European, cosmopolitan, beautiful, dynamic, fun, cultural…Barcelona is definitely in my top 5 favourite cities list. One major highlight was seeing FCB play against Malaga at the Barcelona FC Camp Nou stadium- the 3rd largest stadium in the world after Sao Paulo, Brasil and Mexico City. It has a capacity of 110,000 people and I’m pretty sure the stadium was full or almost full at this match! Excellent! Although I must admit the experience was a lot ‘tamer’ than at English football matches. Far less swearing, shouting or singing was heard. Infact, at times I felt like the hooligan getting all excited and shouting words of encouragement….. or frustration! Although they did sing the Barcel song at the start of the game which was very fun… have a listen.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp5vLVBF77Y&feature=related
Kate and Christina found it hilarious that you can’t purchase alcohol at the stadium because too many people get drunk..but you can get non-alcoholic beer hehe!
The 4 day weekend was mainly packed with visits to Gaudi’s creations and a little Picasso…no clubbing/drinking etc. So I guess this holiday can be placed under the ‘cultural breaks’ list! We had fun walking down Las Ramblas and watching street artists perform, painters, markets ranging from flowers to fruit to animals! Yes, there were actually pet shop stands in the middle of the street selling birds, rabbits, ferrets, hamsters, fish…crazy! The Market ‘St Joseph La Boqueria’ was especially fun and colourful, although we were like sardines in a tin trying to get round it! Check out the piccies….
Oh and I spent about an hour bargaining in shops, trying to find the cheapest FCB scarf available!
Without a doubt, the biggest attraction in Barcelona for me was the work of Gaudi! You can spend at least 3 days discovering his numerous projects that are scattered around the city. The most famous obviously being La Sagrada Familia, the Park Guell, La Pedrera/Casa Mila and Casa Batllo. All of which we visited, despite the rip off entry fees. Each building cost around 12 Euros per person! Barcelona really is a beautiful and fun city, but it eats your money!
Gaudi’s work really was fascinating and so here’s a section of my blog about him and his work; if you don’t know who he is or haven’t seen his work then read on and be amazed… if you want to visit Barcelona sometime and want to keep it all a surprise…STOP here !
Gaudi!
Gaudí era un genio, sí, no hay discusión. Un monstruo de talento y ambición artística.
I think Gaudi really makes Barcelona a unique city. The Sagrada Familia, a huge tourist attraction, Casa Batllo, La Pedrera/Casa Mila and Park Guell are just a few of Gaudi’s many creations that are situated in Barcelona. I absolutely loved Gaudi’s arquitecture; so much so that I invested in one of those ‘Coffee table’ books…weighs a ton but hey ho…another recuerdo! He was a genius and so extraordinary…it’s just a shame that he had such a clumsy death- he wasn’t looking where he was going and walked out in front of a tram one day….splat. Because of his ragged attire and empty pockets, many cab drivers refused to pick him up for fear that he would be unable to pay the fare. He was eventually taken to a paupers' hospital in Barcelona. Nobody recognized the injured artist until his friends found him the next day. When they tried to move him into a nicer hospital, Gaudí refused, reportedly saying "I belong here among the poor." He died three days later on 10 June 1926, at age 73, half of Barcelona mourning his death. He was buried in the midst of La Sagrada Família. Kate thinks he was probably thinking about his next project and how he would incorporate nature into his work to entice the senses and create an illusional and symbolic building…tragic!
Cool fact; Gaudi actually lived inside the Temple Sagrada Familia during his last years before his death!
Gaudi really has a fun and very modern style, considering the period he lived in. Some of his buildings made me feel as if I were in a Dr Seuss film! Check out Casa Batllo….
Gaudi uses nature to create an adventurous and symbolic house, a universe of senses and fantasy. A lot of his roofs convey his vivid imagination, expressing his appreciation for shapes, geometric plant forms and even a type of kaleidoscope effect to express modernity, eroticism, fantasy and light…..I felt like I was in some sort of cartoon land!
La Pedrera was a pretty awesome design too! Especially the roof that is like a maze with towers that look like ice-cream cones! I think Gaudi was going for the swirly, childish playground feel- I got a little vertigo as there's a 30 floor sheer drop, or so it felt! Here are some photos of that place;
The SAGRADA FAMILIA
This masterpiece has been under construction since 1882 and is estimated to be completed around 2030, but if the Catalan people are anything like the Spanish then this could be pushed back a few…...decades! haha! Oh and apparently the church is to be consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI on November 7, 2010! The Sagrada was just mind-blowing! I couldn’t get over the detail and imagination behind it. Unfortunately parts of the unfinished barn and Gaudí's models and workshop were destroyed during the Spanish Civil war in 1936 and so today’s design is a reconstructed version. Every corner had a new surprise waiting to be discovered. The theme of nature is provident in this creation; as Gaudi declared ‘El gran libro, siempre abierto, y que es necesario esforzarse en leer, es el de la Naturaleza.’ Many columns in the church look like trees and the roof appears to be covered in petals. I remember reading somewhere that Gaudi wanted to create a peaceful and ‘one with nature’ setting in the midst of the hustle and bustle of a city.
