After a quick tour of Andalusia, Mom and I spent four-ish days in Barcelona. Barcelona was another city I'd initially left off the itinerary, just for praticality's sake (as its in Northeast Spain and we were focusing our time in the South). However, my cousin Donna sent me info on cheap flights and spoke highly of the architecture and sights the city had to offer. After this recommendation and discovering Mom and I would get to rendezvous with two of my close friends due to trip overlap, Mom and I were sold.
Barcelona, a city of 1.6 million with 5mil in the greater city area, offered endless sights of incredible architecture, well-manicured plazas and narrow, maze-like streets that open up to ornate cathedrals and historic buildings. Mom and I wanted to take it easy, so we focused our sights to exploring all the Gaudí buildings, perusing the Picasso museum and spent the last night strolling along the (packed!) beach.
Our favorite places were all Gaudí-related. Antonio Gaudí is a reknown architect, famous for his standout contributions as part of the Catalan Modernista movement. We read a plaque about Gaudí in the Casa Mila which informed us that early on in his education (around the age of ~18) an instructor said he was "either insane or a genius." His work has proven that he was surely the latter.
What is most remarkable is how he studied every detail of his creations, and integrated other fields in which he was an expert craftsman (ceramics, stained glass, wrought iron forging, and carpentry) into his plans.* He even created furniture pieces to blend into the homes he constructed. (And in the infamous Park Guell he designed a public bench that is not only visually captivating-- with its wavy, colorful, tiled design -- but that is really comfortable! History emphasizes how Gaudí also studied the human form and incorporated human use and interaction with his structures into his work.)
His approach to architecture is clearly multifaceted, but I think Mom and I were both drawn to the inspiration he derived from nature. As a family big on hiking and camping (plus Mom's huge love for animals), we couldn't help but marvel at the forest-like columns in the Sagrada Familia or the seashell-like spin of certain walls and facades at the Casa Mila. Also, the 'tunnel' or 'cave-like' section of Park Guell felt like something out of Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. (As referenced here twice now, Spain seems to have clearly resonated with some deeper childlike frame of reference for me, at least when it comes to the unique architecture.)
Lastly, I would be remiss not to speak to the two greatest highlights of our time there:
Barcelona-wise, the Sagrada Familia was the most amazing building I think we've seen this trip. Part of the wonder of this cathedral is wrapped up in story of the never-ending construction of the church -- our group kept commenting on and feeling flabbergasted about how, with modern technology, they can't make a big push and get 'er done (soonish?). But additionallly, the evolution and variation of arcitecture over the years, and the uniqueness of Gaudi's vision, really left an impression in a way that other cathedrals lacked.
And then secondly, while way more low-key and not very specific to Barcelona, Mom and I had the chance to spend two days visiting with my friends, Marian and Forrest. Marian and Forrest live in South Africa, so it was a rare treat to explore a really cool city with faraway friends. While I loved all the hustle-bustle and energy of Barcelona, I will have an equally powerful remembrance of the city that is attached to the patio-sitting and lingering at restaurants, catching up on travels and all the details of life that we've missed between emails and gchat. There's something about getting to squeeze the neck of one of my closest friends and lallygag around on holiday together that rivals, and even trumps, architectural wonders.
Enough sentimental gushing -- after Barcelona we were back in Southern Spain with family. So I'll save some of my rambling about the theme of how the 'who' of traveling often trumps the 'where', and write more about that and other adventures in a day or two. Hasta pronto!
**
{pictures, from top-left & clockwise: ceiling of Sagrada familia; columns of Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló; visiting with Marian!}
*via the wikipedia
** Sorry photos are lackluster - only able to upload IPhone photos right now
No comments:
Post a Comment