Barcelona- 20 Mar- Parc Guell :)

This was such a lovely day...I swear...
After having some really cheap strawberries (1 Euro/kilo) like good romanians in Spain...we went up to see Parc Guell. Another one of Gaudi's attractions. Up, up very high..the parc offers a grand view of Barcelona.

Here, on Muntanya Pelada, in the Barcelona district of La Salut, Eusebi Guell wanted to build an urbanisation inspired by the concept of garden city. In this he sought to return to nature and health and have an escape from the insalubrious industrial city. Gaudi worked on the construction of this parc between 1900 and 1914 and even moved his home here in 1906.

This is a row of benches that wind like a serpant and that have again many symbols of nature in the colorful tiles that cover them. This part has a very ingenious system of collecting water from rainfall, sending it through pipes in columns you will soon see, to water the rest of the parc.

It is said that Gaudi outdid himself in building these benches in a way that fits the human body perfectly. So I decided to give it a try...truth is that they are very comfy..but that they were a bit cold :p.

The buildings behind are the first ones built in the parc between 1900 and 1903. If you notice, both of them have chimneys shaped as a mushroom. This is a symbol traditionally connected to the world of magic and fairytales, of druids and shamans and of gnomes and witches.

This site is underneath the benches, in a space held up by collumns, as you will see. This space was destined surprisingly to be a marketplace and the ceiling is decorated as you can see with interpretations of suns, medusas and snakes.

The doric colonade which supports the square is a very imposing site. Here one can see the colorful lizard and a salamander on the coat of arms of Catalunya. The salamander is a legendary animal, charged with symbolism.

This little lizzard is one of my favorite things in Barcelona :)

An aquaduct Gaudi built...

Unfortunately, in the end, only one other person bought a house, alog side Gaudi in this parc. So the urban project had to be abandoned in the end, because it became too expensive. In the end, the administration of Barcelona bought the place and it has been a turistic attraction ever since.

A souvenir shop I loved...

Sadly, Gaudi died in June, 1926 ran over by a tram, a solitary man, with little people to mourn him, as he was working on Sagrada Familia. Sadly because he is my favourite archites and a fascinating artist.

In the end I leave you with an image of a fresh fruit and fish market in Las Ramblas. Here my biggest dilema was which fruits to chose or which candy :).

Barcelona- 19 mar

Today was a really great day for me as I fulfilled my dream of seeing the Sagrada Familia and other works of Gaudi (1852-1926)- a great artist and architect, who inspired his works greatly from nature.

We started the walk on Passeig de Gracia- a street that hosts many shops and 2 of Gaudi's houses. The first one we saw was Casa Batlio, built between 1904 and 1907 for the industrialist Josep Batlio Casanovas. People in the days the house was built were astonished by the work and quickly nicknamed it "The House of Bones" or "The House of Yawns". The facade is covered with ceramic discs and colored glass windows.

This is one of the rooms inside. Everything is filled with details and natural elements. The woodwork is impressive, the window opening mechanisms are made to fit your hand perfectly, the little holes below the window are meant to aid the ventilation of the house, the columns are shaped like bones and the ceiling looks like a whirlpool. Everything flows and is a pleasure to feel. It's like the house was meant to be a monument of flowing shapes, detail and ergonomy.

This is one of the 2 interior courtyards. The tiles are lighter on the lower floors and darker above and the windows get smaller and smaller on the upper floors. All this done to keep the light even everywhere in the house. Here you can hear sea sounds and the atmosphere is great.

The roof of the house is decorated Gaudi style and it looks like the back of a dragon. The ceramics used here comes from Majorca. Gaudi is in his colorful age here.


We were all very inspired by this first house and by Gaudi's genius.
The next house we saw was Casa Mila or La Pedrera. Pere Mila was an important Barcelona business man, who wantd to build a house on Passeig de Gracia. So he and his wife hired the most expensive architect: Antoni Gaudi. Built between 1906 and 1912, Casa Mila was the last piece of civil engineering Gaudi did.

The strtucture of the house is done so that the facade is a mere cover- no load is placed on it. The rails of the balconies are iron sculptures, designed and cast by Gaudi himself. This house has no corners on the facade- everything is rounded.

The courtyard is used as the main axis of the bulding. Inside the house you can find a museum dedicated to explaining the life and time of Gaudi, as well as some of the techniques he used. Also, one can see rooms with objects resembling those used by the people who lived here.

The roof is filled with chimneys with anthropomorphic shapes.

