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Published: March 21st 2024
As we love train travel, we traveled from Valencia to Barcelona and it took only 4 hours at a very reasonable costs of 19 euros ($21) each. After arriving at our apartment, we wandered around the neighborhood in the evening to get our bearings and enjoy the nice temperatures.
We had booked a free walking tour through an app called Guru Walk for the first day here. We find these to be an excellent way to get oriented to a new location combined with some great information from the tour guides about local recommendations. You can pick from a variety of topics to find one that fits your interest. The only costs is what you wish to tip them at the end. We were fortunate as our group was a small one and our guide, Shab, did an excellent job of introducing us to some of the hidden sites that are not listed when you research what to see while in Barcelona. At the end he even sent us all a huge document filled with very useful information to help us while visiting here. It included everything from information on some of the local foods, type of coffees to order
to the special events going on right now. One thing he told us about was a festival that is going on now, the Festival of Santa Eulalia which runs for a few days. One event is the building of human towers which will occur while we are here so will add that to our plans.
One event that we signed up for was the making of the traditional Spanish dish, paella. We did this based on recommendations of our friends on another sailboat, Joe and Dawn. Again, we were fortunate as it was a small group of only 8 people. Different paella’s were made, two people worked at a station making one paella, but each was different so at the end you could try the other ones. Besides learning how to make it with some added general cooking tips thrown in, you got to enjoy the Spanish sparkling wine called cava. You were given a glass as you entered and they freely filled your glass as the evening went on. A switch was made to wine when sitting down to have the paella so there was plenty of liquid refreshment provided with the food. Our instructor was excellent and
made the “class” lots of fun.
We knew from our research before coming, that we needed to pre-book visits to some of the more popular sites. Two that we had booked are well-known due to the architect, Antoni Gaudi. We didn’t know too much about him before coming to Barcelona, but at both places we not only learned about the places he built, but also about him as a person and architect. In the information we were being told, they kept mentioning the term Modernista as the style of architecture. We also heard at times Art Nouveau and they seemed to be used interchangeably when talking to various people here. We knew we needed to do some research on these terms as we thought we understood Art Nouveau, but had never heard the term Modernista before.
Per an article by Duncan Rhodes found on
https://www.barcelona-life.com/barcelona/modernisme “As Catalonia grew in wealth and power around the mid-19th century, the region strove to re-establish its national identity, separate to Castilian Spain, firstly by restoring its
language (after 150 years of oppression), but equally by a conscious injection of modern ideas designed to invigorate and lift Catalan society and culture as
it approached the 20th Century. The Renaissance’s main vehicle was Modernisme, which is simply the Catalan word for ‘Modernism’ and refers to the region’s cultivating of
fin-de-siecle ideas and trends from the Art Nouveau movement, which was already taking place in England, France, Belgium, Germany and elsewhere in Europe. However, in no other part of the world did Art Nouveau leave such a strong architectural legacy as in Catalonia, thanks to the enormous pace of urban growth which took place at that time and the boundless talent of those who championed the movement.
Following essentially the same principles as Art Nouveau worldwide, Modernista architecture can be characterized by the use of the curve over the straight line, organic and botanical shapes and motifs, a great richness of ornamentation, bright colours, a disregard of symmetry and a wide use of symbolism. In Catalonia specifically, you will see influences from traditional Catalan rural life and Catalan mythology, as well as Arabic patterns and decorations. The overall effect is a style of architecture which is very dynamic, very human, very colourful and often absurdly over-the-top when it comes to details and adornment.”
As you should be able to see from the
photos, we went to three different places that definitely exemplify the definition of Modernista architecture.
There are a couple of homes by Gaudi that you can visit, but we choose Casa Batlo. Fortunately, we decided to pay a few euros more to go on the early morning tour as there were not as many people on this one. The audio-guide they provide here was quite different. They provide you with a “tablet” that you listen to, but interestingly as you entered a room, it would show the room as it would have been furnished and provided suggestions of how the architect envisioned it. This home was actually not built by Gaudi, instead he was hired to remodel it in 1904 and the changes were major. Hard to describe, but he felt that a building can incorporate the beauty of nature into every part of a building – nothing is to be just functional, it should not have straight lines, but curves, light and color should be incorporated.
Gaudi was obsessed with light and studied how it reflected off of various surfaces. He incorporated an inner atrium (light well) which allowed light into the home as well as air.
