Viva Espana - here we are in Barcelona.
Before anyone asks - no we haven't visited Camp Nou - Barcelona's football ground. You see, the problem is that when I get back to the UK I want to go and watch my team Sheffield Wednesday play what I have been brought up to believe is Football. If I see Barcelona and Messi play........it's just not going to be the same experience at Hillsborough.
I have been looking forward to visiting Barcelona. Home of Miro, Picasso and Gaudi art works....and now here we are!
AND ...guess what? There's also a photography gallery here, or so I am told. I'm not getting too excited though after the disappointments of Nice and Montpellier with their galleries being shut when we were there.
We arrived in Barcelona on Saturday and we have come to the conclusion that if we do a big trip like this again we will definitely bring less clothes etc. The amount of gear we have is ridiculous. Next time all I will bring is one camera, my laptop and portable hard drive to down load my photos and a small amount of clothing which I can fit into a carry-on bag. No back packs, no suitcases. Travel light. We can always wash our clothes out each night so only need about 3 changes maximum.
We arrived at Barcelona Sants station early afternoon. Used the ticket machines to get our metro tickets and jumped on the R4 from platform 8 across to the Arc de Triomf metro station. From here it was less than 10 minutes walk to our apartment.
Once again we're using Airbnb for our accommodation. Our host Miguel is away for the week which is why his apartment is available to us. His friend Marina greets us, lets us in and shows us how the wifi works (very important).
It's - how can I describe it tactfully - rustic to say the least. It's an old building and I don't think that the apartment has ever been updated in ....oh a hundred years. But it's OK - it's fine for us.
The kitchen is somewhat limiting - no oven but the gas rings work. The hot water is provided by a gas heater on the kitchen wall.
We are given specific instructions not to touch the settings on the gas water heater. Do NOT touch.
Unfortunately the pilot light went out just after we'd arrived and the thought of cold showers didn't appeal so Lizzie googled the heater on Youtube and found out how to re-set and re-light it. Yay!. A win for Lizzie.
Barcelona is yet another really nice city. If you look at a map of the street layout, you'll see that the part in the middle of the map, along the seafront the streets are all higgledly pigleddy and for the surrounding area its all neat and laid out in a grid. That's because the old town was not built to a plan and is hundreds of years only. The new streets - for the last hundred years - were built to a plan, hence the grid lay out.
Our accommodation is on the eastern edge of the old historic town so we are within walking distance to many of the attractions, museums and places of interest. We are only five minutes from a metro station so the transport links are good. We mainly get around by foot or by using the L line metro or the R line trains. Single tickets are 2.15 euro for each ride. Quite reasonable I think.
Saturday was taken up mainly getting to the apartment and getting used to the neighbourhood, finding shops for groceries etc.
Sunday we decided to catch up with Lizzie's friend Cathy who is in Barcelona for a few days holiday with her sister. We walked the half hour from our place to the Novotel Barcelona Central where Cathy was staying and walked a couple of blocks to find a cafe for a coffee and a catch up. It turned into a very pleasant couple of hours or more. Coffee morphed into wine and beers and the girls enjoyed a good chat.
After we'd walked Cathy back to her hotel we thought we'd go and take a look at the Picasso museum as on Sundays after 3pm it's free to go in - instead of the usual 11 euros each. However, our catch up had taken a bit longer than expected and by the time we got to the museum they had had their quota of visitors for the day so we were turned away.
We called it a day and went back to the apartment.
Monday we set off walking toward the seafront, called into a church on the way the church of Santa Maria del Mar and emerged from the warren of backstreets by the marina. Had a walk along the seafront until we reached the Columbus monument and then head inland down the main street called La Rambla. This is a wide pedestrian area with a street for cars on either edge. Up the middle are assorted stalls. ....mainly tourist fare....postcards, books, guides etc and of course Barcelona football shirts (made in China). I bought a book on Gaudi as I really like the buildings he designed.
