Barcelona

We boarded the train for Barcelona around 10:30 and sat in blissful air conditioned comfort after the sweltering heat in Valencia. The train trip took only a couple of hours and meandered its way up along the coastline toward the city. It is worth noting that a vast majority of residents here live in apartment blocks. Even in country areas, it seems that very little single dwellings exist. Odd I thought considering the amount of land available. Anyways, we pulled into Barcelona’s Sants Estacion just after lunch and boarded the metro to our hotel. We soon after arrived at Sangrada Familia station and headed out to the most spectacular view, where overhead was Gaudi’s most famous work…. Still under construction I might add.

We still had our bags with us, so we dumped them at the hotel and headed off toward the city. As soon as we got to La Rambla, unknowingly we began to head in the wrong direction… It took us nearly 6 blocks to work this out! However, this wasn’t all bad as we did stumble across another of Gaudi’s works, the Casa Batllo


And also one of Toyo Ito’s apartment buildings a few door up with an interesting screen facade protecting the glass from the sun behind it.



We then jumped on another of Spain’s excellent Metro systems and got off at Catalunya Station, at the top of La Rambla, the city's main street. Here, thousands of people stroll along a central pedestrian accessway as a single lane of traffic either side crawls along the perimeter. Junket stalls, restaurants, cafe's and street mime's make the walk along La Rambla quite interesting! At the end of La Rambla lies Barcelona’s Harbour. Again, hundreds of people line the shoreline. We headed out over a pedestrian bridge to a shopping mall in the centre of the harbor, along the way, mysteriously two men… stark naked walking amongst the mixed crowd of young families, tourists and locals.



Hot Tip #8: Don’t forget to check you have your clothes ON before you leave for a stroll on Barcelona’s busy harbour…. Lucky I had remembered to wear my clothes.

At this point, I think it is important to emphasise the enormity of this city. It is like no other city I have ever been to. It is so spread out, to try to walk around it is futile. Whilst you must walk through the older part of the city (this section is far more compact, like a typical European style city containing narrow streets weaving their way through the densly compact buildings surrounding them. The newer, planned section of the city in its regular grid pattern sprawls out from the old town over an enormous distance. Block after Block, all looking rather similar with each intersection having the corners chopped off at 45deg to create a mini plaza where cafes and restaurants set tables along the street creating a brilliant atmosphere all along the street frontage.

It was beginning to get dark, so we grabbed some dinner and headed back to the hotel for a much needed rest. (We must have walked at least 10km back to the hotel… We were exhausted!)

24/08/10

We rose to another spectacular day in Barcelona and headed out after breakfast back to the Sagrada Familia for a good look. By the time we got there it was around 10am and the line to get in went around the block. It seemed to be moving very slowly so we decided not to go in. Again, words can not describe this building. There is nothing even remotely like it. I will let some pictures do the talking here.

For more pictures and information, Go to:

http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/docs_instit/images.php#





Work on this Church began in 1882 by architect Francisco de Paula Del Villar. At the end of 1883 Gaudí was commissioned to carry on the works, a task which he did not abandon until his death in 1926. Since then different architects have continued the work after his original idea. It is expected that work may finish on the building in the first third of the 21st century.

The next destination of our visit to Barcelona was another of Gaudi's works, On top of a hill, overlooking the city of Barcelona the Park Guell. We jumped off the nearest Metro station and headed up the hill to find conveniently a series of outdoor escalators heading up the hill. They weren’t all the way up, but they were very much appreciated in the heat.



At the top was a magnificent view of the city.



From here, we headed down into the park itself. Park Guell was commissioned by Eusebi Güell who wanted to create a stylish park for Barcelona’s aristocracy.
At the top of Guell park is a terraced area where you get a wonderful view of the park and of Barcelona City. Here we found multi-coloured tiled mosaic seats surrounding a gravel open space. Even though it was very hot, It was a wonderful place to sit and watch people meander through the park. Up above the gravel area was a tree lined terrace where a small café served cold drinks in the shade. It was quite a magical place.





We headed down underneath the open space, where we could see hundreds of people congregating. Under the open area itself, was yet another magical mosaic tiled space, in a forest of columns supporting the garden above. A dragon mufti fountain adorns the steps which proceed the temple like space. Again, here, I think the division between art and Architecture has been blurred.





We headed down the steps to see a walkway supported by twisting rock pillars that seem to be growing out of the ground like tree trunks. Although these are rather irregular in shape they do feel strangely natural too. Gaudi was strongly influenced by natural shapes and used them in his work.



Park Guell also has a small house in the park which Gaudi lived in at one stage. The house has now been converted into a museum and contains interesting furniture also designed by Gaudi.




From the park, we headed back into the city, and walked through some of the older sections of the town to the Mercat de Santa Caterina. This building as I understand is a restoration and upgrade of an existing marketplace by architect EMBT. Under a very distinctive colourful roof which reflects the fruit and vegetables sold under it, the market reveals a patchwork of Barcelona’s history. Along with the various ruins, three of the original building’s facades have been retained. The roof itself is the main focal point of the architecture. It is beautifully detailed, yet is very functional. The soffit is lined with warm timber shaped in arch forms open at each ends allowing hot air to be flushed through with natural ventilation. It is a jewel nestled in amongst the old city, yet its flamboyant rooftop seems to sit well within its surroundings.





We then went back into the city along the La Rambla for Lunch. Here we sat in the window of a café watching the locals trying to sell there junk to unwilling tourists strolling by. It wasn’t until we sat and watched them for around 20 minutes that we realized how well they were actually doing. For example, one man was selling fans for 1 euro each. He wasn’t the only one, there were many stalls, each with the same fans selling them on the street for the same price. He sat on the ground with about a dozen fans in front of him and soon a couple stopped to look. Onlt 30 seconds later another couple stopped, then another…. And within a few minutes he was completely surrounded by people and had sold all but a couple of fans, so he gets up and walks away. Only 5 minutes later he comes back with a bag full of more fans and sets about laying them all back out on the ground, and again another couple stops, asks a couple of questions and buys a fan.. Then…. All of a sudden a different man comes along and grabs all of the fans, puts them into a bag and walks away whilst the first finishes up with a customer.
WEIRD??? The first man seems to be looking up the street anxiously?? No sooner does 2 policeman walk down the promenade….. Im guessing that they are not supposed to be selling these items off the street??
Not far down the road, some more men are selling bags, but this time they have there items layed out on a sheet. But not just a sheet. All 4 corners have a rope on them to which they are holding, as soon as they see a policemen, they pull on the ropes, bundle up there items and hightail it out of there.

Hot Tip #9: Don’t buy dodgy stuff off the street. Its quite obviously illegal and I would think that you could also get into trouble for purchasing it.

The final destination for the day was at the end of another metro ride back toward the hotel. The Torre Agbar by Jean Nouvel. This building can be seen for miles around, it stands out due to both its unique shape and also the colour of the façade. The building is quite simple in its design, utilizing a double skin, it allows itself to regulate the ventilation and light into the building. It looks fantastic against the blue sky, its façade glistens in the sun. As you get closer to the building you realize that it is in fact made up of thousands of small glass louvers both frosted and clear. Behind this lies a simple skin containing square shaped windows in a brightly coloured mini orb façade.







A great website to visit to explore more on this building is:

http://www.torreagbar.com/home.asp

Here contains a more detailed description on how the facade works with detailed sections, plans etc.

Will be posting more soon on our second day in Barcelona.

Feel free to post any messages or comments on the blog.

Hope you are all well.

Mick