*** All pictures were taken with the Casio Exilim z850 ***
This one is from the way back machine, but it is long overdue… I went to Barcelona back in 2007 with one of my friends, it was one of those places that I had been on my to do list for a long time. I studied Spanish in high school and learned about Antonio Gaudi, ever since seeing some of the pictures of his buildings I became fascinated with visiting the actual city. I managed to get a ridiculously cheap airline ticket ( I think it was around $450) and I stayed at a hostel in downtown next to Las Ramblas ( one of the big streets, lined with shops and restaurants) for about $20/night.
Barcelona has an excellent ground transportation, their trains were the most efficient train system that I have ever used. For tourists the city runs a tour bus operation called the “bus turistic” which can’t be beat. The buses run on three different loops and cover pretty much the entire city. For the first couple of days this would be our primary mode of transportation as we explored Barcelona and got a better idea of the layout of the city.
The first night out we hit up some bars around the place we were staying at. First we went to Dos Trece, which was a cool restaurant/lounge spread over two floors. Then we went to Betty Ford”s, possibly the greatest name for a bar ever. We ended up making friends with the owner of the bar and came back over the course of our stay. Finally we ended up at Cafe Flamingo, another artsy lounge.
Barcelona definitely has a great night life, plenty of pretty cool lounges and bars. There was even one we walked into later during the trip that I swear was an excuse for a group of friends to drink at. There literally were no “regular patrons” just a bunch of friends from the same social circle that went there to hang out and drink. I forgot what the name was, it was a small place and they had covered the walls with old LP’s.
The next day we hopped back on the bus turistic and took a trip north along Las Ramblas to see some of Gaudi’s buildings. First the bus took us around the soccer stadium for Barcelona’s home team, we also saw some of the port area in Barcelona.
Actually, this was a big reason why I came to Barcelona. When I was taking Spanish in highschool I remember seeing some pictures of Casa Mila and Casa Batlo, alter during college I took a architecture course and learned more about Art Noveau movement. So finally getting a chance to see these buildings up close and in person was a big deal. Fortunately we had great weather during the trip and the pictures came out fantastic.
The first Gaudi building we saw was Casa Mila, which used to be an apartment building. The building is most known for the chimneys on it’s roof which look like… well they kinda look like penises. The inside of the building also had a museum which showcased some models of this and other Gaudi structures, as well as some detailed plans and experiments that he set up prior to building.
Out of all the Gaudi buildings this was the one I was most interested in seeing. The roof of the building looks like the back of a lizard. Actually is is the back of a dragon and the spire is supposed to represent the spear of St. John – Casa Batlo depicts the slaying of the dragon by St. John. It is interesting how futuristic these buildings look, even in 2007, Gaudi was so ahead of his time it is amazing to think that these were all built at the turn of the 19th century.
This was to be Gaudi’s masterpiece, he actually died before he was able to finish it and it is still under construction to this day. One half of the facade is the original Gaudi design and looks organic, almost cobbled together by stuff he found at the beach. The other side is the new construction which has a decidedly cubist feel to it, this is controversial since it is a huge departure from the original vision that Gaudi had for the building.
I took this picture inside the cathedral looking at the stained glass windows. Obviously it is a long exosure to get all the light to hit the sensor and properly develop the picture. I tried moving the camera while taking the picture, in this case I spun the camera around to create this whirlpool effect. I could have done this a hundred times and not have the picture come out this well… sometimes you get lucky on the first try.
Headed back to Las Ramblas for food (tapas) and then later back to Betty Fords for more drinks.
The last Gaudi attraction we saw was Park Guell which displayed Gaudi’s use of mosaic/tilework. The park was pretty beautiful with all types of construction from aqueducts that look like they were made from boulders to houses that looked like they were part of the Shire in Tolkien’s novels.
La Boqueira is the famous market in Barcelona where you can buy just about every food imaginable. I desperate wanted to get some jamon, which is probably the most prized item they sell. The most expensive are the hams from the black toed Iberian hogs, the taste is unlike just about anything else.
The last day of the trip we decided to take a break from the city and headed out to Montserrat instead. We took a train out to the mountains which took about 45 minutes, then it was a quick trip up the cablecars to get to the entrance for the mountains. Montserrat had a cathedral constructed near the top where pilgrims used to go and pray, it was also the place where the holy grail was hidden according to legend. We spent some time walking around the trails and almost didn’t make it back in time for the last train (got lucky this time).
