Barcelona, Spain
It’s now been almost two full months(!) since my parents and I ventured to Barcelona following their stay in Switzerland. In total, we spent about three days there as a family before they departed on a Mediterranean cruise with some of their friends and I joined friends of my own for the weekend.
All told, I enjoyed Barcelona quite a bit, but I’m glad I had previously been to Madrid because it doesn’t feel distinctly Spanish in the same way that the capital does. Barca is a much more international city of the ilk of New York, Paris or London. However, it does have a lot going for it beginning and ending with the architecture of Antonio Gaudi. A major presence in the city, his version of Art Nouveau uses undulating organic forms to evoke various natural elements. Underlying steel skeletons allowed his genius to take almost any form he desired on the buildings’ surfaces.
While in town, we did a lot including a Gaudi tour, the Picasso museum (which featured a great temporary exhibit of artists riffing on Velazquez’s Las Meninas), a nighttime bus tour, a trip outside the city to the spiritual center Montserrat, and time browsing around Las Ramblas and the general vicinity of our hotel. When I joined Kara and her boyfriend Sergio for the weekend we took a bike tour which took us to the beach and also climbed up to the center of the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Five days is a lot of time and I have a lot of photos, but in the interest of brevity (and in an attempt to try and get myself update sometime soon) I’m just going to post a few of my favorites here.
Joan Miro mosaic on Las Ramblas
Christopher Columbus column
an underpass at Gaudi’s Parc Guell, originally conceived as a housing development
one of the city’s unofficial symbols is this lizard (part of a fountain) at the park
proving that fact, here’s a street performer dressed as that lizard
detail from the newly completed Passion side of the Sagrada Familia church which Gaudi devoted the end of his life to (this facade was done by Josep Subirachs
nighttime detail of his Casa Batlló
Montserrat
the famous Black Madonna
a fence on the grounds which is almost certain supposed to evoke the crown of thorns
The “Magic Fountain” near the Olympic Village. Quite a spectacle (though not quite as cool as the Belagio in Vegas)
Kara trying a milkshake at a chocolate museum we toured
Olympic Stadium
Kara and me in front of Barca’s arc de triomph on our bike tour
Finally, this ad was everywhere the whole time we were there, so Sergio and I had to get our picture with the lovely Vanesa (apparently a Spanish soap star)
All told, I enjoyed Barcelona quite a bit, but I’m glad I had previously been to Madrid because it doesn’t feel distinctly Spanish in the same way that the capital does. Barca is a much more international city of the ilk of New York, Paris or London. However, it does have a lot going for it beginning and ending with the architecture of Antonio Gaudi. A major presence in the city, his version of Art Nouveau uses undulating organic forms to evoke various natural elements. Underlying steel skeletons allowed his genius to take almost any form he desired on the buildings’ surfaces.
While in town, we did a lot including a Gaudi tour, the Picasso museum (which featured a great temporary exhibit of artists riffing on Velazquez’s Las Meninas), a nighttime bus tour, a trip outside the city to the spiritual center Montserrat, and time browsing around Las Ramblas and the general vicinity of our hotel. When I joined Kara and her boyfriend Sergio for the weekend we took a bike tour which took us to the beach and also climbed up to the center of the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Five days is a lot of time and I have a lot of photos, but in the interest of brevity (and in an attempt to try and get myself update sometime soon) I’m just going to post a few of my favorites here.
Joan Miro mosaic on Las Ramblas
Christopher Columbus column
an underpass at Gaudi’s Parc Guell, originally conceived as a housing development
one of the city’s unofficial symbols is this lizard (part of a fountain) at the park
proving that fact, here’s a street performer dressed as that lizard
detail from the newly completed Passion side of the Sagrada Familia church which Gaudi devoted the end of his life to (this facade was done by Josep Subirachs
nighttime detail of his Casa Batlló
Montserrat
the famous Black Madonna
a fence on the grounds which is almost certain supposed to evoke the crown of thorns
The “Magic Fountain” near the Olympic Village. Quite a spectacle (though not quite as cool as the Belagio in Vegas)
Kara trying a milkshake at a chocolate museum we toured
Olympic Stadium
Kara and me in front of Barca’s arc de triomph on our bike tour
Finally, this ad was everywhere the whole time we were there, so Sergio and I had to get our picture with the lovely Vanesa (apparently a Spanish soap star)
posted by Aaron at 12:14 AM
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