¡Buenos Dias!
This past weekend, Jordan and I met up with some fellow Georgia Tech students in Barcelona and Paris. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights were spend in Spain; Monday and Tuesday nights were spent in France. We left for Barcelona Friday around noon, having packed lunches to eat on the train. People generally look at us funny when we do this, because we are always eating veggies out of plastic bags, or, in this case, plastic cups.
The ride was long, taking over 10 hours. It was extra dramatic because we realized our tickets were for the wrong date, and we were worried we were going to be fined, or worse, kicked off of the train. However, they scanned just fine and we weren’t questioned about it at all. Phew!
By the time we arrived in Barcelona and took the metro to our hostel, it was about midnight. Which in Barca means dinner time! We were staying right off of La Rambla, a long street full of shops, restaurants, and bars, and home to a huge food market. It wasn’t hard to find somewhere to eat. We settled on a burger joint across the street, stayed out for a little while after dinner, and ended up in bed exhausted from our day of travel around 2 AM.
Saturday morning, we woke up and got ready to embark on a walking tour of the city and its Gaudi architecture. We met in the Plaça Real, which holds Gaudi’s first and only state-commissioned work: two beautiful lamp posts.
Apparently, his habit of going over-budget, which annoyed private yet rich individuals, was a full-on deal breaker for the state.
Our next stop was across La Rambla- the Palau Güell. The client, Eusebi Güell, loved Gaudi and his work and gave him full artistic freedom (meaning he was allowed to go over budget whenever he wanted). One of the coolest features of the house is the high ceiling in the main room that was built to mimic a “starry sky at night.”
Although we weren’t able to go inside (thanks internet for that photo), the outside was plenty striking. The roof is covered in what look like colorful mosaic Christmas trees, but are actually chimneys.
Next, we hopped on the subway and headed for the Casa Batlló, which was built outside of the old walls of the medieval city. When Barcelona began expanding after the Industrial Revolution, rich people came here and had large houses built for themselves, many in the “modernisma” style. This house is no exception, and it was one of the city’s favorites. There are no right angles anywhere in this house, explained by Gaudi in his quote,
“Architecture is an extension of nature, and there are no straight lines in nature.”
It is said that this house tells the story of St. George and the dragon- bones and skulls of the dragon’s victims make up the columns and balconies of the facade, and inside, the stairways look like vertebrae and the hearth room like the belly of the beast. When you step back, however, you can see why this story is really convincing- the roof looks like the scales of a dragon.
The streets on this block are covered in a tile originally designed by Gaudi for the house to look like the sea floor.
Next door is another modern house- Casa Bagués- done by a different architect, and we took a quick break from the tour, stepping inside.
We continued walking towards another house that was commissioned by a fan of the Casa Batlló. Milá envisioned his house would be a bigger, better version of the popular building, especially after Gaudi showed him the original plans. Those plans didn’t resemble the final house, though.
Though this house was unpopular and widely regarded as ugly, it was actually revolutionary. Milá intended to keep the best floor- El Principal- for himself, and rent out the other apartments. Gaudi knew this and constructed the house to have absolutely no load-bearing walls. Instead, it was all constructed on pillars. This way, all of the walls could be torn down and relocated based on the tenants’ preferences.
A fun fact about this house- its beautiful terrace, specifically the sculptures it holds, were an inspiration for Darth Vader’s appearance.
We hopped back on the Metro at this point and headed towards the pièce de résistance (oh wait, I’m in Spain)- La Sagrada Familia.
Some people refer to this church as “the world’s most famous construction site,” and they would be right. 130 years after Gaudi took on this commission, the first cathedral founded not by the church, but “by the donations of sinners,” it is still being built. They predict it’ll be finished in 2026.
The design for the building features four separate sides depicting four different stories about Jesus Christ. Only the Nativity Facade is finished, so we started there.
What initially (and, let’s be honest, still later) looks like a “drippy castle” that one might make at the beach with wet sand, is actually a very detailed depiction of the birth of Christ. If you look close, you can see different parts of the story explained in sculpture. Gaudi was such a perfectionist that all of the sculptures are based on real people- he had plaster casts made of all of his subjects. King Herod’s model had six toes on one foot, and so does his statue. Even the small babies at King Herod’s feet in the scene showing his bloody decree were made from plaster casts of still borns. Animals were chloroformed so that they would hold still long enough to have casts made. You can see why some questioned if he was a genius or just a madman.
Next we saw the Passion Facade, which depicts the death of Christ. The sculptures on this facade were added in the 1980s and ’90s, which is why Gaudi didn’t design anything specific for them. He wanted to show the passage of time in the changing of artistic styles.
The final side that we talked about was the Glory Facade, which is just being started. It will show the ascension of Christ into the heavens and was designed to be the main entrance. For this reason, all of the buildings (restaurants, shops, tourist traps, etc.) in front of that side will be torn down before the church is fully finished.
With that, our tour ended, and we took a Sagrada break for some lunch.
I’d like to note that at this point in my writing I also took a Sagrada break for lunch and made a very sad-looking omelette. I called my masterpiece, “I wish I was home so Molly could make me a way better omelette.”
We headed to a highly-recommended restaurant called “La Paradeta,” which had a pretty interesting concept. You go to the counter, pick out your raw fish, and wait for them to cook it up for you.
I was a little skeptical at first, because I don’t like to be reminded that my food has eyes and may be watching me. But I’m so glad we stuck with it, because this was one of the best meals I’ve had all summer.
I started with oysters, then moved on to clams, and finished up with calamari.
After lunch we grabbed a quick cup of coffee (at a chain called Costa- highly recommend!) and headed back to La Sagrada Familia to actually go inside.
PS- it seems the “ivy” in the window above Caroline and Jordan is spelling out something in the reflection. 10 points to Gryffindor if you can figure out what it says, and 20 if you’re free this week to follow the map it will obviously reveal, a-la National Treasure. I’ll even let you be Nick Cage.
Up to then, I had only seen pictures of the inside of Gaudi’s work. They don’t do it justice. If there’s one landmark in Europe that you’re going to see, I’d make it this.
Go back and look through those again. I’m not even going to say anything about them. You have to feel them.
When you stand inside this space and look up, and walk around, you feel like you are floating. It’s a spiritual experience just being inside this building.
So of course we had to take tons of pictures and selfies.
We had paid for passes to visit the Passion Tower, 60 meters up in the air (via elevator! I love modern old stuff!). The view was limited, but beautiful.
When it was time to leave, we stopped for one final picture.
Before taking the metro back to La Rambla, the boys had us stop in the FC Barcelona museum/ store.
When we arrived back at La Rambla, we visited the “Mercat Boqueria,” a large covered food market with some interesting foods for sale.
If you’re grossed out by brains and skulls, you might want to skip some of the following pictures.
After exploring the market, we walked along La Rambla and looked at all the of the shops along the side. You hear about Barcelona being a hot spot for pick pockets, and it’s actually pretty easy to spot them here. One common scheme involves one person slinging a light-up toy high into the air, hoping you’ll look up and watch it spin and fall. Another person stands close by, waiting for you to look up, and steals your wallet, phone, etc. Can’t trick us, though. We hate fun light up spinning toys almost as much as we hate getting pick pocketed.
At this point, we were all exhausted. It was about 5 PM, which to our new Barcelona-time adjusted bodies meant naps were in order.
The day would continue for another 12 hours, so I’ll give you a break from reading here. Don’t want you getting too smart from reading too much at once.
Tune in tomorrow to hear more about our weekend in Barcelona!
Hasta luego,
Ellie
EBS Abroad 