the towers, and at the joyful spiritual graffiti splashed onto the stonework. Gaudi’s Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia is yet to be finished and every day brings stonecutters working to fill the roofless centre with a yet taller tower. in a grand gesture of faith. The creation is also a specifically Catalan endeavour- the flipside of the fierce independence evidenced by buildings like the Telephonica, still, as my friend discovered, bearing the marks of street gun-fighting during the Civil War. Barcelona now speaks and looks different from the rest of Spain, undoubtedly helped on its road to uniqueness by the influence ofAntonio Gaudi.
The architect, born in 1852 and destined to be run over by a tram in 1926, believed that nature never bothered with straight lines, so why should he. His surreal imagination seems to have been given free rein over Barcelona‘s private houses, street lamps, and anything else that needed to be lifted out of the ordinary. After cafe-crawling days with the sun back to its blistering norm, I walked up some hills and discovered his amazing Parc Guell. Originally planned as a kind of Brookside for the rich, it never seemed to matter to patron, Count Guell, that only two houses were ever sold, one of them to Gaudi himself. The layout of the park is complex and on several levels. Above one Disneyland house. there
BACK LIST.
Barcelona Street Cafe
them. mud columns echoing the tree trunks and reaching up to another level of more palms and the sky. Tearing myselfaway from a milky, almond-flavoured ‘horschata‘ drink, 1 went down to the dusty arena and looked closer at the undulating wall and the view across Barcelona and its sea-port. It was as if a thousand Victorian fire-places had been smashed. for the curvacious wall is a mosaic of flowered, striped and spotted, china.
A taste for heights is not easily lost. I began to fill the nights with the city — the vibrant boulevard ofthe Ramblas, squawking with people and unseen caged birds, La Bohemia and its crooners, or the old-style
places to see them from. I took a rickety cable car up to Tibidabo, a mountain with a temple and a bizarrely incongruous amusement park. Up in the high church Cloisters,
great white statues of saints seemed
to glare at the fairgrounds flying aeroplanes, and at the miniscule
Sagrada Familia, Ramblas and port far below. Stairs wound up above the
lift and into airy silence, broken only by the crackle of a walky-talky. I said ‘ola‘ to what looked like a Spanish policeman, and gazed over the best view yet, from what may have been a forbidden zone . . . A pair of
' binoculars appeared round my neck . . . On my rapid descent, I realised I was right all along; ‘ola’ is red rag to a
; _tirelessness. I will see you again,
BERNARD FARRELLY
me at the Cafe Zurich, lmmaculada falls in love with a member of a visiting fleet who strolls over to her table in his uniform. Streets away, galleries of Picasso or Byzantine treasures offer cool refuges for tourists heady with the city‘s aromas of flowers and grass and, its atmosphere of Cosmopolitan
Barcelona.
A.T. Mays Branches all over Scotland. Return flight only, London (Gatwick) — Barcelona £96 from 1 Nov (£149 over Christmas). Transalpino Byres Road, Glasgow, 334 0800; North Bridge, Edinburgh,
is a covered market area; above that
is a plaza, which is in turn underneath a colourful cafe
CITYLIST
This Is a new listings section primarily for classes and workshop activities as well as lorcluhs and societies wishing to advertise regular meetings etc. Initially and subject to space this will he a free listings service. Ideas lor new sections are very welcome. Please send all your lniorrnation to The List 10 days before publication date. Political, spiritual, literary and women's events will be listed on the Open List in the usual way.
EDINBURGH
0 FREE CHILDREN'S ART CLASSES will re-commence on Sat afternoons at the Gateway Exchange, 2 Abbeymount. Tel: 661 0982 for details.
