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Published: February 26th 2010
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BARCELONA Day 31
Having recuperated from my fall, although still highly bruised, I decided to begin my day with a self-guided Gaudi tour. Gaudi is Barcelona’s most famous architect having designed numerous buildings throughout Barcelona. His work is beyond creative and is almost unimaginable.
The first stop was next door to my hostel being the Batilo. This is a Willy Wonka meets Dr.Seuss type design. There are curves, spirals, shapes, colour, a total feast for the eyes. This building in particular represents the battle of some saint against a dragon. Keep in mind that Gaudi was highly religious so a lot of his work reflects this. When you see the building you can see how it could be inspired by a dragon. Unfortunately, almost all of the gaudi buildings are outrageously prices (about 20Euros per building) so I chose to admire from the outside although it would have been crazy to see it from the inside or even the top terrace.
The next stop is not to far down the same road. La Pedera is similar in shape to the Batilo but the Batilo is my favourite between the two. It again boggles the mind with the
shapes. I wish that Toronto had buildings like this because it is beyond enjoyable to walk down the road and see these buildings. You can’t help but smile as you walk past. The next gaudi building, Casa Vincent, is very unique but very different from his other buildings. It is covered in tiles and although I am a fan of tiled buildings I am not a fan of this one and enjoy his other stuff far more.
Now for my most favourite place on earth… Park Gaudi! It is freaking brilliant. It is a city straight out of Dr.Seuss. Apparently, Gaudi wanted to create a perfect village. I would certainly live there. It is crazy! There are beautiful mosaic tile work of dragons and just crazy shapes. The buildings are all funny shapes with tile mosaic on them. I can not even begin to describe it and the pictures can not do it justice. But I want to live there or I will create my own Gaudi village in Toronto.
After the park I went to the massive work by Gaudi that is still being completed well after his own death. It is a church, La Sagrada Familia,
which is meant to be complete in 2020 or 2030. It is stunning the detail that has gone into this building. There are four massive spires that are amazing and many pictorial sculptures of Christ’s life. Hopefully I can return in 10 years and see the finished work.
The great thing about Barcelona and Gaudi is that he created an open door for other architects to be creative with their work as well. Many of the buildings have lovely shapes, stained glass, and tile work. It is a city that you could walk for hours just looking at the buildings, which I think is really great. You can go to Barcelona and really enjoy the city and not pay a cent by simply walking around the town. I have found that a lot of cities have a few nice things to look at, a church here and a fountain there, but the main attractions are museums and galleries that you have to pay to see. But Barcelona can stand on its own without a single gallery or museum or church to enter.
Anyways, my next stop was Las Ramblas, which is the walking street with many many many
street artists. There are so many that they are actually in pairs in their costumes. I didn’t really like this area because it was way to busy and people kept stopping and getting in my way as I tried to walk through. On this road is also the Mercat Boqueria. It was also very busy and I actually liked the market in Valencia better.
Because I found the ramblas and market so busy I needed to get away from people so I headed for the city park. I listened to some guy play his strange steel drum and another couple sing some Spanish songs. I think they were practicing for something. It was great to relax with the sun shining down and warming me up. After soaking up the sun and songs for awhile I headed to the waterfall/fountain and back out of the park towards the gothic area.
After a full day of walking I headed for the last two Gaudi stops, Palau Guell and Casa Calvert. Unfortunately, they are doing work on the Palau Guell so a lot of it is covered up but you can still see the very typical Gaudi style mosaics on the
top of the building. On my return to the hostel I went through la Placa de Catalunya, which is another very touristy pigeon and street seller filled spot. But the fountain is really nice. Casa Calvert seemed to be a little more understated for Gaudi work but you could still see the hints of breaking the mold.
After that very long day of walking I hit the sheets pretty quick.
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Kathy K
non-member comment
now you know.....
....why I said I loved BArcelona....loved all the Gaudi....if you can, try to get to Figueras in Catalan....Dali has a museum there...it's brilliant and I think I went to a nearby village called Cadaques....which is tucked at the side of mountains meeting sea...if I re-call! I loved it...I think you will too!