Visited: June 2012
I’ve been fortunate to see quite a bit of this world through my travels, but one city that always eluded me all these years and one that I've been super keen to visit - Barcelona.
Almost every visitor of Barcelona that I have spoken to sings
praises of this city. The culture, architecture, food, shopping, weather, shopping, eating, shopping, eating (one can just rotate on shopping and eating) –
everything about it seems to enchant its visitors. Little did I know this city
was going to completely blow me away!
I’ve already given you all a taste of Barcelona through my
Food Safari post, and if you are a foodie, please make it a mission to visit this
amazing food capital! To me, the most stunning aspect of Barcelona would have
to be its architecture. Whilst Gaudi’s buildings are stamped all over
Barcelona, and I do love Gaudi’s incredible mind, imagination and willingness
to experiment and push the boundaries in modern architecture, but it is actually the component of its small parts that make Barcelona shine.
Now onto the photographs so one can see why Barcelona is such a cool place to visit!
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| Centuries old buildings that are still standing strong! |
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| No building looks the same in Barcelona! |
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| The mansions on Prasseig de Gracia |
The Chimney Tops (or we liked to call them 'ice-cream cones') from
Palau Guell are incredible works of art. They are imaginative, distinctive, colourful, fun and just plain unusual! Really appreciated and admired the creative efforts of artisans of the time, and of course thank you Gaudi for having such a vivid imagination.
I actually thought another cool feature of Guell Palace was being able to checkout the Barcelonean rooftops, which was such a contrast from the colourful, imaginative chimney tops!
Park Guell also by Gaudi, commissioned by the extremely wealthy Guell family is another originally intended to be a housing development. What a housing development even though only two of the houses are visible at the entrance to the park right now. Who wouldn't want to live in a house that looks like it's from a fairytale book? Again, it is in the details where Gaudi shines as an artist. All the mosaic and motifs.
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| The entrance to Park Guell |
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| The incredible mosaics |
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| The people, the mosaics, the structures, the view |
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| Everyone wanted to touch the dragon & take a photo, along with all the other tourists!! |
As if taking a day tour of Gaudi's works were not enough? We booked ourselves to see Casa Milà on a night tour, another one of Gaudi's works on the prestigious Prasseig de Gracia. To imagine people lived here before? Those shapes and surfaces, contours. Genius.
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| Exterior of Casa Mila |
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| Originally built as apartments. Windows and doors. |
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| Gaudi really had a thing with making interesting chimney tops! |
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| Night view from Casa Mila |
Now I am definitely saving the best for last. The Grand Masterpiece of them all -
La Sagrada Familia! One word - WOW! The unfinished church designed by Gaudi which commenced construction in 1882 and is still going to this day with an ETC of 2026/2028 . I was completely and utterly blown away by Gaudi's attention to detail on all aspects of this building. It is incredible how Gaudi managed to combine the neo-gothic style with the elegantly post-modern art noveau style all into the same building and have these elements work harmoniously. Loved how Gaudi incorporated several stories from the bible into his design. Even a simple door is not spared of details. The interiors of this church are also remarkable. The interior is unexpectedly bright for a church that is so heavy on details when viewed from the outsside. There is an abundance of light that enters into this church, and the stained glass windows assist in forming a rainbow of colours. The tree-like pillars give structure and stability to hold the basilica, and whisks the audience away into another land whilst enjoying the stillness and tranquility inside the basilica.
La Sagrada Familia is not to be missed if you are stopping by in Barcelona and
cannot be missed.
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| My first glimpse of it from a street! |
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| Text on doors |
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| The gorgeous interiors. Those pillars are incredible! |
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| Look above! Beautiful |
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| More details - reminds me of the 'chimney tops' at Palau Guell |
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| The 3 wise men - stories from the bible can be seen from the exterior. |
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| The darker gothic side of La Sagrada Familia |
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| The brighter modern side. All looks amazing! |
Barcelona cityscape from the top of
La Sagrada Familia
Hoping these photographs will encourage you to visit Barcelona if you haven't already been! Definitely one of the must-see cities in this world. If you have visited Barcelona already, I hope you have still enjoyed this photo-heavy post!
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