Barcelona - Batlló house

Front facade of the Batllo house

Front facade at night

Front balconies

Built in 1877, the Batlló house in Barcelona is the most famous of Gaudi's residences, and for good reason.  What an amazing place!  Gaudí was the architect and contractor, and because there isn't hardly a straight line in the house, it would have been nearly impossible to draw blueprints one hundred + years ago.  He made rough drawings, but had to be there everyday to tell the workmen how to free form everything from walls, to windows and doors, to the ceilings,

Living Room of the Batllo house

etc.  Because Gaudí designs are so unique, the house is described as being Art Nouveau "in the broadest sense" (what an understatement!).  It's a highly organic-shaped house, and I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but you have to experience the space to fully appreciate it.  Unfortunately, the camera card slot on Chris' computer broke, so I can't download any of the pics I took and got these from the internet ...

Afterward, we went to a Basque bar and restaurant on the same avenue.  The place was very well done, and it was interesting to see the difference between Basque restaurants in Madrid and here.  Because of the history of Basque terrorism (directed mostly at Madrid), Basque restaurants there have very mild references to Basque culture and language.  Mom always told me that Catalán and Euskadi ( the Basque country) have always been kindred spirits regarding their individual identities and feelings toward Spanish nationalism, so the Catalonians aren't wigged-out by overt Basque displays.  Too, the Catalonians have never been targeted by ETA, the Basque terrorist group.  This bar, called "Txapela", or in Spanish "Chapela", is the name for the Basque beret-like hats that men where there.  The sign out front says "Txapela Euskal Taberna" or "Chapela Basque Tavern".  "Taberna" was written in Castillian, I assume

 because no one would know what the Basque word means here.  Poor Chris listened patiently while I explained the Basque significance of this thing and that.  I took photos of the inside with their thoroughly Basque decor, but can't download the photos ... grrr.



Lots more on Barcelona, but can't upload my photos until I get back to Madrid tomorrow.  Then we're leaving for Florida on Sunday ...

Barcelona Saturday

East face of the building

West face of the building

The last time I was at the the church of La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family) was in the late 1980s with Mom.  Designed by Antoní Gaudí and started in 1882, the building is still under construction.  When Mom and I were there, some of the towers were completed, but the church itself wasn't really even begun; just some of the foundation work.  In the past 20+ years, they have come a long way to completing the nave of the church and most of the exterior.  It is now expected to be completed in 2041.  A huge difference between the last time I was there and this time, is that now there are throngs of people waiting in line to pay 13 euros to tour the place.  As I remember, Mom and just walked right into the towers and I'm not sure that we paid anything to get in.  But when she and I went, construction had just resumed after years of nothing much happening there. The security guard told us this time that the wait would be about forty minutes, so we decided to come another day, get there early, and hopefully not have to wait such a long time.  

Chris patiently waiting for me ...

But while we were there we walked completely around it and took some photos from the outside.  The building is stunning.  It is essentially Art Nouveau, but has deep roots in Gothic architecture.  A lot of it looks like a dripped sand castle on the beach.  It has essentially gothic form, but like someone left it in the oven too long and it melted ...

Afterward, we went looking for the 38 story torpedo-shaped skyscraper called Torre Ágbar.  It is part of the new technology district of Barcelona and opened in 2005. Chris and I went during the daytime, but at night it is illuminated in purplish-blue light and really quite an amazing sculpture.  When we got close to it, we realized that it has a shell around the entire structure which stands off about five feet, made of both clear and frosted glass louvered panels.  When illuminated from behind at night, those panels give it an ethereal glow.  We plan to make the trip back at night time while we're here.  It's quite an amazing building.

Chris with the Mediterranean Sea behind him

We then hopped on a modern streetcar and took it down to the 1992 Olympic Village area for some drinks at a beach bar on the Mediterranean Sea.  Very modern and vogue, it felt more like Miami Beach than what we generally find on the West coast of Florida, that is, Hooters tiki bars serving buffalo wings and pitchers of beer.

We also saw some more great modern architecture along the waterfront.  Barcelona is quite an amazing city ... more to come.