barcelonia

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Most people who visit Barcelonia love Barcelonia, Rebecca and I had a different experience. Right off the train in the subway station a group of three wonderful Barcelonians welcomed us to their city by trying to pick pocket Rebecca. They were ultimately unsuccessful, but they colored how Rebecca and I saw their city. I eyed every group of three men wondering if they were also pickpockets. Rebecca could not get out Barcelonia soon enough. I hope that when the three individuals who tried to rip us off get caught and they will get caught, that they go to jail and that their cell mates are well endowed and very passionate.

The people at our hotel warned us about pickpockets and they were very sympathic about our experience. Rebecca decided to take a nap as soon as we got to the room and I needed to do my laundry. This is the disadvantage to only taking one bag for a three week trip. There are a lot of modern art sites in Barcelonia, but due to the amount of time we would be in the city and how tired we were I knew that we had to make choices. Although Barcelonia has a great Picasso museum, I chose to see a couple of works by the architect Gaudi. On my way to the laundrymate I found these two posters on the wall. I would of thought nothing of these if I had seen them last year, but after watching the film Exit Through the Gift Shop, I wondered what street artist was responsible for these works? When I first saw them the poster of Gary Colemen was complete, but I did not have my camera with me. A man took a picture of them and before I could get my camera, someone had pulled off part of the Coleman poster. Before we left both had been taken down. The poster of Warhol with the "Hitler" mustache looks like a sticker similar to those featured on the movie.

With laundry done and Rebecca rested we decided to visit the Gaudi sites. Both of them cost 10 Euro so I made the decision to only see Casa Mila from the outside and visit The Holy Family, because I knew that Rebecca would really like the Cathedral. It did not disappoint. The cathdral has been under construction for over 100 years and it will not be completed for another 20 years. It is Gothic in style, but with its modified piers and hyperbolic vaults it is truly unique. The church finally has a roof on it so it can be used for church services. We entered it from the passion facade which looks new and is very expressionistic. We I went to the other side and saw the oldest facade I was shocked at how old and naturalistic it looked compared to the passion facade. The third facade will be the entrance when it is finished sometime around 2030.

Our experience with the work of Gaudi erased some of our negative experiences with Barcelonia, althougth I am sure Rebecca was looking forward to France.

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Photos

street art
I caught this a moment too late.

Casa Mila
Outside of Guadi's building

the Holy Family
Outside of Gaudi's Church. on the Passion Facade

Vaults
parastolic and hyperstolic vaults replace the traditional groin vault.

piers
different stone for different piers

the birth of Christ Facade
this is the oldest facade of the basilica, and it is totally different from the other facade. It is very naturalistic while the passion facade is expressionistic and modern.

Comments

[Cindy Burgett]

Enjoying the blog
Sounds like the two of you are having a mostly fabulous time... I'm pretty jealous as I sit in the Sheraton in Dallas. There's not nearly as much art or architecture that is cool, but we hope to make it to the Dallas art museum this week. I'm sure it'll be every bit as good as the Prado. ;) Safe travels!

[La Vida Bueno]

Dallas sounds wonderful
Third country, third language I don't speak, it can be a bit confusing. We are in Florence and looking forward to Rome. I should have several pictures we can use next year.