barcelona was a breath of fresh air! as much as switzerland is beautiful and lovely, barcelona is colorful and lively. i had often heard about the amazing atmosphere of this city, and all i can say is that it is so true! i arrived with a day to myself which i spent wandering all over the city. i ate some tapas at a steingraeber recommenndation and had free dinner at the hostel we stayed at while waiting for darin to arrive. lesson one from this trip: im too old to stay in hostels. i did meet a couple of finnish gals at the hostel who were quite friendly, but sharing a room with 7 other people does not make for enjoyable accommodations. although it was awfully cheap...
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| the famous 'ramblas' |
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| santa maria del mar |
darin finally arrived to save me from the teenagers and it was great to see a familiar face. we spent the next day roaming much of the gothic quarter, popping into many churches, finding interesting hidden courtyards, and fighting the mobs at the cathedral. the best part about this cathedral for me was the crypt in the middle of the nave of the cathedral with a large set of steps. once you walk down, you get an even more amazing perspective of the cathedral vaults. we also walked along the beach, were highly disappointed by frank ghery's fish, but enjoyed the sights and smells of the mediterranean.
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| barcelona cathedral |
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| barcelona cathedral- from the crypt |
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| barcelona cathedral |
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| yuck! |
h.c. and arlene showed up the next day. we got breakfast at the market and to the joan miro museum, barcelona pavilion, (boo, it was closed for a private event!) and many other architectural wonders. my final day in the city was dedicated to the works of gaudi. i only studied gaudi a bit in leon's history course during the 3+ summer, so maybe for 1 or 2 hours max. but what amazed me about his work was not just the extraordinary forms and structures he designed but the integration and importance of material craft in his work. i was trying to imagine the construction of these buildings and imagining gaudi working with sculptors, iron workers, and even those laying ceramic mosaics.
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| the MN gang, family portrait style |
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| gaudi! casa batllo |
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| hexagons! love! (gaudi tiles) |
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| gaudi- la pedrera |
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| gaudi- doesn't leave a detail untouched |
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| gaudi- iron work |
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| gaudi- one of the famous models |
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| gaudi- catenary arches |
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| gaudi- la pedrera roofscape |
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| gaudi- sagrada familia from la pedrera |
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| i've got to get the self portrait thing down... |
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| sagrada familia- closed :( |
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| view of barcelona from park guell (by gaudi) |
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| mosaics everywhere (gaudi park) |
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| arlene, h.c., darin, me. la pedrera |
the food was amazing. squid. octopus. olives. squid ink paella. tapas.... can't wait to go back with howie!
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| fresh seafood at the market |
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| steingraber-recommended tapas and wine |
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next time i'll visit the maritime museum
this wooden submarine was hanging around |
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| barcelona pavillion (mies van der rohe) closed! :( |
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| caixaforum. cannot. remember. architect... japanese dude? |
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| santa caterina market- EMBT architects |
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excavation of roman graves along ancient road to city.
excellent landscape intervention! |
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| view from joan miro museum. always smiling. |
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| burned to a crisp? no! squid ink rice dish! yum... |
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