Just off La Rambla about two thirds of the way up from the seafront, on the left hand side is a vast indoor market called Boquera Market. This food market sells wonderful fresh fruit, vegetables, meats, fish, spices.....everything food. You can even eat here as food is prepared on a number of stalls. Everything is fresh and locally produced or sourced.
We walked the 1 kilometre or more of La Rambla and had a look at the outside of one of the houses Gaudi designed and built. Its not as extreme as some of his house designs but is still a very unique building.
The place was thick with tour groups so we headed off again.
Tuesday came and we actually joined one of the dreaded tour groups. A company called Runner Bean - who do all sorts of guided tours of Barcelona - do a free walking tour of Gaudi designed buildings in Barclona. We booked on line as places are limited and meet by the fountain in Placca Reial, near La Rambla.
Runner Bean was started in 2010 by a couple called Gorka and Ann-Marie. He is Spanish and she is originally from Ireland. They only operate in Barcelona - are a local company and have now expanded to a staff of 16 guides and an extra person in the office to answer phones and e-mails.
Our guide was Miguel (originally from Mallorca) - a personable, knowledgeable 26 year old. He patiently answered all questions, even the ones that had me slapping my forehead and doing a Homer Simpson "Doh!" - as he'd already told us about it. Some people just don't listen.
The tour lasted over two and a half hours and involved 2 short metro rides to get between buildings of interest.
We saw some lamp posts designed by Gaudi for the Barcelona City Council - his only commission from them, as there was some debate about the price so they decided not to give him any more work. There are 2 of them and they are situated in the square where the tour began. Brightly coloured with blue serpents wrapped round them and topped by winged golden helmets they are difficult to miss.
Then it was a short walk across La Rambla to view the building we had seen the day before - Palau Guell.
Commissioned by Eusebi Guell a very rich businessman, it was built between 1886 and 1888. I would have loved a house designed by Gaudi, but it must have been very testing to employ him, as the original design he presents to his employers is often nothing like the finished product. He rarely worked to architectural plans, but was more likely to work based on sketches and/or a plaster model.
I believe that the facade of this particular house was built and then deconstructed 4 times until both Gaudi and the man with deep pockets - Mr Guell were both satisfied.
Guell was quoted as saying that although he didn't always like or understand Gaudi's work, he respected him as an artist and architect.
Guell became the money man for a number of Gaudi works - in particular Park Guell - not included on this tour (I'll come back to this later). Some say that it was putting so much money into making Gaudi's dreams a reality that bankrupted him.
Just a point to mention here - the tour only takes you to the outside of these buildings - not inside - as these buildings are in private hands and charge a minimum of 20 euros to take a look inside. On a free tour, this is obviously not possible.
It was just after leaving Palau Guell that a trio of pickpockets decided to target me. Fortunately i had already spotted them tagging on to our tour group as we stood at the Palau Guell. We left the street down a passage way and they made their move. They had obviously seen me with two cameras and must have mistaken me for someone who would carry oodles of cash in their wallet. Two man and one woman made up the team. One man cut in front of me, isolating me from the group and then stopped immediately. Bending down as if he'd dropped something I crashed into him and the couple behind me (the other two in the pickpocket team) crashed into me. My hand immediately went to my pocket and I caught hold of the wrist of the guy behind already going into my pocket. Whirling round and yelling in their faces seemed to do the trick. They just shrugged their shoulders at being caught and fled the scene.
So lesson learned. When in any crowded situation be aware of those around you. Put belongings in a zipped pocket if you can - not a back pocket or hip pocket. Don't wear backpacks on your back, swing them round the front and hold your arm across them to deter thieves. There have been incidents where backpacks have been slashed and contents removed while on peoples backs. Our tour guide said that if pick pocketing was an Olympic event, he gold medal would go to Barcelona.
A short metro ride and we are at Casa Batllo. This is an amazing building. I need to point out though that there was an existing building on this spot. Gaudi redesigned the facade, redesigned the interior rooms and furniture, fixtures and fittings and added a couple of floors.
