they shot a scene from Vicky-Christina Barcelona there.  Flowers were falling off the tree onto us while we were there, it was lovely.

The courtyard of Casa l'Adriarca, now the archives of something or other, just by the Cathedral, lovely and quiet.

Their mailbox....complete with swallows and a turtle

The courtyard or a museum near the Cathedral...don't remember the name, it's late and the computer is running out of juice...it is lovely and quiet and has sculpture and a pretty little cafe, which I've never eaten in, but which our guide said was nice.

A unicorn gargoyle on the cathedral

Our feet....

The ceiling in part of the Palace of the Kings of Catalonia and Aragon

A doorway designed by Subiras, who is also doing the passion facade at Sagrada Familia

Columns from the original Roman forum

The base of another column, long gone.

The entrance to a building just off St Jaume, part of the city hall of BCN...look closely at the arch over the door, it is very cleverly done.

A sculpture by Antoni Llena that is of the Castallers, and also cava...very Catalan.
I like it, though it doesn't stand out well in the photo.  Every one of those curves was made by cutting the metal at an angle and then resticking it together again to make the curve.  Then smoothing it out.  Think about that for a bit.

Look closely at those columns.  Someone was feeling very bold.

Street art on someone's balcony.

and on the Palau de Mùsica Catalana

There it is again, I like the Palau a lot.

There you have it, the orfeó català, the choir that funded the building's construction, and the Catalan shield.

Hope you enjoyed it, I did.

Youngest has come back. La Petita ha tornat

Very very tired (as expected) and has a lot of work for tomorrow.  Should be dramatic.

MOLT cansada (com hem anticipat) i té molt de treball per demà.  Hauria de ser dramatic.

Visit, una visita

We went off to the Sagrada Família today, with a friend who's working as a tour guide and I manage to bring a camera without a memory card, cause I'm just that smart.

Hem anat a la Sagrada Família avui amb un amic qui té treball com una guia turística i he portat una càmera sense una targeta de memòria, perquè sóc tan llesta.

walking Caminant

I went walking today with my hairdresser and a friend of his.  A fantastic day.  60K, 1,859 climbing, 1,992 descending.   That would be 6,099 ascending and 6,207 descending.

We ended it all with a swim in the sea.  What a fabulous day.


He anat a caminar avui, amb el meu perruquer i una amiga seva.  Un dia fantàstic.  60K, 1,859m de pujada i 1,992 de baixada.  


Hem acabat la dia nadant pel mar.  Un dia fabulós.

well, that was OK....doncs, això ha passat força bé

A day spent packing.  Wish I could say we were finished, but we're not.

Tomorrow will be spent walking though, and that's very good indeed.

Hem passat el dia fent maletes.  M'agradaria dir que hem acabat, però no.


Demà passaré caminant i això em va molt bé, per cert.

YEAH!!!!

The man has been away for a week, sailing with some friends.  Now he's back and I am happy.  *aaaaaahhhhhhhh*

L'Home ha estat fora per una setmana, fent navegació amb alguns amics.  Ara ha tornat a casa i estic molt contenta.  *aaaaaaahhhhhhhh* 

I have legs, tinc cames

I know this may not come as a shocker, but I have two legs, and I am very aware of that fact right now.  They are very very tired.   Imagino que no estigui una gran sorpresa, que tingui dues cames, però al moment, estic notant que tinc dues. Estan molt cansades.

You see, I had planned on a 20K walk today, but then that wasn't going to work out, in part because of the HEAT, so I decided on a 7/8K run early...around 6am, and this particular run, which I really like, also includes 325 M of climbing, or 1065 feet of climbing.  It was good, even though Chuck abandoned me for about 10 minutes, I suspect a female dog in heat..... És aixì, he pensat de caminar per unes 20 kilòmetres avui, però aixó no anava bé, llavors, en part perquè fa molt de calor.  Llavors, he decidit d'anar a còrrer molt aviat aquest mati, a les 6, i aquesta ruta, que m'agrada molt, té 325 m de desnivell.  Anava bé encara que en Chuck m'ha abandonat per unes 10 minutes.  Crec que hi havia una gossa en cel.

