Wednesday is the Weekend

Yesterday after another civil war class, we decided to do a little city exploring. Largely because of what week it is, we made our way over to the old Jewish Quarter, called the Call (named after the street that runs through it).

I always joke that the two hotspots on any Liss family vacation are the best bakery in the city, and the spot where the Jewish people lived. So Dad, this explanation is for you:

There's not much left to see of the Jewish area of the old city — the Jews were expelled from Spain in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. But the one synagogue that has been uncovered is considered to be the oldest synagogue in Europe, and so we took a tour around its two rooms.

The Sinagoga Mayor dates back to the 13th-century, though there are some relics that indicate it may have been there even earlier.

Among the interesting items we saw was a letter from the King Jaume I to the synagogue in the 13th-century, giving them formal permission to expand. (The rule in the day was that a synagogue could not be taller than the smallest church.)

Today there are about 4,000 Jewish people in Barcelona and 4 active synagogues.

Just to keep up the theme, we followed our tour with a falafel lunch.

In the afternoon, I had my first university class — Teoria Social Avançada (Advanced Social Theory) at UPF. The course is all about social class, a topic which — according to Juanjo — Europeans are obsessed with and Americans never talk about. It seems like it will be a really interesting course and as a nice bonus, the professor has a very easy accent to understand.

Last night the festivities of Mercè started. The holiday — which technically is today, September 24th — is a celebration of Mercedes, patron saint of Barcelona. The streets are filled with free concerts, there are fireworks on the beach, parades, human tours, and the metro never closes. Signs have been up for all of September, and the city has been busy setting up churros stands and bounce houses all week. The real action started last night with giant kick-off concerts in all of the big Plaças around the city.

Today (we have no class in honor of the day) all of the city's museums are offering free entry, so we're off to check out some local art and culture.