2009-06-13 Barcelona

Barcelona is not providing the respite from walking I thought it would. I imagined in my exhausted mind that it would be less walking solely because there is less that I desired to see here than there was in Rome. Well, as it turns out, while there is less to see, they tend to be further apart.

So once again I and my soon-to-be-unwilling companion are exhausted. Today was off to a slow start at the beginning. Neither one of us slept very well, so we stayed in bed a little later than usual. After a leisurely breakfast at the hostel (FREE!) Megan and I headed on foot to our first destination. It was a little appreciated bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava called the Bac de Roda Bridge. A minor construct in western Barcelona, it was the easiest visit of the day.

From the bridge the next point of interest was to be The Gaudi church: Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family.) This is the most visited site in Barcelona and in retrospect is what we should have gone to first but I will get to that in a minute. The important piece of information here is that between the bridge and Sagrada Familia there exists, on a little side street a Burberry! Megan was so happy. This place was a total find and inside of it Megan was able to find a gret bag that will serve her well for the rest of the trip and beyond. (ok I wasn't that excited but there it is)

After our furlough in happy plaid bag country, we once again headed towards the Gaudi icon. This is such a fabulous building. The scultpure on the front and rear facades are breathtaking in their brutal simplicity. And on the interior you can begin to see what the building will finally look like when it is completed (2010 is the hopeful date with services by 2030!) A large and heavy space which manages to feel incredibly light. Poured concrete and cinder block construction is manipulated in some amazing ways to create the signature Gaudi biomorphism. The only regret I have in regards to this visit is that we were a bit late getting there and the line to take the elevator to the top was well beyond an hour. So we did not get to go up but instead headed out to go find Casa Mila, another Gaudi building in La Rambla region of Barcelona stopping only to buy some bread, cheese and meat from a supermarket for a picnic in the park (our new favorite type of lunch.)

La Rambla is Barcelona's answer to Champ Elysee in paris. The layout is the same with the broad boulevards however it was interesting to us how the stores are more costly at one end and depreciate as they progress towards the south. And they begin to repeat as well! At the top of La Rambla is Casa Mila, another very popular tourist stop. So popular in fact that after taking pictures outside we made a decision to not go inside. I know I am going to regret that as well but I made the decision based on the fact that Casa Batllo is just down the road and in my opinion a better building, plus less well known. Se we hiked down the road.

Batllo is in fact a very nice building without a single curved line in the design. Gaudi did not even have plans for it and instead sat out front and yelled instructions to the contractors. The whole building is based on being under the sea, the exterior walls reminiscent of sea foam, the interior appears to be the home for some acquatic deity. We took our own way through the house giving up on the audio guide about 20 minutes in. It really was fantastic to be in such a strange and wonderful place.

After Batllo we headed south and through the Gothic quarter. This is a pretty much intact element of medieval Barcelona. And also, this area houses the Picasso Museum, which, in both our minds, was an unavoidabke excursion.

Once we had viewed every piece, we decided it was time to head home. We walked out of the quarter and onto the first major thoroughfair we could find and caught a cab (our dogs were barking.) Tomorrow: Parc Guell.

Until then