With his knowledge about the impact of light and its reflection he lined the atrium with various shades of blue so that an equal distribution of light would be on each floor. He was conscious of not only the beauty but the necessary functioning of a home with proper ventilation, therefore had places that could be opened up for that purpose. The house was full of so many details such as these that we were glad to have the audio-guide to assist in our understanding of what he incorporated into this home. This was the first of Gaudi’s works that we would visit in Barcelona – based on this we were looking forward even more to seeing his masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia which I’ll tell you about when we visit in a couple of days.
The next day was the festival that included the building of the human towers. We only knew what our guide had mentioned to us on that first day so weren’t quite sure of what to expect. When we got to the location, there was a huge crowd just “waiting” and we weren’t quite sure in what direction to even look. As the square was
A Fun Evening at Club Paella!
we did find at the end neither of us like paella! packed with people, we were actually thinking there wouldn’t be room for any human towers to form. Well, we were definitely wrong as all of a sudden, a parade of people entered the square from a side street all dressed in different color shirts. Soon after they arrived, the crowd was moved back a little to make room and the towers started to form! First, there was one being built and then a second and then a third. We hadn’t understood that it was a competition and that numerous teams came to show their skills. Towers would grow and grow until the 2 “monkeys” which are the youngest children (a girl and a boy) climb up over the bodies of the people that are making the tower until they reach the top. At that point they have to raise 4 fingers of their hand in the air to signify the 4 districts of Barcelona. Once they accomplish that, they then quickly descent so the rest of the tower can come down as well. They were not only impressive in their height but also many formed variations of towers as they are also judged on creativity as well as height. It
It Seems Donuts Are Popular in Spain!
and many are covered in decorative icings/toppings is hard to imagine the strength of the arms, legs, shoulders, necks and feet of the members of the team in holding others up for the length of time they needed to be standing to be complete with the monkeys doing their job of the finishing goal of raising their fingers – if they do not do that, the team must start over again. As we were in the middle of the crowd at ground level, we could not appreciate the number of people that were also participating at the base of the tower helping to hold it up. Fortunately for us, the guide we had that first day, sent us a photo that was taken from above to show the extent of the number of people involved in creating these towers. We read more about them later and found that these towers have been a part of the Catalan tradition since the 19
th C. Women began to be come part of the teams which has allowed the towers to become even higher as more people get involved. As a matter of fact, UNESCO in 2010 declared castells (human towers) an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. We were glad to
The Signs Mark "One Way" Traffic for those on Horses
the bottom photo is pointing up to show size of streets have been here to see these magnificent towers being created all through human strength and determination.
After that we wandered over to the Arch de Triomph – it seems so many cities have an arch similar to this. It is at the head of a lovely long park which due to the beautiful sunny day was well used. They are currently doing some repairs to the arch, but you could still see how impressive it was. The arch was actually built in 1888 to be the main gate to the Grand Exposition that year. It appears that many places were built specifically for that Exposition, but we now get to enjoy them.
Anyone that knows anything about the famous Catlan architect, Gaudi, knows that his most famous work that he put 43 years of his life into is that of the Sagrada Familia. We had heard we should not miss it and that was a definite understatement. It was well worth paying a little extra for a guided tour as it provided you with excellent information to help with putting so much of the details into context. We also had an audio-guide which we could use and did
A Parade of Kids Dressed Representing Numerous Sports
went by our apartment building - making lots of music! listen to after the tour, but the additional details we picked up from the guide was invaluable.
Gaudi was a very religious man and wanted the Temple to be a Bible made in stone so even those that could not read could understand. He planned 3 facades, 2 which are now complete. The Nativity façade is the oldest one and one that Gaudi was able to see in his lifetime. It was built between 1894-1930. The detailed sculptures/scenes on this side depict the stories of Jesus birth and of his earlier life. The Passion façade is dedicated to the death of Christ and the resurrection. As Gaudi had died before this side was built, the work followed many of the detailed drawings he had completed. His idea was that this side should be represented by “hard” figures and look as if they were made of bones with lots of sharp angles. The third façade that has not been completed is the Glory façade which is to represent Christ eternal glory and his rise to heaven.
We did not know that much about Gaudi before visiting, but learned so much from the guide as well as the wonderful museum
that is located at the site. It was obvious at the end of this that Gaudi was an architectural genius and that every detail had been well thought out and had a reason for being. He knew when we started this project that he would not live to see it completed. Even this fact did not bother him, as we learned that he welcomed the thought that others that would follow him in adding their input to bring this to completion.