This Cryptogram was my favourite part of the building; there are 310 ways to equate 33- the age of Christ when he was crucified.
Gaudi intended the church to be the "last great sanctuary of Christendom". A little architectural info for you…. The Sagrada has a total of 18 towers; the Twelve Apostles, the four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary and, tallest of all, Jesus Christ. The Evangelists' towers will be surmounted by sculptures of their traditional symbols: a bull (St Luke), a winged man (St Matthew), an eagle (St John), and a lion (St Mark). The central tower of Jesus Christ is to be surmounted by a giant cross; the tower's total height (170 m) will be one meter less than that of Montjuïc (a hill in Barcelona), as Gaudí believed that his work should not surpass that of God. The Church will have three grand façades: the Nativity façade to the East, the Glory façade to the South (yet to be completed) and the Passion façade to the West. The Nativity facade was built before work was interrupted in 1935 and bears the most direct Gaudí influence. The Passion façade is especially striking for its spare, gaunt, tormented characters, including emaciated figures of Christ being flogged and on the crucifix. I’m certainly intrigued to see how they will depict the ‘Glory’ façade. Tune in around 2030 to find out!
The Passion facade
The staircase looked like a snail!
Flowers on the ceiling
The Nativity
Park Güell is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of el Carmel. Although totally worth a visit, I did feel like I was hiking a mountain to get there! The surrounding area is almost identical to San Francisco, just without the trams to help you get from A to B! I loved the park’s relaxed atmosphere and the hidden gems around it. I again felt like I was in a fairy tale land. The sunshine, parrots in the trees, street performers, bright colours and dazzling works of Gaudi created a surreal fantasy world for me. There were many street performers inside too keeping us entertained whilst we ate our picnic. My favourite part was probably the ‘Gingerbread’ style house at the entrance- making me feel like I was in Hansel and Grettle’s fairytale!
Gingerbread house
Probably the most photographed lizard in the world!
Part 2: Another famous guy and a love/hate relationship!
Real name: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz Picasso !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have never really called myself a ‘Picasso fan’. Infact, quite the contrary, I’ve always found Picasso a little dull, strange, depressing and quite frankly I would never have chosen to display one his paintings in my bedroom….until I discovered the ‘Dove of Peace’. The painting is so simple, even a child could produce an equivalent, but it enticed me and I think through this painting I gave Picasso a second chance, a second chance to capture my interest and lure me into his works, ideas and his world. Picasso once declared; ‘I have a horror of people who speak about the beautiful. What is the beautiful? One must speak of problems in painting!’ I think this is why it took me a while to begin to appreciate Picasso’s work. I’m a sucker for the ‘pretty, colourful and happy’ depictions of life. I don’t mean a child’s painting of a rainbow, although they can be adorable…I mean, I can do deep. I can do thought-provoking. I’m just not good with old fashioned war paintings or religious paintings you so often find in cathedrals…they don’t inspire or affect me. The famous museum in Seville ‘Museo bellas artes’ didn’t entice me at all. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is I ventured into El museo de Picasso in Barcelona with quite a negative mind-set that said ‘You don’t like Picasso, and here you are walking into a museum which only has his works….have fun.’ And yet, as I walked through the rooms that represented different stages of his life and saw how his style developed, I found myself becoming more and more eager to enter the next room, to see what was waiting. So I guess I came out of the museum still convinced that Picasso’s work isn’t my cup of tea, but I feel that I now appreciate it. Aside from the 'Dove of Peace', I also loved Picasso's adaption of the serious painting 'Meninas' by Velazquez. I had studied this Velazquez painting last year in St Andrews and so got really excited to see dozens of variations of it 'Picasso style'. They even had a screen showing (computer graphically) how Picasso took a section of the painting and transformed it into his style. Pablo Picasso declared ‘My mother said to me, "If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope." Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso’. He certainly is unique.
Painting is just another way of keeping a diary isn’t it? Well, Picasso must have been one of those dedicated people that writes in their diary (or paints a picture) every day, because that museum was full! Out of all the hundreds of paintings in his museum, here a few examples conveying the range of his work, the development and gradual change of his style and finally, The Dove of Peace, my favourite.
NB: The first painting- ‘Guernica’ is actually in La Reina Sofia, Madrid. (Worth a visit if you ever find yourself in Madrid for the day!) The second painting shown is Picasso's version of Velazquez's 'Meninas'....
Well that's all folks. I'm going to be stationed in Valverde now until Easter (3 whole weeks without vacations!! oh no!! haha) Lots of love to you all. Oh, and please please keep in touch and keep me updated about life in the bubble! Besos y abrazos
Cor XxXxXx
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