Hats By Katrinka: Barcelona

I have never been to Spain so jumped at the chance when Cristina de Prada offered to show me around Barcelona if I ever ventured that way. What a wonderful time I had, thanks to Peter and Cristina’s very gracious hospitality! They met me at the airport Tuesday evening and, of course, we spotted each other by our hats. This was to be a short get-acquainted visit since they will be on holiday when Claremarie and I visit Barcelona later this month. First Cristina and Peter whisked me off to the Mediterranean shore for a Spanish dinner. We had a great local white wine with patates brutes, calamari, calamarites (I’m sure I’m vandalizing Spanish words here) and bread rubbed with fresh tomato and garlic. Those were just the starters. Then we had paella and luscious tiny desserts. The air was warm and humid, somewhat like Houston but not quite so hot. We took a leisurely stroll after dinner then headed home for a good night’s sleep.

On Wednesday Cristina and I took the Metro downtown then began a day of walking, shopping, gawking and picture taking throughout this beautiful city. We stopped by several Gaudi houses which I will tour later with Claremarie. We entered a department store that was situated in another beautiful house whose glory has been preserved. Then when Cristina said we were entering the older part of the city I was amazed as I’d thought we were already in the old section. We Americans have a different idea of old, I guess.

We entered a plaza where excavation had revealed a Roman cemetery. We were headed to this little notions shop that sells lace making tools, a skill that is enjoying a revival, Cristina says. I loved this tiny fan shop where the better fans are hand carved and painted in Spain. These are not just tourist items. I saw ladies all over Barcelona using them on the street, in the subway, in stores to keep a breeze going in the heat. Cristina told me they even make plain ones for men but I didn’t see any men using fans. I did see this gentleman sporting a newspaper hat tho’. I must say that generally Spanish women are better dressed than most of the Swiss women I see here. Perhaps it’s the heat but I saw many in lovely skirts and dresses and pretty shoes. Hats seem to be reserved for tourists and us few milliners. Too bad because they certainly make sense here.

Just before lunch Cristina steered me off the main street into a narrow side street where we were stopped by a couple of young men who looked like bouncers. They told us (in Spanish) that the street was closed but asked where we were going. When Cristina responded that we were going to the Shoe Museum they let us through. It turns out there was a film crew shooting a commercial in the plaza beyond with a well known soccer player. We were far more interested in shoes than footballers! This tiny museum is located in what was once the shoe guild hall and is probably smaller than my living room. It was packed with wonderful shoes dating back hundreds and hundreds of years. The old gentleman who took our modest entry fee kept popping back into the main room to tell us little anecdotes about the collection. Since I don’t speak Spanish I would not have been able to enjoy these tidbits without Cristina’s help. What a treat it was!

After sneaking a few pictures of the shoes we headed off to meet Cristina’s friend Nina who had agreed to show us her millinery workroom. First things first, however, as we were hungry. We headed down a quiet little side street and entered La Lluna to have another delightful meal. I particularly liked the grapefruity wine, a Palaccio de Bornos Sauvignon Blanc, which I enjoyed with my eggplant stuffed with a creamy mushroom sauce, then another fish served on ratatouille. I couldn’t resist chocolate crumbled onto chocolate ice cream for dessert. After all, I hadn’t tasted Spanish chocolate yet.

Then Nina guided us to her studio. Nina has worked with Lola Ehrlich in New York who generously introduced her to Patricia Underwood’s workshop where she observed machine straw stitching by Underwood’s master craftswomen. Both Nina and Cristina own straw braid sewing machines and know how to use them. I was very impressed and would love to come back for lessons sometime even though I do not own a machine. Nina also makes some of her own blocks out of cork and teaches that skill as well. (HHN Road Trip?)

Aren’t these miniature hat blocks amazing?

And look at these gorgeous braids!

I love Cristina in Nina’s little Sea Anemone hat out of tubular horsehair.

We wandered around for a little longer stopping into a shop that still makes traditional espadrilles. The fabric bands are laced in different ways to distinguish which area of Spain they represent. We also stopped into a Felt Shop that carried all kinds of flat felts from craft squares to heavy industrial felt. At this point I was beginning to stagger with the heat and fatigue so we parted with Nina and headed home to rest, drink some water and compare notes. Later we headed out with Peter to a neighborhood Enoteca for yet another fish dinner. We started with a glass of cool, refreshing Gazpacho then a few little starter tidbits (I loved the cod fritters) then I had Bream baked in sea salt with still another delicious Spanish white wine. I wasn’t going to have dessert this time but when Peter told me that one of them was similar to Crème Brulée I couldn’t resist. At least I didn’t finish it.

More tomorrow. K Q:-)

Comments

MORE! I want MORE! The straw braid bit, and cork blocks, ohmygosh! I'm calling this the Traveling Sisterhood of the Hood, and think we should all plan to travel to visit other milliners. What a great way to see a city. I am so glad I surfed blogdom and found such a delightful millinery in Spain!
(And I had no idea Spanish food was so very fabulous! I still have six pound on my middle thanks to Switzerland, imagine what a trip to Spain could do.)

Posted by: Jill | August 03, 2007 at 06:53 PM