Word: barcelona
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Funny, then, that I found myself standing in the expensive new shopping mall in EI Prat de Liobregat, Barcelona's international airport--fresh-faced for the 1992 Olympics--and staring at little figurines of a saluting Adolf Hitler in a toy store's display case. The absurdity of finding Nazism trwsalued in the mudst of stuffed ducks jarred...
...just some architectural veneer, Barcelona's whimsy echoes in the Catalan spoken here as well. For instance, in this capital of Catalonia common words begin with X's, and it's somehow endearing that you can buy candy in a xocolateria on your way to a sparkling wine bar--a xampanyeria--called Xampau Xampany. Moreover, a government-printed language textbook eachews the dry repetitions of "amo amas amat" that filled my high-school Latin primer and replaces them with two unclothed cartoon Catalans locked in a torrid embrace...
Meanwhile, kiosks offering plants, parrots, puppies and Persian kittens occupy much of the sidewalk space on The Rambles, Barcelona's touristy retail boulevard. On Friday afternoons visitors and city residents alike mob the Passeig de Gracia because the weather's nice, they feel like it and they're happy...
...first glance there's little sign that anything unseemly could ever happen in this city. Little surprise, then, that a few years ago Spanish author Eduardo Mendoza called his novel about Barcelona "The City of Wonders." The city seems a more cheerful but more real version of Walt Disney World...
Designer Nicholas Georgiadis' lavish costumes and elaborate, larger-than life scenery embellish the ballet's sensual Spanish flair. The glowing hues of land, sea and sky in the Barcelona port scene and muted whites and silvers of the mystical forest fantasyland in the dream sequence echo the vibrance of the dancing itself. The fervid tangos and airy waltzes of Ludwig Minkus' original 19th century score capture the colorful folk mood of Old World Spain. Assistant Director Anna-Marie Holmes' staging is for the most part fast-paced and engaging, but sometimes lacks the vigor necessary to maintain the intensity...