Stroll through the heights of Barcelona; from Avenida Tibidabo to Vallvidrera by Daniel Vázquez Sallés
The Andreu Tower, popularly known as La Rotonda, is the gateway to this urban route that has become so fashionable among tourists arriving in the city of Barcelona. Located at the foot of Tibidabo Avenue, the Torre Andreu was one of the emblems of Barcelona's modernism. Acquired by the Núñez i Navarro company at the end of the 20th century, after various renovations, the building retains the beautiful facade conceived by the architect Adolf Ruíz i Casamitjana and the ceramist Lluís Bru, as well as the elements that were representative of the original modernist design from 1906.
Just a few meters from the gates of La Rotonda, there is the Tramvia Blau stop. The last remnant of the old Barcelona tramway system, the Tramvia Blau runs along an avenue, Tibidabo Avenue, considered by real estate agencies as the fourth most expensive street in Spain. From a historical perspective, the houses located on both sides of the route were designed to the taste of the wealthy Barcelona bourgeoisie of the late 19th century. A bourgeoisie that entrusted their cosmopolitan spirit to Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Enric Sagnier, Adolf Ruíz Casamitjana, and other great architects of the time. Beautiful and majestic, the stories that took place on Tibidabo Avenue could fill an entire book of urban legends featuring unique characters. With or without half-fiction, half-reality legends, that now restored Rotonda was the home of the pharmacist and philanthropist Salvador Andreu i Grau, the famous doctor of cough pills and father of Madronita Andreu, a pioneer of Catalan photography. As a result of the Spanish Civil War, the Andreu family was forced to leave their home to the ravages of the conflict and cross the Atlantic to New York. With the Republicans on the defensive, the building went from being a consulate to the Soviet Embassy with a change of powers within the delegation. Amidst internal and external skirmishes, consul Vladímir Antónov-Ovséyenko was sent to Moscow to become one of the victims of Stalin's purges of 1937. From those war years, the bunker that the Soviets built to protect their workers from the bombings of the Italian aviation in 1938 still stands.
In the first house on the left is currently located Drolma, the restaurant that under the guidance of the popular chef Jordi Cruz has reached the highest accolades of the Michelin Guide. If from a culinary point of view, Drolma is the heir to the great Catalan gastronomic revolution led by Santi Santamaria and Ferrán Adrià in the late eighties, from an ethical and aesthetic standpoint it is a clear representation of the metamorphosis undergone by the old buildings that once were the homes of the great bourgeois families. Casa Arnús, Casa Casacuberta, Casa Muntades, Casa Francesc Sert i Badia, Casa Fornells, Casa Macaya, Casa Roviralta, the Enrique Granados Auditorium, Cases Josefa Orpí Almirall, the restored mansions still retain the surnames of their original owners, although now they are the headquarters of communication companies, private clinics, and in some cases, consulates like that of the People's Republic of China.
The last stop of the Tramvia Blau is at Plaza del Doctor Andreu, one of the favorite recreational forums for the people of Barcelona thanks to two iconic bars. The cocktail bar Merbeyé is a vintage-looking venue that reached mythical status due to a song composed by the singer Loquillo. In El Cadillac solitario, the rocker gave it prominence in famous verses that are part of the nostalgia for several generations: "And now I'm here sitting / in an old second-hand Cadillac / next to Merbeyé, at my feet, my city...". That city that spreads out like an illuminated carpet, has in the Mirablau, the other bar, a unique and glazed viewpoint from which you can enjoy a magnificent cocktail and forty years of music for ageless youth. Mirablau has the feel of a disco for calm people.
During the day, visitors can ascend to the heights of the Collserola mountain by a funicular that leaves from Plaza del Doctor Andreu and ends its journey at the entrance of the Tibidabo Amusement Park and the Expiatory Church of the Sacred Heart. Along the route, the funicular crosses the Carretera de les Aigües, the favorite circuit of professional runners and not so professional runners with a guilty conscience after the caloric feasts ingested during the summer and Christmas holidays.
The Expiatory Church of the Sacred Heart was designed by the architect Enric Sagnier, and the construction lasted almost sixty years: from 1902 to 1961. In the neo-Gothic style, the church has a somewhat faux set design, although it does not fail to perform the functions of any Catholic church. The Expiatory Church of the Sacred Heart has as many detractors as it does defenders, which is not surprising considering the complexity of a society like Barcelona's, always so ready for debate.
Until the eighties of the last century, the city had two old-school amusement parks. With the one in Montjuic gone, the Tibidabo amusement park is the only charming relic that miraculously remains standing. Not in vain, this sanctuary of fun is the oldest in Spain and the third oldest in Europe.
Among its old attractions, the hall of mirrors, the automaton room, the swings, the carousel, the airplane, the aerial railway, the Watchtower, and the Enchanted Castle still remain, amusements that have managed to survive various economic crises that almost buried the park in the chest of memories. After having several owners, the park ended up in the hands of the city council, and as a public settlement, the old attractions underwent a profound renovation while new ones not suitable for people with heart conditions were installed. Undoubtedly, the most remarkable aspect of the park is its privileged location as it crowns a modest mountain range that forms the border between Barcelona and the interior of Catalonia. To the north, the Montserrat mountain and the first peaks of the Pre-Pyrenees can be distinguished.
The Collserola Range is one of the green lungs of the city. Turned into a natural park of Mediterranean flora and fauna, adopted by the citizens as the favorite place to channel stress, Collserola has a special charm despite being dominated by a Foster communication tower as tall as it is unfortunate. Collserola is home to hermitages such as Sant Medir, and farmhouses like Vil·la Joana, an old 18th-century house later transformed into a neoclassical residential home that was the last refuge of the poet Jacint Verdaguer.
One of the most charming places is Vallvidrera, a village located 350 meters above sea level. It has been a favorite summer retreat for the people of Barcelona since the end of the nineteenth century, which explains the origin of the numerous popular modernist buildings that are still perfectly preserved today. Vallvidrera was incorporated into Barcelona when the town of Sarriá became a district of Barcelona.
Oh, forests of Vallvidrera!
What scents you have given me!
With the sea behind me
And Montserrat in front,
And at my feet the poet's haunts
Which are now eternity.
The poet Joan Maragall dedicated some famous verses to Vallvidrera, and in Vallvidrera lived the famous fictional detective Pepa Carvalho, not far from the house of the author of the novels he starred in. The ugliest part of Vallvidrera is its central square. A non-square square whose ugliness is compensated by the aromas emanating from the kitchens of Casa Trampa, one of the oldest restaurants serving popular Barcelona cuisine. A simmering cuisine for a town that, despite being just a stone's throw from Barcelona, remains untouched by the frenetic pace of the modern city.
