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Published: March 26th 2006
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We went to Barcelona for 5 days - it was great! Warmer and sunnier weather than the UK, lots to see and do… and eat and drink!! We got the train in from Barcelona airport to the city centre and checked into our hotel on Ronda St Antoni. On the way from the metro station we walked past one of Antoni Gaudi’s architectural creations - Casa Batllo on Passeig de Gracia. It was built between 1904 and 1906. I have read descriptions of Gaudi’s various creations which have used the words “organic” and “wave like”. The house was great to see - a flavour of what was to come. It is said to illustrate the victory of Sant Jordi (St George) over the dragon, and the façade is coved in mosaic glazed blue, green and ochre tiles representing the scales of the dragon. The roof is flowing and represents the knobbly back of the dragon. The balconies have been said to represent the skull and crossbones of the dragon’s victims, or maybe Venetian face masks. It was lovely and colourful and was like nothing I had seen before. After checking into the hotel we walked to Las Ramblas, the main promenade
street in Barcelona. Our first of many visits. We started off on Placa Catalunya, a bit like Trafalgar Square in London, but without Nelson’s column. The Rambles has a central walk way where people can walk away from the road on either side, and the usual pavement (sidewalk) on the outside of that. Plane trees line the central promenade, but they were not in leaf so early in the spring. The Rambles is ¾ of a mile long and lined with shops, restaurants, souvenir outlets and various notable buildings. We wandered all the way down, enjoying the different stalls of flowers, birds (yes!!) and crafts. We ended up at the Cristobal Colon (Christopher Colombus’s column) - like Nelson’s Colomn without Trafalgar Square. It on a roundabout and is surrounded by statues of lions. We went inside and up in the lift (I don’t think there are any stairs) to the top for some excellent views of the city. The column was built in 1888 to commemorate the return of Christopher Columbus to Barcelona in 1493 from his first trip to the Americas. Columbus stands on the top of the column. We could see the Sagrada Familia from the top, as
well as the Rambles, the buildings in the Gothic Quarter and the hills surrounding Barcelona. It was not clear - but it was still good to see the city before we started to explore properly. We wandered back via some lovely tapas in a restaurant through the Gothic Quarter though the beautiful squares or Placa’s Reial, St Josept Oriol and del Pi. Lovely little squares some with a fountain, some tiny, some with picturesque buildings. We also past by the Casa Bruson Quadros - a house on the Rambles which has umbrellas and a dragon as designs on the exterior walls. On the Sunday we went for a walk around the Gothic Quarter. On our way we past by some sort of classic car rally - Barcelona/Stiges. It was really fun and there were lots of people who had turned out to see them go by - there was even an old fire engine, complete with firemen! I enjoyed the Gothic Quarter - it is where the history of Barcelona as a settlement began. It was settled by a local tribe, and then by the Romans. I particularly liked the little twisting lanes of residential buildings with balconies, and then
all of a sudden coming across a huge cathedral or a prominent gothic style building. I also liked the two Roman towers (I touched one of the stones - from ROMAN times!), the Roman columns originally from the Temple of Augustus (now they are inside a courtyard and have a ceiling over them!) and the Gothic bridge that crosses a tiny lane. There were some more lovely little squares and buildings in the Gothic Quarter, and it was pretty busy as it was a Sunday. I also liked the Placa del Rei - with Medieval style buildings. When we walked back to the Avenue Catedral we saw some local people doing the national Catalan dance called the Sardana. It involves the group holding hands and forming a circle and doing some footwork that makes them look as if they are bobbing up and down. It was great. We then walked up to the Casa Batllo again, and to another house designed by Gaudi - Casa Mila. This was built between 1906 and 1912. It apparently has no straight line in it’s design, and does not need air conditioning because of it has natural ventilation. It is a beautiful shape, slinky
and wave-like, and has some interesting chimneys! We then walked to the Sagrada Familia - the Temple of the Holy Family - mostly designed by Gaudi. It is still not complete - which makes it interesting in itself. It has become one of the city’s most prominent and symbolic features. The spires of the Sagrada Familia and it’s cranes (it is ‘work in progress’ don’t forget) tower above you as you walk towards it. It is amazing, David had read that the design looks like melting candle wax, and I think that sums it up pretty well. It is made up of different styles because it has been built over a long period of time. Gaudi originally designed it to include 18 spires or towers, for the apostles, the evangelists, one for Mary and one for Christ, and different portals were to depict different stages of Christ’s life. Some of Gaudi’s plans were altered and changed, and it has been described as an ‘intricate mish-mash’. I climbed up one of the spires - it was pretty dark and narrow inside and very crowded and I had to queue most of the time - but it was fun and there were
great views of the city and especially of the Sagrada itself. On the following day we went to another of Gaudi’s creations - the Parc Guell. This was amazingly beautiful, astounding and funny. It made me laugh out loud. The design and features do not conform to standard architecture in the sense of their vitality and lack of straight lines. The Parc was a Gaudi project from 1900 - 1914, and although it was not completed as he originally planned - it is great. The entrance is marked by two ‘eccentric’ pavilions, with the usual Gaudi wave-like features and elaborate chimneys. There is an elaborate staircase with a fountain and sculptures up to a hall area that had lots of columns and a decorated ceiling. We then walked up some more stairs to an aqueduct type area that was build from ‘dripping stones’ that was really weird - the columns here were leaning to support the ceiling. Everything in the Parc surprises you architecturally. Then we walked up to the roof-top placa - which was my favourite bit, it was surrounded by a row of curved benches built in a wave-like or snake-like design. The benches were covered in broken
bits of ceramic tiles and it was really lovely up there. Especially as the sun came out and it became really warm. I loved the sape and the colours. We wandered around the rest of the park, along the winding paths to the top of the hill. We got the metro back to the city centre and walked along to the port/marina area and enjoyed the walk in the sunshine. We walked back via an old part of the city and the Santa Maria de la Mar ‘catedral’ with it’s lovely stained glass window. Again - it is a building that is huge and seems as if it is squeezed in between the surrounding buildings. Tuesday was our last day, and the hottest and sunniest. It was lovely. We walked to the city beach, and enjoyed looking at the sea. We then walked back to the city and walked thru the old parts again and had a lovely tapas for lunch in view of the Catedral (despite it being shrouded in scaffolding - it was still lovely!!). Barcelona is a great city - easy to get around and plenty to see and do. I would definitely recommend it. Someone said
to me that Barcleona is a big city - but that there were some nooks and crannies to be found - my favourite ‘nooks and crannies’ were the Gaudi creations, particularly Parc Guell.
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