The Coolidge examiner., 1931-05-22

in the sleeper or a hot days jour-
ney on the rapido.
Trains from almost every impor-
tant city to another point on the
opposite side of the country gen.
orally arrive in Madrid few min
utes too late to make the connec-
ton.
Focus of Spanish Eyes.
OF course, the capital is the focus
of all Spanish eyes and but very
few provincials could go through
Madrid and resist the temptation
to stop for at least a few hours ;
so perhaps little harm is done by
the lack of through trains.
Next to be considered is BARGE
Iona, so individualistis that 1t
long has threatened to become the
capital of an Independent Catalan
state. Barcelona's life may be said
to be dominated by the Rambla, the
city's chief avenue. For several
blocks along the Rambla the curb
stone is lined with open air shops.
Flower shops emit the scent of
violets, roses and lilies, until the
stroller passes a doughnut, fish or
toasted sandwich booth. There are
booths of professional letter writ
ers, magazine stands with a com
plete line of periodicals and lot
terry tickets, stands where women
can buy silk stockings and other
wearing apparel, and stands of
bird sellers whose warbling mer-
chandise is concealed in tiers of
cages.
In the street humanity is so
thick that 1t is difficult for traffic
to pass. The Rambla is not only a
shopping district. but meeting
place, a Ioating place. and an en-
ployment "office." The Spanish
sailor with his red sash and red
and white handkerchief tied about
his neck, and the uniforms of mer
chantmen from perhaps dozen
different countries add color to the
thrOng.
The bull-tight arena acc0mmo-
dates about $4,000 spectators and
is occupied The remainder of the
city's 100000 inhabitants throng
the well-kept promenades and
parks.
Harks Back to Middle Ages.
Barcelona is modern in appear
ance. although the port dates to
the second century and ranked
with Genoa and Venice in Medi-
terranean trade in the Middle ages.
The spacious harbor into which
the Phoenicians sailed in quest of
new peoples with whom to trade,
and which Columbus triumphantly
entered after his return from
America, now is pierced by long.
modern wharves. each accommo-
dating several large ocean-going
vessels at time.
The old quay, now well paved, Is
lined on its inner side with modern
buildings and a promenade flanked
by two rows of palm trees occu-
pies its center.
The old part of the city. once
surrounded by a wall, still has
some of its canyonlike streets,
many so narrow that the wheels
of carts nearly scrape both curbs
as they pass, and balconied win
dows of bordering buildings nearly
meet.
But many of these crooked lanes
open into wide streets. For in
stance, the aforementioned Rambla
which bisects the city from the
harbor northward is tree-lined
boulevard and the site of the old
wall now is a park called the Ron
das. One can walk in this park
way from one end of the quay,
through the center of Barcelona
and back to the other end of the
quay. among Towering gardens and
under shade trees. The Ronda fire.
quently opens into public squares,
one of which is the Plaza de Cata-
luna, the hub of Barcelona.
Here trans, automobiles, busses
and wagons, running into the
bewildering to the pedestrians who
crowd upon numerous safety zones,
but the apparent traffic tangle
seems not to alarm the well-trained
Barcelona traffic officers.
One has TO watch ones step in
the Plaza, hut when the American
gets a chance to take his eyes off
the street, he is greeted with two
huge signs that make him think OF
home. One advertises a popular
make of American automobile and
the other is that of a language
school which is well known in all
American cities.
Barcelona has a magnificent Goth
ic cathedral. a university, many
historic churches, museums, anC
new buildings of the pure BARGE
Iona school" of architecture, the
lines of which simulate oceaI
waves. But the outdoor life of the
inhabitants is the lure of the Span
ish city.