Then I went for a 2 and a half hour walk with a friend, about 12K with 410 m or 1,345 feet of climbing and descending.  Followed by an hour long walk with the dog, about 4K I figure and a good 200 m of climbing.  Desprès he anat a caminar per 2 hores i mig amb un amic, hem fet 12K amb un desnivell de 410 m.  Llavors, he passejat el gos amb una amiga per un hora...i un bon 200 m de desnivell.

Then some more walking around town, and now, I am laying myself out on the bed.  Feels good too. Continuava de caminar pel poble i ara estic estirada al llit i trobo molt bé.

Dog is pretty tired as well, I might add.  El gos està ben cansat també.

Good day.  Un bon dia.

And I have legs.  I tinc cames.

Good lord, but life is good. Mira, la vida és tant bona.

Honestly, life is so good.  Sometimes I am just aware of it, and it is lovely.  This may have something to do with my light workload right now, and my correspondingly larger quantity of free time.  The weather here is perfect, absolutely lovely, not too hot, I did some painting, I am reading a good book, I went for a walk in the mountains with the dog and a friend, I am in good health and fit enough.....even the computer has decided to take a charge!

Veritablement....la vida està molt bona.  De tant en tant ho noto, i està un plaer.  Potser correspon amb la poca treball que tinc ara i en conseqüència, la gran quantitat de temps lliures que tinc ara.  Els temps estan perfectes, no massa calor no fred, he pintat una mica avui, estic llegint una molt bona llibre, he anat a passejar als muntanyes avui amb un amic i el gos, el meu salut està bon i estic en forma, prou....fins i tot, l'ordinador ha decidit de carregar-se!

Tomorrow, a run, get the kids off to school, a walk, maybe some more painting, some errands, lunch with the kids, maybe another walk....possibly a concert (terrible) in the evening that some of my students are in and they want me to come and see them perform.  

Demà, correré, les nenes aniran a l'escola, aniré a caminar un altre cop, pintaré, faré algunes tràmits, dinaré amb les nenes, un altre passeig, potser aniré a un concert a la tarde, (seria força horrorós) alguns dels meus alumnes serà tocant - els tenen bastant habilitiat, però tots?  No pot ser....però els meus alumnes volen que vingui, i ho faré.  No un dia molt malament, no?

Not a bad day.  No un dia molt malament, no?

I'm walking around with a big smile on my face.  I do love living here.  I was asked if my life here is very different than in Toronto....yes.  Very.  Estic caminant pel poble amb un gran somriure.  M'encanta viure aquí.  Em preguntat avui si la meva vida aquí està molt diferent del de Toronto.  Sí.  Molt.  

I don't want to say that life in Toronto isn't great, there are aspects of it that I adore, but I have access here to the mountains, to space and nature - even though there is nothing actually wild about it - and the sea and time to enjoy it.  I don't spend hours in a car or on the subway, Barcelona is nearby with all of its history and culture....there is.....so much.

No vull dir que allà no està bé, hi ha parts que m'encanta, però tinc un accés al mon de muntanya i espai i natura - encara que no està gens salvatge - i la mar i temps per desfruitar-ho.  No passo hores en cotxes ni en el metro, tinc Barcelona molt a prop amb tot el cultura i historia que n'hi ha....tot.  

Toronto has many wonderful things going for it, and there is much that I am looking forward to, I don't want to deny that, but simple, I am very happy here.

Toronto té els seus punts forts, no vull negar això, simplement estic molt contenta aquí.

call me Ishmael, em dius Ishael

I was working in BCN today related to some examinations I was invigilating, and the room we were in, there was this noise.....this weird deep groaning sort of rumble about ever 15 seconds.  It wasn't really loud exactly, but I did come to feel as if I were working in the belly of a whale whose stomach was feeling rumbley. He treballat avui a BCN, in relació d'unes exàmens que estava vigilant, i l'aula on estàvem, hi havia una soroll.......un soroll molt estrany, molt profunda i que ressonava i que retrunyia cada 15 segons.  No feia molt de soroll precisament, però al final sentia com si estigui treballant en la panxa d'un gran balena, i la seva panxa estava parlant per gana.

Very odd.  Molt estrany.

