Our last day in Spain

Our last day in Spain was a busy one. We walked around the city and saw a few more of the iconic Barcelona stuctures including the Arc di Triomf in Citadel Park.

It is a magnificent Moorish Revival structure. Really beautiful red brick.



We also wandered into Barcelona's old cathedral, which is in the center of the Gothic Quarter. It is a magnificent old cathedral with soaring arches. It is very dark inside, but the dim lighting gives it a very atmospheric feeling.









The back streets of Barcelona are really, really neat. There is so much ancient architecture here that it is very atmospheric.











Barcelona has the most Mediterranean feel of the cities we visited in Spain.





We explored the ancient streets in the Gothic Quarter and came across some Roman Ruins tucked inside a building. They had been protected because they had been incorporated as part of a structure a long time ago. They recently had been uncovered, and are now on display. Pretty cool the way that worked out.

We met up with Sergio, an old coworker from Sony, for lunch. It was great seeing him. He's working in Spain doing 3D Live Sports Broadcasts. A pretty cool job, and certainly the future of entertainment. Very exciting.





He's Catalan and he took us to a traditional Catalunian restaurant for lunch. We had Sangria and of course more Jamon.




For our last dinner in Spain, we went to a restaurant that specialized in Seafood Paella. We both ordered it, but in hind site, we probably could have simply ordered one and split it. It was magnificent, and crowned with Shrimp and Mussels. Delicious.



On our way out of the city, I grabbed a few last shots of the magnificent architecture in the new city. Most of it dates from the 1800s and a lot of it is beautiful Art Nouveau.




Before we knew it however, our Spanish journey had come to an end, and it was time to return to London. It's always great to go traveling, but there comes a time when it is time to go home.

As Tony puts it, Home is where the Puppies are.

Picasso's "Las Meninas"

To say that Picasso loved Velasquez's painting Las Meninas is probably an understatement.














We visited the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, which was a real treat. Covering many of Picasso's early works, it was amazing to see the development of this amazing artist. It follows his evolution from realist to cubist, and one can see why the world would be so shocked by the change that occurred.

Picasso seemed to be particularly obsessed with Velasquez's Las Meninas as he painted variations of it over and over again. The museum probably houses around 30 different variations on the painting. It was a lot of fun to see his different takes on the painting, and what elements he chose to fixate on.







The museum is well worth a visit.

Barcelona - Mercat de la Boqueria

Tony and I got up early one morning to go to the Mercat de la Boqueria. It is a fun outdoor market with lots of color and unusual foods.

We were drooling over so much of the food, and regretting that we didn't have a kitchen or someplace we could take the food and cook it up. What a feast we could have.




There were tons of exotic fruit drinks, and we both ended up having a glass of something unusual.

The colors were wonderful. The mushrooms were multicolored and absolutely magnificent. Probably the prettiest I've ever seen. I would love to make a Mushroom soup with them.



Tony loved all the colorful candies. We did exercise restraint and instead had some tasty Medjool Dates.









I would love to come back and do some serious foodie shopping here.

La Sagrada Familia

Gaudi's masterwork is what will become the Barcelona's grandest cathedral - La Sagrada Familia. Construction has been going on for over 100 years, and they have finally just completed the Nave.



There are still over 25 more years to go to complete the last portion of it.













The vision for the Cathedral has survived the Spanish Civil War and Franco's dictatorship.






Though many of the plans were lost or destroyed, Gaudi's vision for the cathedral has remained, and been carried on by other artisans to see it through to completion.








Tony and I got up early and headed directly there to get in before the crowds did. It is easily Barcelona's main attraction.

It is an impressive building, with a considerable amount of sculpture on the outside, which is basically devided into three facades: The Passion facade, the Nativity facade, and the yet to be built Glory facade.






The Nativity facade is the only side that Gaudi saw completed in his lifetime. It is filled with naturalistic animals and shepherds and of course adoring people surrounding the Baby Jesus and his family.

This side was completed first as a means to help raise the funds to build the rest of the church.

The Passion facade was completed in the 1980s. It is in stark contrast to the natural shapes in the nativity facade and is much harsher and angular intentionally. It is constructed in the Expressionist (fascist) style to give it a colder harder look.




Tall spires that resembled ears of corn to me rise up on both sides. There are still the massive central spires yet to be built.












Underneath the cathedral are models showing the ongoing developement for the construction. Gaudi is also aptly buried here in the vault.




The inside of the cathedral is magnificent. It is amazingly inviting for such a large cement structure. The arches rise up in Gothic fashion, but Gaudi transforms them into symbolic trees. And with light filtering down from windows above, one gets the impression of wandering through a forest.








The stainglass windows are finally going in, and as of the time we were there, they were preparing for a Mass where the Pope would come to bless the Nave and open it for services. They were madly cleaning and testing out the organ.

It really will be a magnificent building when completed.

Sadly, Gaudi, a very devote catholic, who was living in the church like a monk during the period that he was working on the church was runover by a streetcar before too much of the construction was completed. It is great to see his vision nearing completion. I hope to be able to live to see it finished and perhaps visit it again at that time.

Park Guell

Gaudi had grand visions for a planned community overlooking Barcelona. Unfortunately it was ahead of its time, and since people wanted to live in the city (as opposed to living outside of its hustle and bustle) it failed.







What remains is a pretty whimsical park with a grand view of Barcelona.





Tony and I took the bus up to the park, and wandered around its twisting pathways enjoying the green and the very cinematic architecture.






It was definitely worth the crazy bus ride.









Gaudi's architecture was about bringing natural shapes into the design for his buildings.









The park is an excellent example of this as he utilizes natural shapes in a more natural setting blending architecture and nature into one artistic vision.









Sometimes it is becomes blurred as to where the nature ends and architecture begins.

Barcelona and Gaudi

One almost can't think of Barcelona and not think of its favorite architectural son, Antoni Gaudi. He is world renown for his architectural works of art.



My favorite of his achievements was the Casa Batllo. It was a private residence, that I believe had some rented apartments with it as well.


Casa Batllo is a triumph of Art Nouveau, and yet Gaudi's style supercedes the Art Nouveau movement, and becomes something unto itself. His use of mosaic tiles as well as organic forms come together to create a very warm and comforting building. This is one of his projects that I feel really, really works.










I love all the round curves. They say there are no straight lines in the building. However, it is his use of the straight where necessary, and then the augmentation with the curves that softens the building and makes it so inviting.



With no straight lines completely, I think the building would feel as though it were completely melting.




There is a great rooftop deck that would be fantastic for entertaining. I'd love to see what Gaudi would have done with a built in mosaic ceramic tile BBQ.

The roof is really cool and resembles the back and scales of a mythical dragon.

Some very Seussian chimneys cap off the top to this remarkable building that though built over 100 years ago feels very contemporary in a retro sort of way. It would not be out of place in Santa Monica, CA.

Though admission to this building is a little pricey, it is well worth the visit. We chose this over the other Gaudi buildings that are open for tours. It has very little in the way of furnishings, so the architecture can really stand out.