Dad somehow went on a student trip to Barcelona, studying Spanish at the university and living cheap in university accommodation. Despite never having studied Spanish before, he had classes in the morning at the College and then the rest of the day was free to experience Barcelona. He was doing somewhat of an ‘Eat Pray Love’ before Elizabeth Gilbert was in nappies.
Barcelona, archives of courtesy, shelter of the foreigners, hospital of the poor, father-land of the brave , vengeance of the offended and pleasant correspondence of firm friendship, and in site, and in beauty, unique. Don Miguel de Cervantes
One of his favourite places, Sitges‘ has an arty reputation dating back to the late 19th century, when Spanish painter Santiago Rusiñol took up residence there during the summer. The town when Dad was there, became a centre for the 1960s counterculture in Spain, then still under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and became known as “Ibiza in miniature”.
9/8/60 American Express, Barcelona
Dear Mum and Dad,
I hope all is well at home. This Barcelona trip has certainly been good value so far and great fun. We arrived in Barcelona on Tuesday after a 30 hour train ride, which was pretty tiring.
We were placed for accommodation in one of the university colleges in the fashionable part of the city. We are very comfortably placed in double rooms (I have a superior room to most with a balcony!) and the meals are quite substantial and good.
We usually start with a salad, followed by a typical Spanish concoction, then steak and ships and finally fruit of some kind, usually watermelon. Drinks (local) are extremely cheap 7 ½ D will buy a glass of superior sherry, port type, or ‘crème de menthe’ or similar liqueur.
We spend two hours in the morning at lectures and then the rest of the day is free. I have been on a number of excursions to see a bullfight, Spanish music and dancing, and to visit the towns of Sitges and Tarragona (once a famous Roman settlement); and two original El Greco paintings of St Peter and Madeline at Sitges.
Barcelona is a beautiful city on the same idea as Paris but substituting the parks and gardens of Paris for beaches. It is very warm here and I am doing a lot of swimming and I also succeeded in getting a bit brown.
The people here are gay and friendly and show this in their clothes. They have some excellent shops here which compete favourably with Paris or London.
I lost my glasses last Thursday at the beach so I went to the local firm and had my eyes tested with the help of an interpreter and the new pair were ready with 24 hours. They look very smart and function all right, but I am a bit concerned that the doctor, as far as I could gather, didn’t test each eye separately. I enclose the prescription for you to see and comment on. The new pair of glasses cost the equivalent of 3/7/6. Which is much better than getting it on National Health in the U.K. So the English people tell me.
Before I forget I would be very grateful if you would find my Russian books (3) and papers and post them over to me at my school in Kent. I intend to keep at it during the Winter months and they should arrive, if posted as soon as possible, in time for when I will need them at the end of October. It should be cheaper having them sent over than buying new ones. If you’re writing to Spain bear in mind it probably takes 10 days to arrive (by airmail) as postal services are not very reliable in Spain. You’d best address future mail to AMERICAN EXPRESS ROME or c/o Coursehorn, Cranbrook, KENT.
The night before I left for Spain, I had a meal at the Boykett’s flat and saw David and Peter as well as Nancy. Nan said that Ken was much better and in a private nursing home. They will not be able to go to the Games and they gave me a ticket for the rowing, which I could use.
The bullfight I attended was very interesting but I was still very disgusted by it. Six bulls were eventually killed between 6-8pm. One bull trying to escape leapt over the first of two fences separating the ring from the public seats, another tossed the matador, who recovered quickly to go on. The most fantastic and disgusting sight however, was to see the last bull being cut and skinned for some butcher shop, under the stands, as we came out to go to the College.
The most interesting part was the ritual of the sport but I will tell of this in my next letter.
Love Chris
My first exposure to Barcelona was through one of Dad and my earliest shared pleasures, ‘Fawlty Towers’ – God how we’d laugh at the antics of Basil and Sybil, Polly and Manuel…
It’s even funnier because one of Dad’s best friend’s bears an uncanny resemblance, in looks and temperament to Basil Fawlty, which just made us laugh all the harder. Ah, who says television can’t bring people together.
I did not decide to go to sleep, even though I wished to, so I could rise early and contemplate, in daylight, this city, unknown to me: Barcelona, capital of Catalonia. Hans Christian Andersen
Source:
Wikipedia
Photos:
Sitges barcelonaholidayapartments.co.uk/blog
Sitges beaches media.ticmate.com
Sitges apartment Apartmentbarcelona.com
Roman Aquaduct Tarragona wikimedia
Beach 1960 blogspot.com
Barcelona city Spanishwalkingtrails.com
Bullfight ryancore310.wordpress.com
Dad's travel diaries 
