Spain 2016- Part 3 Barcelona

Preface:  This post turned out to be much longer than expected. I tried to create hyperlinks to the art, food and shopping sections but apparently, that is over my head.

Carl found a loft through Airbnb that looked really interesting so we booked it for six nights. It was located in the Gothic district (Barrio Gotic). We arrived by train around 10:30 pm and got in the cab line. Our cabbie drove like a maniac and I seriously thought we were going to get into an accident and die before getting to see the city. He dropped us close to our building where we were greeted by the owners who stayed up until 11:00 pm to show us our space. (After spending time in Spain, we realized that we were probably interrupting their dinner.) We were on the second floor of a building dating from the mid 1800s and located above the oldest existing market in the city. We didn't know at the time, it was also above a bar. More about that later.

The beautiful old door leading to our loft

Although the loft slept 6, we had the whole floor to ourselves. Plenty of room to stretch out.

I remembered from the listing that there was a red refrigerator...just like home!

And on the desk, a vintage Olivetti typewriter. Also,  just like home.

A nice spot to lay out the maps and travel books to plan our stay.

By this time into the trip, I had ceased doing daily journal entries so what follows is not in chronological order but, rather, by subject matter.  It makes sense to start with architecture.

Gaudí . Everyone told us we would love his work. Everyone was right. Gaudí 's work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. He considered every detail of his creations and integrated into his architecture such crafts as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork, forging and carpentry.  He also introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as "trencadis" which used waste ceramic pieces. Under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the Modernista movement which was reaching its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Our first Gaudí experience came as we walked through Park Guell. The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, the idea of Count Eusebi Guell, one of Gaudí 's benefactors.
The intention was to exploit the fresh air (well away from smoky factories) and beautiful views from the site, with sixty triangular lots being provided for luxury houses. Ultimately, only two houses were built, neither designed by Gaudí. It has since been converted into a municipal garden.

Entrance to the park. The roof resembles soft serve ice cream, bringing Dairy Queen to mind.

Mosaic sign that spells out Guell

The focal point of the park is the main terrace, surrounded by a long bench in the form of a sea serpent. The curves of the serpent bench form a number of enclaves, creating a more social atmosphere.

We also visited La Pedrera,  also known as Casa Milà.  It was built for the married couple Roser Segimon and Pere Milà and was the last civil work designed by architect Gaudí. Construction took place from 1906 to 1912. Casa Milà is the result of two buildings, which are structured around two courtyards that provide light to the nine stories: basement, ground floor, mezzanine, main (or noble) floor, four upper floors, and an attic. The basement was intended to be the garage, the main floor the residence of the Milàs and the rest distributed over 20 apartments. The resulting layout is shaped like an asymmetrical "8" because of the different shape and size of the courtyards.

One of the most notable parts of the building is the roof, crowned with skylights, staircase exits, fans, and chimneys. All of these elements, constructed out of brick covered with lime, broken marble or glass, have a specific architectural function. Nevertheless, they have become real sculptures integrated into the building.

The top apartment has been fitted with historically accurate furniture and accessories to reflect how it looked at the time. The attic space is dedicated to the design aesthetic of Gaudí.

The exterior of La Pedrera.  Note the ironwork design that was inspired by seaweed.

Sculptures on the roof that are actually chimneys.

Roof sculptures on left resemble warriors or robots

Views from the rooftop of La Pedrera. Note the touristy garb.

The servant's work room recreated in the top story apartment.

The nursery with its beautifully filtered light.

Gaudí looked to the natural world for architectural ideas.

Python skeleton

 My friend and former Barcelonina, Cristina, suggested that we visit Illa de la Discordia, a block of buildings designed in a variety of architectural styles. Block of Discord – is the most famous collection of modernist buildings sharing the same facade in Barcelona located in Passeig de Gràcia between calle Aragó and calle Consell de Cent. At number 35 is Casa Lleò Morera, designed by Domènech i Montaner; a little further along you come across Casa Amatller, designed by Puig i Cadafalch; and finally, Casa Batlló, a work by Gaudí.