Even odder was that I was the only one who seemed to be wondering about it.  Més estrany encara?  Estava la única qui estava preguntant i notant el soroll.  

eating through the cupboards, acabant tot que quedi

We change countries twice a year, from Canada to Spain and back.  In Spain, this necessitates a certain amount of emptying of cupboards of anything that might conceivably go off or worse still, attract vermin.  In Canada, it is simply a matter of eating it all up so we haven't wasted money or food, and then we give whatever is leftover to whomever might be interested.  

Canviem països dos cops a l'any, cap a Canada i tornant aquí.  En Catalunya, hem de buidar tot que podria pudrir o pitjor atreure animals.  En Canadà, simplement volem menjar tot per no malgastar ni diners ni menjar.  El que no podem acabar, ho donarem al que sigui interessat.

What it does lead to is some odd meals.  For instance I have an entire package or Wakame (seaweed used in Japanese cooking) and I am not quite sure how to work all that into a few meals.......  Inevitablement, vol dir que mengem algunes àpats, una mica estrany.  Per exemple, tinc una borsa sencera de Wakame - una alga utilitzat per cuina japonesa i no tinc molts ideàs per com podem menjar tot.

I don't know if the kids like or hate this stage, but it is something they're kind of used to.  It is the bag and a half of oatmeal that I think we will never get through.....and the Catalans just don't eat it.  No sé si les nenes les agrada o les odien aquest part del nostre vida, però estan acostumades.  Haig de dir, tinc una i mig borses de cereal de avena, que no acabarem abans de quan hem de marxar, i els catalans, no ho menjen.  

Part 2, Mondernism/e

So, the BCN tour continues....here I came across the store, Vinçon....which is RIDICULOUSLY overpriced housewares store, that is set in a beautiful building that used to belong to the artist Ramon Casas!

The terrace out back, which is a veritable oasis of calm in the center of the city and is free for anyone....please take note people tired of clutching their purses from the hoards of pick pockets....there is neither food nor drink here, but there are table and chairs and peace and quiet, and a view of La Pedrera from behind!

Plus the neighbours lovely terrace,

And the back part of this terrace, simply go upstairs in the store, and you're there...

The store also still has this amazing fireplace, that no one even really notices, but should.....

The ceilings....really, well worth the visit.

This is a different building called la Casa de les Punxets, designed by Puig i Cadafalch, for three sisters.  Built for them by their father.

Here we have a couple of shots of Gaudí's Pedrera....

A statue that is a joint work of Miró and Artigas, the ceramicist we went to see recently.

The ceiling in the patio in la Pedrera

A new building kitty-corner to the Pedrera, clearly echoing it, our friend doesn't like it...I kinda do.

Sidewalk tiles designed by Gaudí.

 La Pedrera taken from kitty corner too.

Further down Passeig de Gracia, are these three buildings:

First here, the Casa Amatller, by Puig i Cadafalch

Casa Batlló, which I have never been in as the entry fee is so expensive!

By Gaudí.

And the Casa Lleó Morera by Lluís Domènech i Montaner

Quite amazing all told, and below, the partner to the giraffe, the bull, thinking.

Today, avuí...vol dir diumenge....that would be Sunday

My computer is temporarily dead...it won't charge, something is wrong with the connection, and I think I'll wait till I get to Canada to get it fixed, so I'm working on the Man's.  Good for the brain to switch things up from time to time!  El meu ordinador està, temporalment, mort.  No el puc carregar.  Alguna cosa ha passat amb al connexió del cable de carergar i em sembla que esperi fins que arribi a Canadà per reclamar-lo, ara estic treballant amb el del Home.  Diuen que està bé pel cervell si canvies coses de vegades!

Today, I went to St Feliu de Guíxols!  Friends invited us up for the day and it was MARVELOUS!  Avui hem anat a Sant Feliu de Guíxols!  Amics ens van convidar pel dia i estava meravellós.

There are the remnants of a monestary there that are used as a - well attended - church.....here's a couple of photos.....Hi ha parts d'un monestir que ara fan servir pel església, amb molta gent que van, aquí teniu unes fotos.....

It has obviously been burnt out at some time, as there are no interior decorations.  Està evident que l'església va cremar en un moment, deu ser a la guerra civil, perquè no hi ha cap decoracions a dintre.

