The Gothic

Another quite famous area of Barcelona is the Gothic, the neighborhood that Picasso grew up in.  It's known for some pretty interesting architecture, as well.

This building has umbrellas pasted to the outside, and a dragon that's holding a light.

Some more neat mosaics. 

There were also some wild animal sightings.  Bram took the chance to try to reign one in.

That's why I love him!

Superman stood by and watched my husband, realizing he was not needed today to help contain the wild animals.

Strange super-small cars.

The Gothic also was made up of a warren of narrow street, the bottoms perpetually bathed in shadows.

It was in this maze of streets that we found this neat intricate bridge.

 

On the outside of the Cathedral of Barcelona.

The inside...

And the roof!

It had a beautiful courtyard filled with nice palm trees and fountains.

This is the Park of Your Dreams

Our hotel had excellent food for breakfast.  Lots of fresh fruit, grilled vegetables, chocolate covered pastries, and a "tortilla" (not the same tortilla I know - this one is like an omelet with grilled vegetables inside). 

We decided to head up to Park Güell.  Another Gaudi creation, this park was situated on top of one of Barcelona's hills.  To help the tourists climb, there are even outdoor escalators.  

Simply because we want to keep our tourists nice and round.

Park Güell was made by Gaudi originally as a suburb for the wealthy, but it never took off.  So now it's a public park. 

At the entrance of the park, we are greeted by the same fanatical designs we have grown to love. 

Welcome to wonderland.

As well as a couple of mosaic lizards.

The symbol of Barcelona.

Inside the park, there is a huge pavilion with mosaic medallions.

More covered walkways.

On the day we were there, there was a festival going on in the park, with people dressed up as very tall characters.

Including a wolf in sports clothing!

 The festival.

Views from Park Güell over the city of Barcelona.

After the park, we head to lunch and have tapas and sangria!

Tapas were cold cheese and meats, potatoes, roasted peppers, breaded calamari, chicken wings, and pepper poppers, among other things.  Fun!

Spanish Sun and the Beach

We spent a really nice afternoon walking along the beach.  First off, could we swim?  No, the water was frigid!  But it was fun to stick our feet in, even though it was absurdly cold, as attested to by the look on my husband's face.

Hurry!  Take the picture!

Barcelona is known for it's weird architecture, and the beach is no exception.

I really have no idea what this could possibly be.

Walking in the water.

Nice view down the beach.

Here's another nice view - not beach related, but the view from our (very tall) hotel.

That Looks a Little Gaudi to Me

"Who is this Gaudi guy?  Did he build everything in the country?"  - My brother.

Almost.

It seems like almost every interesting architectural building in Barcelona was designed by Gaudi at the beginning of the 1900s.  He was very talented - and his buildings were somewhat controversial (and still are).  I must say, there is nothing else like these buildings.

We stopped by the Casa Batlló, designed by Gaudi for the (very rich) Batlló family.

On closer inspection, you can see this building is, well, special.  The balconies look like the skeletal jaws of sharks, and the pillars are bones.  And the building itself has an overall scaly appearance.

Sea monster inspired

The idea was to give the building a "waterlike" theme.  For example, this chandelier looks like it's spinning in the ceiling, making water ripples in it's wake.  

So awesome

There are lots of windows, and a lot of them have blue stained glass accents, making the whole house bright and blue.

The rooms themselves had odd shapes.  Can you imagine trying to fit furniture into a room with walls shaped like this?

 

The staircase.  It looks like the spine of some massive sea creature.

Strange room and window shapes.

In the courtyard outside the house.  More color and mosaics, something Gaudi loved.

The house also had two "light wells".  Windows bordered the light wells so every room in the house could have natural light.  The walls of the light well were covered in blue tiles, which continued the "water" theme.  The tiles got darker farther up, so when you are at the bottom of the light well and look up, the entire wall looks like it's the same hue of blue.

The attic, where the servants worked.  

The attic was filled with arches. 

Now up on the roof.  The chimneys were topped with colorful mosaics.  Made them much nicer to look at!

Colorful tops of the chimneys.

The entire roof looked like a giant lizard.  

I even got to meet Gaudi, in holographic form.

Buenos días, architect friend!

Overall, I was quite impressed by the house.  I would have been happy to live there myself!  It is honestly refreshing to see something so unique and to see Gaudi's personality come alive in his buildings.  If only we had more architecture like that.

Nearby, another Gaudi designed apartment.  Same wavy style, with strange shaped rooms inside.

The balconies.

There were even some interesting buildings in the area NOT designed by Gaudi.

Dinner was tapas.  Garlic shrimp, garlic cheese potatoes, nachos, spicy chicken wings, and olives.  Tapas are great - but what surprised me most is how much I like green olives.  How could I have gone through so many years of life not realizing how amazing olives are? 

Olives.  I will eat thee with every meal from now on.