Illa de la Discordia

Detail from Casa Amatller

Detail from Casa Batlló

And, finally, the incredible Sagrada Familia. Construction of Sagrada Familia commenced in 1882 by architect Francisco Paula de Villar with Gaudí becoming involved in 1883 after Francisco resigned as the head architect. Taking over the project, Gaudí transformed it with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted his last years to the project, and at the time of his death at age 73 in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Five generations have already witnessed the temple’s rise in Barcelona. Construction continues today and could be finished in the first third of the 21^st century.

Sagrada Familia

Detail of the doors of the Glory Facade. The doors tell the story of humanity and the paths to eternal happiness. Created by Josep M. Subirachs and features the text of the Our Father in Catalan surrounded by its central phrase in fifty different languages as an expression of brotherhood among cultures.

The Passion Facade

The Nativity Facade

City view from the tower tour

Temple interior

There is so much incredible architecture in Barcelona that I had a hard time putting my camera down. Here are a few more of my favorites.

My first glimpse of Gothic architecture

Wrought ironwork on balconies in the Art Nouveau style

Beautiful facade on unknown building. Also loved the colorful pennant.

Cascada Fountain at Parc de la Ciutadella

I know. That was a lot of architectural pictures. I did my best to be selective but it's hard when we were surrounded with so much beauty.

On to art. One of my favorite experiences in Barcelona was the Picasso Museum.  We arrived before it opened and the line wasn't long. There was a little rain that day but not enough to keep us from our plans.

Museo Picasso houses one of the most extensive collections of artworks by the 20th-century Spanish artist Pablo Picasso.

Since the museum didn't allow photography (even non flash!) , this is the extent of my photos.

The museum had a lot of his very early work including sketchbooks and paintings he did as an adolescent. There was also an incredible collection of pottery. Since I couldn't take photos, I'll share a photo I found on the internet of my favorite painting from the museum. I bought a collection of four prints from this series that I'm framing for my studio.

The Pigeons, Pablo Picasso, Cannes, 1957

“El Peix” is one of the best known and most striking landmarks on Barcelona’s seafront. Its gold coloured stainless steel surface shines under the Mediterranean sun and changes appearance depending on the angle of the sun and the current weather conditions. The area is called Barceloneta and we spent a good part of the day enjoying the seaside and modern buildings.

"El Peix" by Frank Gehry

Detail with turtle and birds at the entrance to Casa Ardiaca, located next to the Catedral de Barcelona. It took quite a bit of research to find the information on this but glad I did.

Loved the detail of the snail on this park planter

Grafitti and murals everywhere! This one was at Park Guell

When the storefronts close for the day or during siesta, it's like a gallery of painted metal doors. Makes not shopping much more enjoyable.

Another closed storefront

Eating and shopping is up next. For whatever reason, I continuously forgot to take pictures of food. I think I was just too hungry. We enjoyed the food but by this time we were getting a little tired of ham, cheese, bread and fish. We searched out Italian and other Mediterranean restaurants and were happy to find plenty to choose from.

Before we wolfed down the hummus and pita (Our second time at Tallas de Tapas)

Always with the wine and still water

They all ordered burgers so I had to take a picture.

The gelato was amazing although I didn't have any at this particular shop. Just loved the addition of the macaron.

 There was shopping. Not a lot of shopping but some. We were lucky to happen upon a very cool outdoor flea market on Saturday. I was almost afraid to take pictures because I got yelled at in the Paris flea market and more recently, at La Boqueria, the Barcelona open market. I could have stayed for hours but Carl had other ideas. Most of all we did a lot of window shopping. Because the storefronts and windows in Barcelona are pretty spectacular.

Nice collection of vintage jewelry and religious medals.

Sort of like a fancy antique mall but everything was closed. Damn siestas. We had just seen the original of that Picasso print at the museum- Pierreuse with Her Hand On Her Shoulder, 1901.

Lovely traditional window dressing

Fun and colorful shoe store

Speaking of shoes...Barcelona, and Spain in general, has a huge sneaker culture.

So that pretty much sums up the Barcelona slice. Getting back to the loft we rented. Yes, we realized our first night (early morning) there was a bar down below. There was non-stop drunken noise until around 3:30 every morning. We got little sleep. We did, however, visit the bar a couple times and found out the bartender made a mean Manhattan, as evidenced below.

Carl at The First Cocktail Bar