Finally, we reached the objective I was most anxious to see and one of Gaudi's best works: the Sagrada Familia. The work on this temple began in 1882. On this church, Gaudi introduced solutions that he had tested and solved in other projects. Sagrada Familia would be called the "Cathedral of the poor", because it had to be financed completely out of donations. The works continue up to this day, folowing the plans the architect left behind.

The facade below: the facade of passion was built after Gaudi's death and I personally think it's far from the plans he had and from the facade he did. The sculptures were done in 1990. Gaudi envisioned this facade after he became ill with Maltese fever. He said: "I am prepared to sacrifice the very construction, to break vaulting and cut columns to give an idea of how cruel sacrifice is".

The details of the building would take days to notice entirely. It all looks like a castle made out of wet sand...

This was the facade of the Nativity that Gaudi himself did.


Dazzled by all we had seen, we just had time to see another Gothic Cathedral in the city center and to see the Dali museum.

Night-time caught us in a traditional Spanish bar, with sangria and beer, celebrating the birthday of Marius.

Bercelona...the city you must see!!! 18 mar

It was a great dream of mine to see Barcelona and especially the Gaudi works...ever since we disussed it in Mrs. Cotuna's class (my English teacher). And it was a dream. I am only sorry I could not see more of it or spend more days there.

The first day we took it easy, trying to get the feel of the place. After the 28 degrees warm Portugal, we found a cold and windy Barcelona. :( So we tried to get warmer in the sun, tasting some yummy tapas near a traditional fruit market on the famous Ramblas. These are all house mates I went with and 2 great new friends we made: Julia- our host and her friend Miguel.

...This is Rambla..a street of shops, nice buildings, mimes that make you laugh, dancers in the street, artizans and florists. Here you can find any kind of souvenirs and any kind of restaurant.



...the Ramblas end near the sea and ports, with the statue of Christopher Columb pointing towards the Americas (probably :p).

...this is by the port. Here you can find any kind of yacht, black people selling watches and sunglasses and have a crepes with any flavour.

...later on we found a BMW expo we could not resist not to see...

...and this was near Montdjuic Palace. 2 campanillas start the street that goes up to the palace.

...and this palace is actually a museum...of contemporary art. But apparently the most recent painting it hosts is one of Picaso.

...The view from the palace is great. The little yellow lit church on the hill across is Tibidabo. We wanted to go there because there is an auzement parc and all there and the view must be great. But we didn't have time.

...The first day ended with the best paella I'v ever had. And with some sangria :)

Lisboa

After a good breakfast made by Ana, my good friend in Granada, I decided to take a moment and post some pictures from where I have been. I've seen a great deal of Lisbon one sunny day, when Antonio was stuck in MC elections :).

I walked quite a lot..starting with Campo Pequenio...

..onto Liberty Avenue, where I helped an old lady carry her shopping bags home, through some very interesting narrow streets...and then on downtown where the old historical city center is...

...this is one of the market squares that as you go from Libery Avenue towards the street that leads to Commerce Square...if you look left from here, you can see the St. George castle up on a hill top...

...these are trams that make Lisboa famous...because they go up and down hills in the old city center..the drivers are nice...waving to all the turists, but in a tavern, some old lady pointed at a picture on the wall with a tram like this and told me to watch my bag :)...

..this is St. Antonio church...I remember seeing a lot of foreigners here...which made me feel better- I wasn't the only one who was crap in Portugese...

...example of an old little street that made me fall in love with in Portugal...

...this is St George castle...I spent about 4 hours here walking around the place..on the walls and in the courtyards...

...here I went inside a media museum that told the story of the evolution of Lisbon...met some romanians...

...and enjoyed the St George castle periscope. They have a huge mirror on top of the castle that reflects the great views of the city onto a screen in an obscure room. In this way, one can take a 360 degrees tour of Lisbon in 15 minutes. It was an exciting experience.

...at the end of the day I felt relaxed and happy... and I managed to give myself a red nose from too much sun.

...my journey ended in Commerce Square, where I took the metro back.

But my journey in Portugal continued and I had 11 days filled with sun and warmth, thoughts about the future, fun and of course...Antonio :).

In Coimbra with friends :)

Who would have thought I´d meet them here? We spoke about it in winter, but nothing was sure. And yet today I spent the day with Tuca, Taco and Alina- Tuca´s sister...right here, in Coimbra.

...again we enjoyed the blue tiles...

...the sunny, warm day...

...the bohemian atmosphere...

..the tiny streets...


...palmtrees :)...

...some great Brazilian food in Forum- their mall with a great view...

...and finally my favourite view in Coimbra, from the car.

Thank you guys for a great day! Really :)