Touring Barcelona

For our first day in Barcelona, we had booked an all day tour that would first, orient us to the city and, second, organize our visits to some of the city's iconic attractions.  So, at 8:30 we met our tour group near the Palau de la Música Catalana and our tour began.  The group had only 19 people which was a good size.  We were driven through the city to the port (the largest cruise ship port in the world after Miami apparently), along the seafront and then up to Montjuic, a hill overlooking the city.  It is where the Olympic stadium from 1992 as well as the swimming venues were located.  Unfortunately, we had no opportunity to take photos of those.  The views across the city were lovely.

From there, we were taken back into the city to Sagrada Familia to tour Gaudi’s famous, and unfinished, cathedral.  There were so many details and so much symbolism that it was hard to comprehend it all – and remember!  It was certainly like nothing else in term of a church that I have seen.  It is beautiful in its own way but I am pretty sure “traditionalists” would have a problem with it.  I thought it was beautiful.

The interior is meant to create the feeling of being in a forest.  It is really remarkable.

After that, we were driven to the old, inner city where we did a nearly 2 hour walking tour seeing the former old city wall, one of the Gothic churches, the Jewish Quarter, and visiting the Church of Santa Maria del Mar.  From Wikipedia:  Santa Maria del Mar is an imposing church in the Ribera district of Barcelona built between 1329 and 1383 at the height of Aragon kingdom's maritime and mercantile preeminence. It is an outstanding example of Catalan Gothic, with a purity and unity of style that is very unusual in large medieval buildings.  Unfortunately, during the walking tour, it was raining and we got soaking wet.  Not fun at all!  After visiting the church, we had a lunch break. 

Inside Santa Maria del Mar - Bardelona FC paid for a stained glass window here

After lunch, we were driven to Park Guell to see another work by Gaudi.  According to Wikipedia, the park is a public park system composed of gardens and architectonic elements located on Carmel Hill. Carmel Hill belongs to the mountain range of Collserola – the Parc del Carmel is located on the northern face. Park Güell is located in La Salut, a neighborhood in the Gràcia district. With urbanization in mind, Eusebi Güell assigned the design of the park to Antoni Gaudí, a renowned architect and the face of Catalan modernism. The park was built between 1900 and 1914 and was officially opened as a public park in 1926. In 1984, UNESCO declared the park a World Heritage Site under "Works of Antoni Gaudí".  It never really achieved success as a housing space because of its isolation from the city.  It is now one of the major tourist sites in Barcelona.  You can see from the photos how Gaudi tried to unite architecture with nature - evident as well in the Sagrada Familia.  Below, you can see how the columns are meant to look like palm tree trunks and are made from rock from the hillside.  Also, the bench is curved so that more people can sit and enjoy the views from the terrace.  

Following the visit there, we were taken to the last stop of the day, Casa Milà, popularly known as La Pedrera or "The stone quarry".  This is a reference to its unconventional rough-hewn appearance and it is another of Barcelona’s modernist buildings.  It was the last private residence designed by architect Antoni Gaudí and was built between 1906 and 1912.  While the visit was included in our tour, we were both very tired (it was 4 pm by then) so we opted out of visiting the house.  It might have been a mistake but I was done.  Besides, it gives me a reason to come back to this city one day.  At least tomorrow (Friday) we have nothing specific scheduled and can have an easy day. 

The exterior of La Pedrera