Part 61: Barcelona!! (continued) Jan 2-4, 2013

Day 2:  All Modernism, All the time. 

I love modernist architecture and I really love Anton Gaudi (refer back to the aforementioned 10^th grade Spanish project), so my second day in Barcelona was dedicated exclusively to these to subjects.  And a little bit to getting lost, but that is because the city named the metro stop I needed was named La Segrada and I accidently got off at La Segrera.  Anyway, my metro error allowed me to walk passed Hospital de Sant Pau, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner.  Montaner, while less famous than Gaudi, was really the originator of modernist style. 

 

I finally walked passed some more Gaudi lampposts and found myself standing in front of La Sagrada Familia.  Unfortunately, since I got off at the wrong metro stop, I was not their right when it opened as originally planned, so I had to stand in a giant line.  It was worth it.  The cathedral is amazing!  So many colors and interesting things going on.  The columns were inspired by trees and there are few straight lines anywhere.  The choir galleries along the sides are 50 ft high and hold approximately 1000 singers.  The highest point inside is 148 ft.  There is also a museum giving the history of the church’s construction that shows off many models made by Gaudi and other architects that worked on the project, which should be completed in 2026. 

After spending at least 2 hours at La Segrada, I walked down the road to take a look at Casa Milà (1912) and its many chimneys and odd façade.  They make you pay through the nose to tour these buildings, I decided to only go inside Casa Batlló.  However, I sort of wish I had paid for both as the inside of Casa Milà  is also amazing. 

Casa Batlló (1904) is located just a few blocks further down the street and the outside is beautiful.  The outside is very colorful and was designed to look like St. George killing a dragon (the dragon’s ribs are seen as the attic arches and the tail finishes up at on the bottom floor stair case).  Some also think it looks like skulls and other bones on the front (in a non creepy way) or Mardi Gras masks.  Whatever symbols there are, I would love to live there. 

click here to watch a multimedia show from the house (and excuse my poor camera work) 

 

My last stop on Day 2 was Park Güell (1914).  It was also designed by Gaudi and is the location of the famous mosaic iguana that has come to represent Gaudi and the city of Barcelona.  The park has structures that resemble birds’ nests, two small buildings to mark the entrance, columns and sea-serpent shaped benches, and a great view of the city. 

On my way back to my hostel I tried to stop and see Casa Vicens.  It is a privately owned Gaudi home, so you can only see the outside anyway.  Unfortunately, it was dark and there was not a lot of light around it so I didn’t see that much.  The home was for sale in 2007 for 27 million euros.  Looks like I will have to change my career in order to actually live in a Guadi creation with a fence of palm leaves.