Gaudi was truly into details and one was that the height of the finished Church would be 172.5 meters. This figure was critical to him in that the nearby highest peak of Montjuic is just a little higher. He did not want any man-made object to overtake anything in nature so it must be a little shorter in height. There is even what is called a magic square near one of the entrances on the Nativity Façade. It is a square filled with numbers and the idea is that there are combinations that can be made that add up to the number 33, the age when Christ died. There were so many details to take in and learn
that we surprised ourselves to find that we were visiting the Sagrada Familia for a total of 4 hours! One of many benefits was that the interior of the Temple changed dramatically with the change of sunlight. There are so many stories to tell that were fascinating, but can’t go on with them here – you just need to put a visit to Barcelona on your list of places to see!
The next day we continued on our architectural journey in Barcelona. There were other places that had Gaudi’s stamp on them, but we decided to go to a location that wasn’t as well known which meant it wouldn’t be as crowded, but was billed as being spectacular. The advertisement did not lie. The San Pau Recinfe Modernista was built between 1902-1930 as a hospital by the Catalan architect, Montaner. It operated as a hospital from 1916-2009 when a new hospital was built due to the need to expand and modernize. It consists of 12 pavilions (buildings) and 8 of them now have been renovated as a heritage site for visitors to learn from and enjoy.
The city of Barcelona previously had Hospital de la Santa Creu which
provided medical care for over five centuries. It took care of the sick, but also had a role in taking in and training orphan children. After this length of time, the hospital was in need of repair and fortunately for them, a wealthy banker, Pau Gil I Serra, passed away and stated in his will that his estate was to be devoted to building a new hospital which was to incorporate the latest innovations in technology, architecture and medicine and was to be dedicated to Saint Paul. This is what gave this new hospital the name, San Pau.
Liuis Domenech I Montaner, incorporated the latest ideas about sanitation and hygiene which lead to his building a different pavilion for different diseases. He also included gardens between the buildings with some being dedicated to the growing of fresh produce to improve the patient’s diet. The buildings were connected underground using tiles to line the walls, ceilings and floors for ease of cleaning. In this way, supplies and patients could be moved easily between buildings no matter what the weather outside. He emphasized the importance of sunlight and open spaces for the treatment of patients – definitely a unique idea for
the time.
This facility was an interesting one to visit as it is said to be one of the best Art Nouveau sites you could see (but then it also mentioned Moderista architecture!) In researching the architect more, we found that he in fact was a professor of Architecture in Barcelona for 20 years and as head of the school he used his influence to promote a new Catalan Art Nouveau called Modernisme. He was inspired by Moorish architecture and worked on incorporating the use of mosaics and how light floods an area. He in fact taught Gaudi for two years while he was studying at the school so no surprise that both were important architects of Modernista. One definition we heard was that Modernista was a bridge between the Moorish architecture of the past, the Gothic and the Renaissance details opening up the ability to use traditional techniques in new ways.
Some of the buildings are set up to appear as they would have when it was a working hospital, while others were left to your imagination with the help of the audio-guide. As the building of such an advance hospital for the time, the expense of
Many Grocery Stores Have An Upstairs
so you ride with your cart on the walking "sidewalk" it was quite high so fortunately many donors helped with their contributions and in return, they had their initials permanently included in some of the tiling. The buildings were all adorned with mosaics and marble, but unique from each other. There was a large open area in the middle which was a place that patients could get fresh air, again as part of their treatment back to good health.
The Sagrada Familia and this hospital when they were started were located quite a distance out of the city of Barcelona. The hospital was the farthest out as they were keeping those with any sickness away and hopefully where they could get more fresh air than in the city. They showed photos of when both were under construction as well as heard about the difficulty for the first patients to get here due to the lack of decent roads. It definitely shows the growth of the city of Barcelona as both have been incorporated into the larger city now. We were very pleased with our decision to come to this facility rather than another by Gaudi as it gave us a fuller picture of the architecture called, Modernista, here in
Catalan (elsewhere it is still considered to be Art Nouveau).
Our time in Barcelona has flown by and we have only touched the tip of the iceberg of what it has to offered (as well as some excellent day trips from this location), but we are scheduled to move on to the capital of Spain, Madrid, the next day. We would highly recommend spending quite a few days in Barcelona to see what it has to offer you.
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