We revisited this building a few days later and stumped up the twenty two euro fifty each to get inside. In my opinion it's by far the best of Gaudi's buildings here in Barcelona. Rather than trying to describe it I will put in several photos just here for you to see.
He was certainly OUT THERE as far as design went. Bear in mind that this building was constructed between 1904 and 1907 and the public reaction was shock and awe when it was finished. You can see the bone like structures on the windows of the main floor - this gave the house the nickname the bone house (assisted by the skull like balcony decorations. Also known as the YAWN house because of the shape of the balcony openings like giant mouths. But my favourite nickname is the Dragon House - - look at the roof. The tiles are like dragon scales.
No one actually knows what Gaudi was influenced by or the meanings of his designs as he would never let on.
As well as being out there with his designs he was also ahead of his time in trying to control things like light and air flow.
There is a central courtyard with a glass roof that allows light to enter the centre of the house. The top floors have small windows and the windows get progressively larger as you go down to allow more light to enter into the darker rooms at the bottom. Combined with this, the walls of the inner courtyard (which runs from the top of the building to the ground floor) is tiled with blue tiles and white tiles. At the top floor its mostly blue tiles and gradually this changes to mainly white as you hit the bottom. White reflects more light so more white tiles at the bottom to reflect light into the darker lower rooms. The dark blue tiles reflect less light at the top of the house which is already brightly lit so needs less light. Genius.
His windows and doors had vents in them that could be opened and closed to allow cool or warm air to circulate.
They say that there's a fine line between genius and insanity and Gaudi definitely sits right on this line.
Next stop on the tour is Casa Mila also known as La Pedrera (the stone quarry) - the nickname is obvious when you see the building. Made from slabs of limestone and chiseled on site, this is a site to see. The whole building looks like its been molded from clay rather than chiseled from stone as it's full of curves and so organic. The balconies here are all individually finished - no two are the same. Again he was ahead of his time in using recycled materials. All the metal on the balconies is recycled.
One problem though in building in limestone is that it is porous so when it rains, the facade soaks up the water like a sponge and the metal work rusts and the rust stains the stone. So every 5 years they have to do a major cleaning of the facade.
Comparing this building with the Casa Batllo - one thing stands out - no colour!
I love the curves of this building though and the real treasure is up on the roof. The chimney stacks look like Star Wars Stormtroopers helmets. Did George Lucas copy from Gaudi?
Also on the roof are a number of large sculptures and an opening to an inner courtyard again allowing light to the interior of the building and again incorporating colour.
From here its another metro ride to Gaudi's crowning glory - the still unfinished church of the Sagrada Familia.
I was in Barcelona forty years ago and they were still working on this church - trying to finish it as well as they could to Gaudi's original design.....except that the original designs and plans were destroyed years ago. All that they have left to work on are a couple of sketches and a plaster model showing only part of the church. They estimate that it will still be another twenty years before it will be finished.
Again Gaudi's trademark organic moulding is evident here. There is so much detail on this building that it would take years to actually go over it and see every little thing. Again we didn't go inside as here it costs twenty four euro to enter. They get over six million tourists through the church each year - do your sums!
It's actually a miracle that the church is even standing as it was originally begun by another architect who only got as far as pouring the foundations. The original design was for a much smaller and therefore lighter church. Gaudi went overboard and a monster of a church was created. Theoretically the foundations should not be able to support what has been built thus far......and it's still being built. There are several towers to be completed including the main tower which will over shadow the others by an additional 70 metres. Its going to be immense!
Each side of the church has different designs representing the life of Christ, from the nativity to his death and ascent to heaven. The older part of the church where work was done/overseen by Gaudi himself is very detailed and the human figures are lifelike....the moldings are organic looking - like its a living breathing thing. The newest part is more modernist and does not have so much detail. There is a nod to Gaudi's designs of the past though. All the Roman Soldiers depicted on the facade are wearing the Star Wars Stormtrooper helmets from the Casa Mila house design and there is also a figure - in profile carved into the stone. That figure - Gaudi himself.
