Barcelona 2008 written 1 year ago

Some of my favourite photos from our recent trip to Barcelona, September 2008.

1

1. A Street performer on Las Ramblas.

Following a coffee and croissant from a nearby café, Las Ramblas was our first port of call. Clutching my bag tighter than a tourist in a dubious town, awaiting my imminent mugging, we pondered down and marvelled at all the peculiar faces. It didn’t take long before the camera had been teased from the bag and begun snap snap snapping away at the many human statues that litter the Ramblas. Some actors revelled in the spotlight, others got excessively grumpy — much the hilarity of a dainty fairy-elf propping her hands on her hips at the typical tourist video camera pointed her way.

About half way down, the Ramblas turns into an open-air pet store. This is all well and fair enough, and the sawdust adds to the general circus feel of the place, but some of the stalls had signs saying essentially “we were happy before you tourists came along… please don’t act all touristy around us”. I suspect they were just grumpy because they were certain no tourists would come and buy any of their ever-so-cute-turtles. I might have filled my pockets with the enshelled little badgers had it not been for it violating some sort of international treaty.

2

3 4

5

2. La Catedral, like much of Barcelona seems to be perpetually under construction;
3 - 5. Inside the Catedral.

Continuing our meandering (our first day was complete without plan) we stumbled upon the Cathedral. Like much of Barcelona it seems to be perpetually under construction, leading me to wonder what they were really doing with my entrance fee donation. Despite being chock-full of tourists the cathedral is still fully functional, with live confessionals and other assorted religious displays occurring all around.

6 7 8

6. Peeking Rob, at the Viceroy’s Palace;
7. Candles at Le Catedral;
8. Doors to the Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar

Some more meandering lead us to the Viceroy’s Palace. Not that we knew it at the time, it was a mere curiosity as we were ambling down a side-street (there are no non-side-streets in Barcelona), and a nice place to take a break.

9

9. A Stained glass window in the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar. This window appeared to have been a replacement for one of the original windows — the modern style contrasting starkly against the traditional backdrop. A place for this kind of art it was not.

Rounding off our first day (a suprisingly busy day) we found the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar hiding away down some side streets - the tall muted doors giving nothing away from the surroundings.

---

The next day proved to be a day of Gaudi; curves, tiles, more curves, some obscure use of wine bottles, some more tiles, some broken tiles, and some more curves.

10 11 12 13 14

Views around Casa Batlló
10. Even the chimneytops weren’t allowed to be left unadorned with the remains of the tiles found in the boot of Gaudi’s car folowing a raucous night out;
11. “The most unique fire place in the world”.. designed for courting couples — and their shaperone;
12. A surprisingly harsh lined geometric pattern;
13. A stegosaurus passed by…
14. The before and after Gaudi had his merry Cava fuelled way… The polyfilla factory must have busy.

Casa Batlló was our first destination on our tour of the peculiarly distorted objects covered in broken tiles. The sceletal formation was a mundane 19 century town house, restored by Gaudi at the command of the owner: Josep Battló, where the house owes it’s christening.

15 16 17 18

Casa Milo
15. A trailing picture of Casa Battlo I couldn’t fit up there; showing the skeletal frontage;
16. The smoother curves.. a little less brash to attract residents that didn’t share Gaudi’s fascination with making the flat and square, curved and queer;
17. More phunky chimney pots;
18. A walnut whip from the gods.

Casa Milo is a short canter down the road from Chéz Battlo; and here we find Gaudi contracted to design a block of flats. The apartments themselves are fairly mundane; with the design left up to the residents — the “show house” resembling regular early 20 century decòr. The roofing space shows Gaudi at his best — tall arches, and “breathable” walls creating the impression of being inside the stomach of a whale.

19 20 21

Sagradia Familia
19. The Sagradia Familia has been under construction for over 100 years. Work was started in 1882.
20. The angular and harsh lines of the Passion, designed by Josep Maria Subirachs.
21. The Nativity facade; as designed by Gaudi.

The Sagradia Familia presents a curious juxtaposition of rebelling styles; each of the four facets of the Temple introduces a new artist, with only one side being designed by the man himself. The building shares just a varied past — the original architect being fired just as the first few stones were being laid to have Gaudi take over and make it his personal, and final project before he died in 1926.

22 23 24

22. Overlooking barcelona at Parc Guell;
23. Sat in Parc Guell - No two inches of these benches looks similar;
24. MNAC The National art Gallery of Catalunya. We didn’t have chance to go in here; some of the pieces from the guide book looked a little dry and didn’t compare with the works of Picasso and Miro.

25

25. LEGO!

Taking a trip up to Montjuic mountain on the Telefèric we immediately lost hours in the Fundació Joan Miró. Not quite knowing what to expect, we were entertained by the sometimes delightful, sometimes awe-inspiring, sometimes quite disappointing works by Miró. Personal highlights involved the Mercury Fountain being designed by an American Alexander Calder, and the many (many..) “Woman with Bird“s from Miró himself. The Pièce de résistance being a huge room at the end of the museum containing a large bench full of lego pieces. Our eyes lit up, and all murmers of getting lunch from our stomachs were ignored. Some pieces in the lego-room had been constructed by groups of people, other frankenstinian monsters created by individuals - each adding their own stamp onto an existing piece. Worth visiting for this exhibit(?) alone.

26

27

28

26. Whilst up on the mountain, we visited Poble Espanyol - a decorative village, built for the 1929 International Exhibition. A thoroughly bizarre little place that was full of the various types of Catalonian Architechture, and other various assortments. It now houses many craft & jewellery shops as well as a plethora of eating establishments;
27, 28. What trip to Barcelona wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Magic Fountain? - A dazzling light and sound show.

29

29. The Cymbalobylette - The sounds of cymbols, wherever you go.

Our last couple of days coincided with “La Mercé” - a festival celebrating the Roman Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Mercy. As well as many free concerts being held in the centre of Barcelona, showcasing many types of music - local and worldwide, lots of other smaller events are held throughout the city. The Circ de Soleil were performing up on Montjuic Mountain, and also a curious fun fair was in residence. The Cumbalobylette was to be found here, amongst the Human powered fairground rides and other curiosities.

← previous entry | next entry → Sun 1st Mar 2009 - 13:09 | no comments | tagged with Out and About, Photos