There is some Catholic event on this weekend, I cannot remember which, but the Catalans make designs on the ground near the church with flower petals, very very beautiful.  Hi ha una celebració catòlic aquest cap de setmana, no me'n recordo quina, però els Catalans fan dibuixos al terra a fora dels esglésies, i surten molt macos.

Then we went for a walk along the coast a brava.....oh my......   Desprès hem passejat per la Costa Brava, deu n'hi do.....

Beautiful, no?  Espectacular, no?

Of course Youngest and I went for a swim as well.....and our host for a moment, though our hostess didn't.  It is quite a bit warmer and Youngest and I were in for a good half hour and didn't emerge particularly cold.  Evidentment, la Petita i jo hem nadat també.....el nostre amfitrió ha nadat també per un moment, però l'amfitriona no.  La mar està més calin, la Petita i jo hem quedat allà per un mig hora i no hem sortit amb molt de fred.

Look who came and visited us though!  Mira qui ens ha visitat!

Back to their place for a HUGE lunch and a nap, then home.  Hem tornat a casa seva per un dinar enorme i una migdiada fantàstic i hem tornat a casa....

What a great day.  Quin dia més maca.

Yesterday, ahir

well, it was a lot yesterday, the first major part is the bit I'm going to tell you about, cause the later bits involved a training session and work.....followed by mass hysteria at home, which I will probably tell you a bit about.

A friend of ours here has gotten a job as a tour guide, but a special kind of tour guide.  You see he's an architect, and the company he's going to be working for has very small groups, 2 − 6 max, and the guides are all locals and experts.

He wants to warm up his English, so he's been coming over and talking a whole bunch, but he also took us on one of his tours!  I'm hoping we'll get to do a couple of others too.....

I actually took only one photo when we went with him the other day, I was too focused on what he was saying, and how he was saying it.....so t
oday, after a day of work in BCN, I missed my bus so had some extra time and walked the route again, taking photos....

so here you go, a bit of a tour of Modernist BCN:

This is a seriously ridiculous number of photos, I dread to think how long blogger is going to take to load them......

First we walked up La Rambla, above Plaça Catalunya, here are some random photos of things we saw....

This building is the diputació de Barcelona, a gov't office....but the building in the foreground was designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch - who also did the caixa forum and the Quatre Gats, the Four columns in Plaça Cascades (on the way to MNAC from Plaça Espanya, recently restored), the building for the Generalitat de Catalunya,

This statue, La Girafa Coqueta at the top of La Rambla,   There are several public statues by Josep Granyer, another that you'll see later that is at the bottom of La Rambla (at Gran Via), and it brought to mind as well Fernando Botero who created the giant cat in La Rambla del Raval and the horse in the old airport terminal in Barcelona.   There is some truly excellent street art in Barcelona.

I have a strong suspicion that this is St Jordi, or St George, the patron saint of both England and Catalunya and as this is outside the diputació de Barcelona (Barcelona is both the city and one of four administrative regions within Catalunya)

I know not what, it went up between Friday morning and Sat afternoon, it is reportedly a puppet and lights up and dances.

What type of trees are these?????

Then we went just to the right of that photo above where there is the Casa Fuster by Lluís Domènech i Montaner one second of the three greatest Modernist architects in Barcelona.

Passieg de Gràcia in BCN is mostly a very wide very very expensive street of shops, but it was also originally constructed to connect BCN with the village of Gracia, and if you go round the back of this building, right to the end and look left up the street, there is a startling change in architectural styles, to that of a more typical Catalan small town.  Most interesting.

We walked past the Casa Comalat, which isn't by one of the big three, instead it is by Salvador Valeri i Poprull.  I liked it.

Then we were off to Casa Asia originally known as the Palau Baró de Quadras.  Cool thing about this is that it is now a museum and cultural center, so you can go in for free!  

The doorway to go in.....

An indonesian Frida Kahlo

Decorative work on all the walls, in plaster

Now that is a coffered ceiling and a half...

Frog in a sink, the water would come out his mouth!

Fireplace....it is intended to look like the mouth of a fish, but it makes me think of a nose....

These fish-y capitals are a reminder I guess....

All the walls were painted this way....I like it!

The view of the main entry from inside where the carriages would have entered.

There's quite a bit more, but that's enough for now, no?