After roaming around in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona and checking out the food markets the previous day, our third day in Barcelona was dedicated to Antoni Gaudi.
Woke up, wrote some postcards… ate some yogurt and cereal.
Got ready and set out to explore the Antoni Gaudi buildings…
We decided to go walking from the Gothic Quarter, where we were staying, to the Sagrada Familia church, cause google maps said it wasn’t that far. A twenty minute walk or so… and along the way we could check out Gaudi’s other buildings.
While walking we came across these beautiful lamp posts, and I was wondering why only these were elaborately ornate… then we realised they were markers to locate the buildings that Gaudi had designed. This city is really something, they’ve taken care of even the smallest detail, they take pride in their famous architect.
No, this is not a Gaudi building.. this is just a pretty ornate building on the way.
Check out the facade…
Another pretty ornate building…
This is definitely Gaudi… look at the flow here, no sharp edges, just fluid motion. This looks like something out of a storybook, it’s named Casa Batlló.
This is the building near the Gaudi building that is equally impressive, or maybe even more… check out that window, the carving on it is incredible.
Both the buildings together, the pretty one and the Gaudi building near it.
So we continued walking and came across this lamp post structure again, and that’s how we knew the second Gaudi building was somewhere in the vicinity. We looked around trying to locate a crowd gaping up at a building, taking pictures and that’s how we located the second Gaudi building.
No, not a Gaudi. Just an impressive entrance way…
No, not a Gaudi… just showing you some normal buildings so when the Gaudi building comes up next you’ll realise why it stands out.
Okay, that’s one of Gaudi’s buildings across the street… known as Casa Milà.
Look at the balcony frames… molten metal caught up in a dance.
Straight out of a fantasy novel… the flowy edges and the fascinating iron work.
We continue walking, spotted this chapel like building so crossed the road to check out…
Mary of Mount Carmel church…
Inside the chapel…
We continued our walk and finally spotted Antoni Gaudi’s magnum opus, the Sagrada Familia church at a distance…
Apparently it is still under construction…
The entrance facade is impressive… it depicts the joyful mysteries. Every side of the church is decorated with the mysteries of the rosary.
Can you make out the Nativity, right at the centre, above the pillar?
The carving…
The pillar, the angels…
The front door of the church…
The interiors…
The huge colourful windows…
It was like going down a rabbit hole…
Had a science fiction-y feel to it…
The ceiling… see what I mean by the whole science fiction vibe.
These stained glass windows were soothing…
The Our Father door in different languages…
The description of the door…
The scale of the whole place…
The altar…
More stained glass windows…
A chapel beneath the main church where mass takes place… cause you can’t really use the main church for mass, too many people walking about.
Lights in various hues…
After walking around taking in the grandeur of this church, we rested awhile in the shade of the coloured lights.
Me, pointing out something…
Another door
Elaborate candle stand…
This facade depicts the sorrowful mysteries… the passion facade.
I’m guessing this is Peter, upset at having denied Jesus… you can see the cock in the picture here.
The scourging at the pillar.
The kiss of betrayal… I have no idea what those numbers mean.
Nice horse…
It really is an impressive edifice, no doubt… but hardly conducive to prayer and silent meditation. As an artistic endeavour, it is pretty epic.
Create your own sunshine, carried this note book around by Limn Designs.. but no time to draw.
This is the wristband (the one apart from the rest) I picked up at the native Indian shop the previous day in the Gothic quarter.
Walked around searching for a place to grab a bite near the Sagrada Familia… stumbled upon Chill Bar, ate some good food…
Some amazing potato dish…
Salami…
This was like a cheesy fondue thing…
A burrito…
Cheesy Nachos…
Anyway, after eating we took a taxi to Gaudi park, park Guell.
It was nice walking around here… there was an entrance fee for the monuments so didn’t go there. We took a taxi back to our apartment and rested a bit. My brother was feeling feverish and didn’t want to come out later, so me and Nam set out to buy souvenirs and just roam around in the…
Gothic quarter.
The funny gargoyles…
The wizarding ones with there twisted faces…
The pretty lamps in the pretty streets buzzing with life…
Evening lights… under the bridge.
A violinist playing some beautiful music near the bridge…
The kings square at night…
Bought dinner at a burger place called Bacao.
Ate it at home, and it was good enough.
So that was our third day in Barcelona, filled with wonder, lots of exercise and good food. We were totally under Barcelona’s verve, charm and subtle beauty; this city is always buzzing with excitement and there’s lots of things to do and see.
P.S.
The postcard we had sent home to mom and dad from Barcelona…