The one Gaudi place that we didn't visit on this tour was Park Guell - this is because it can easily take a few hours to wander through absorbing everything. Most of the park is open to the public for free, but there is a small section which is pay to view only and this is where some of Gaudi's best mosaics are.
Since we'd already paid out for Casa Batllo we thought we'd go along to he free section and see if we could see into the paid section. Fact is you can see most - but not all of what's in the pay to view section, from the free part of the park.
The park was not originally intended to be a park. It was going to be a community, with houses and all amenities surrounded by Gaudi designs - some functional like the viaduct and some there just for the pleasure of looking at. BUT his backer Mr Guell went bust.....so Park Guell came into being.
The park is a maze of footpaths and steps leading here and there. All along the footpaths are street vendors with their blankets spread on the ground and their wares arranged on the blankets. They are EVERYWHERE! All around the park at the various entrances - and there are many - are signs stating that it is illegal for street vendors to operate within the park boundaries AND any member of the public caught buying from them will get an immediate fine.
We saw maybe a dozen policemen in the park and none of these street vendors were moved on. None of them. Cops must hate to do the paperwork.
OK so that is Gaudi covered.
Another artist who lived in Barcelona from time to time is Pablo Picasso. As mentioned earlier in the blog - we had intended to get free admission to the Picasso museum on Sunday, but missed out so we went back on Wednesday and paid eleven euro each to get in. It was worth while to see his paintings and how he progressed his style as he grew older (or regressed more like). When he was as young as 14 he painted like the old masters painted. Amazing lifelike portraits with much brushwork to get the right tones and depth. But I guess he wanted to be an individual and develop his own style. He did not like the rules and restrictions imposed on him at art school and rebelled.
So we end up with women with blue faces and two eyes on one side of the nose and none on the other. Basic brushwork - some paint looks like its been put on with a decorating brush. Gone are the fine details of his earlier works and its very slap dash art as far as i am concerned.
Art though is a very subjective thing. What I like, you could hate and vice versa.
There are also displays of photographs of Picasso making pottery and items of pottery in display cases. Overall its a very nice museum.
All the days seem to blend in these days since we're on holiday every day, but I think it may have been Thursday that we visited a park just a couple of blocks away from here we are staying. It's called Park de la Ciutadella and it's very nice to stroll around. There are fountains, a lake, lots of statues, a full size replica of a Mammoth (why a mammoth in this particular park I have no idea), shaded areas of trees to sit under.....and at the bottom end of the park is Barcelona Zoo.
Today being Saturday and our last full day in Barcelona we thought we'd finally take in the photography gallery. We had tried on the Wednesday but it was closed as the twelfth was Columbus Day - a holiday here.
Guess what? It was closed today too. Putting in new exhibits so no public access. Will I ever actually see a photo exhibition on this trip?
The answer to that folks was YES!!!! Since the photo gallery was closed we went to visit another gallery that Lizzie found on line. It's called CaixaForum and exhibits all sorts of contemporary art, plus performances.
It's only four euros to get in and there are 5 exhibit rooms. One was closed to change exhibits and another had just finished. BUT the best part was that there was an exhibition of heaps of photos by Philippe Halsman. I could have cried for joy. He took photos of everyone.....Einstein, Churchill, Salvador Dali, assorted royalty, Marilyn Monroe, all the Hollywood Stars of the golden era of movies. basically anyone who was anyone had their photos taken by this man. He was part of the amazing Magnum photo agency.
Totally made my day!
Unfortunately photography inside the gallery was not allowed, but I took a few photos of the outside which was architecture of the turn of the century (1900's) and had a couple of towers which were very Gaudi-esque.
So on that happy note.....tomorrow we catch a train to Madrid and then another one to Toledo where we will spend five days exploring this ancient city.
As usual extra photos will be displayed on my Face Book Page
https://www.facebook.com/malcfrost