Saturday, June 17, 2006

Going Gaudi in Barcelona





La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's as yet unfinished cathedral masterpiece


From what everyone had told me about Barcelona, I half expected my cash, bag and camera to be ripped off me the minute I set foot in the place, but not so it seemed... I managed to complete my stay in the place with all my belongings in tact. Always a good start for a Spanish trip!

Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya, one of the more separatist oriented areas of Spain... and they don't speak Spanish, they speak Catalan. It's a fabulous city - full of unique architecture, history, and great shopping, not to mention the food!

Here I am on the Barcelona waterfront, and Spanish meats for sale at the Mercado


During our time in Barcelona, Mum and I checked out all the main Gaudi sights. Antoni Gaudi is a famous architecture, whose knowledge, insight and understanding of architecture resulted in buildings and structures, that are not only unique in appearance, but also aim to make the best use of light and materials. One of his main focuses was on using the lines out of nature - rarely is there a straight line in a Gaudi structure. Between La Sagrada Familia, the still unfinished, but entirely unlike anything else cathedral, La Pedrera, and Parc Guell, we were constantly inspired by what we saw.

The lizard of Parc Guell, and the terrace of La Pedrera, a Gaudi apartment building.
These are two of the many Gaudi attractions in Barcelona

We also took the furnicular up to both Montjuic - the former political prison that was spruced up for the 1992 Olympics, by creating a massive hillside of parklands, overlooking the Barcelona waterfront on the Mediterranean sea, and the hill of Tibidabo, looking over Barcelona, with a fabulous church at the top. We also ended up with an extra day in Barcelona, which saw us visit the Picasso museum, which show's the artist's development from his first works as a child in Malaga and Barcelona, on to the Blue period, the Pink period and the Cubism phases - a great insight into the development of the great Spanish artist.

And of course, no trip to Barcelona would be complete without a walk down Las Ramblas to the Waterfront, followed by some tapas and sangria. Yum!

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