0 SWIM ANO TRIM FOR LADIES Portobello Baths, Bellfield Street, Portobello, 667 7211 ext 233. Mon-Fri 9am—10am and loam—1 lam. Fitness training and swimming 75p per session. 0 SWIMMING LESSONS Portobeilo Baths. Bellfield Street, Portobello, 667 721 1 ext
233. Sats 9am-12noon. Adults £7.60 for 8 weekly lessons, £15.20 for 16 lessons. Children £4.40 for 8 lessons, £8.80 for 16 lessons. Also adult lessons on Suns 4—6pm. 0 YOUTH THEATRE YWCA. 7 Randolph Place, 225 4379. The West End Youth Theatre runs drama workshops on Sat mornings, re-starting 20 Sept. Open to anyone up to 16 years. Membership £2.50 per year, plus 50p per weekly class. 0 359 GALLERY will be running Drawing and Painting classes from 7 Oct—13 Dec. Also morning slide lectures on The Colourist Tradition in Art and the Great Masters beginning 22 and 24 October. Tel: 031 225 3013. 0 SCOTTISH YOUTH THEATRE Radio Drama Course. 30 Oct—2 Nov at the BBC Radio Drama Studio, Edinburgh. The emphasis of the course is on vocal and microphone technique. characterisation and ensemble work, using existing scripts and course members‘ own ideas. Fee: £60. Age 16-21 years. Closing date 12 Sept. 10-12 places only. All who apply will be interviewed during week ending 20/21 Sept. Scottish Youth Theatre also run
I courses in television. drama
dance-hall of La Poloma, where you dance two-step with gentlemanly ex-matadors. My days were Spent in a search for more views and fantastic
bull.
workshops allover Scotland and five-week summer drama course. For details of fees and membership please contact Scottish Youth Theatre, 48 Albany Street. Edinburgh, 031 557 2224. They also encourage young playwrights to submit scripts to them all year round. 0 PRINTMAKERS WORKSHOP 23 Union Street, 557 2479. Weekend Etching Course 20.21 Sept. Advanced Course 4 and 5 Oct. Weekend Lithography Basic Course 27 and 28 Sep. Advanced Course 25, 26 Oct. Cost £25 (£20 members, OAP, U840 and Student). Life Drawing Classes, Thurs 4 Sept—11 Dec. Cost £10for fifteen classes in advance. or £2 each. Bring your own drawing board. 0 CRAIGLOCKHART SPORTS CENTRE 177 Colinton Road, 443 0101/02. The following sports activities are offeredto members: Canoe coaching Mondays (90p adults, 65p Under 18). Ladies Club, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (creche available, 60p per child) keep-fit, aerobics, squash, badminton, tennis (90p per session). Fencing Club, Tuesdays and Fridays (90p adult, 65p Under
18.60p Under 10). Men‘s
Too soon it was yesterday’s papers, - airline food, and ‘adios‘ from the 1 highest vantage point of all. Below
Badminton Coaching, Sundays (90p adults, 65p Under 18) Book in advance for four. weekly courses). Mixed Keep-Fit, Sundays (90p adults, 65p Under 18). Under 21 Mixed Keep-Fit. Sundays (90p 18—21 years, 65p Under 18). Senior Citizens Club, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays ( 10p).
0 EPWORTH HALLS Nicolson Square, Edinburgh, 031556 1179. Contact Tracy Hawkes. Autumn classes begin on Tue 16 Sept and run till Christmas. Ballet and Jazz dancing classes for beginners and the experienced. Also classes for children. Prices from £28—£31.50.
0 Theatre Workshop 34 Hamilton Place, Edinburgh, 031 2265425. starts up its highly popular Youth Theatre classes during September: Junior Youth Theatre starting on Tue 9 Sept; Middle on Wed 17 Sept and Senior on Thurs 4 Sept. The Youth Theatre courses meet once a week and run all year, working towards productions. Membership costs £8 for a year/£15 for 6 months for Junior (9:12 years) and Middle (13—15 years) and £10 for a year/£6 for 6 months for Senior (16—21
years). Unfortunately, so
Keep-Fit classes Fridays (90p).
557 3140. Return rail from London £112.20. Flights from Gatwick £114 in September falling to £107 in October.
popular are the courses that Junior and Senior are full, but you can join the waiting list, and there is still space on the Middle ; Youth Theatre project. Contact f the theatre for details. Theatre Workshop also runs many other courses, including
photography, costume design, print-making, film animation, puppet-making, dance, make-up, writing and adult drama. Look out for details of these in future.
0 Theatre Workshop 34 Hamilton Place, Edinburgh, 031 226 5425, also runs community projects, and there is till time to get involved in their latest one. Heaven on Earth, an ‘epic
collage focusing on experience since World War Two‘. Integrating volunteers and disabled performers, the
project will be performed as
part ofthe theatre‘s 21$!
birthday celebrations in October. Anybody interested in ; any aspect ofthe production— . practical or performing — should contact Theatre Workshop. , e Springwell House Ardmillan g
I
Terrace, Gorgie, 031 337 1971, runs free weekly meetings all year round, particularly for the unemployed: Puppet Theatre group meets Tue 2—4pm and Thurs 10.30am—12.30pm;
The —_1 8 September 39