77. Barcelona 1

We began Autumn in Barcelona.  

Well, at least we began my autumn!  If September 1st is the first day of Spring in Australia, then September 1st should, by my reckoning, be the first day of Autumn in the northern hemisphere.

But just to annoy me, and I am easily annoyed, Europeans don't recognize Autumn until the third week of September. So I must recalculate and say that Paul, Susan Gerrard and I spent the second last week of summer in Barcelona.  

And the weather was fabulous!  Clear, sunny days around 26 degrees every day but one, with cool nights.

We had booked a modern 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment in a lovely suburb, just two metro stops from the centre of the city - the centre being Plaza de Catalunya from which La Ramblas leads down to the waterfront.  So Susan was able to join us for the week and it was great to have someone 'new' to talk to.   

The view to the right from our balcony, looking toward the mountains that surround Barcelona and the ring road that seems to join all the suburbs to each other. 

And the view to the left, towards the city centre and the beach.  Barcelona is a large city of 1.6 million.  It is the second largest city in Spain and is the capital of a region called Catalonia. The local language is Catalan and every sign is in both Spanish and Catalan. Often a third language is added - English.

Susan won the prize for finding the best food in Barcelona at this shady restaurant on the waterfront, which we patronised six days out of seven. 

The only excursion we took in the car whilst in Barcelona was on the one rainy day we had, which happened to be a Sunday.  We went to Colonia Guell, a utopian town built around a factory in a suburb called Santa Colomna.

In 1898, the renowned Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi was commissioned to create a church for worship in this industrial area.  The church was never completed because the industrialist, Count Guell who had commissioned it, could no longer finance the project as his profits from the Industrial Revolution in Barcelona in the late 1800's, from which he had benefited, dried up in 1906.  

Only the crypt that was completed.  But it is still a very beautiful and truly organic structure. Pure Gaudi!

As with all of his projects, Gaudi designed every element of the project, including the exquisite furniture and stained glass. 

Instead of long church pews, these are two person models, complete with hymn book ledge and kneeling pads.  Made of wrought iron, which Gauidi had truly mastered and the most beautiful timbers.

Individual panels in the lower sections of each of the stained glass windows, open for ventilation. 

Our next must-see Gaudi masterpiece was the Casa Batllo. In Spanish, "a double ll" is pronounced "y".  So, Batllo is pronounced  Batyo.  The photos on this official link are so much better than mine - have a look. I've borrowed the romantic descriptions from this site, too.

Casa Batllo

"Casa Batlló, built between 1904 and 1906 in the heart of the city, is the most emblematic work of the brilliant Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi.

Gaudi gave Casa Batlló a facade that is original, fantastical and full of imagination. A wavy shape, which was plastered with lime mortar and covered with a mosaic of fragments of coloured glass and ceramic discs."

"The balcony railings are in the shape of masks and made of wrought iron cast in a single piece and secured by two anchor points in such a way that the balconies partly project outwards.

As a whole, the facade is a joyful and allegorical representation, full of organic elements and colours and charged with symbolism, a wonderful spectacle in the city which inspires the most sublime sentiments in all those who gaze upon it. The house is a dialogue between light and colour."

"At the top of the facade, the roof is in the shape of an animal’s back with large iridescent scales."  

As in all European multi-level, multi-dwelling buildings, the design of light wells, light shafts ventilation stacks and chimneys is critical.  Traditionally, Spanish chimneys and ventilation shafts are always decorated.  Gaudi's are truly gorgeous!

"Internally, Gaudí covered the walls of the light well entirely in glazed tiles in varying shades of blue, which are darker in colour at the top and lighter towards the bottom, thus achieving an even distribution of the light."

"The windows are smaller higher up where more natural light can enter, whereas they get larger as you move further down. Below the windows there are wooden slits which can be opened and closed to ensure good ventilation."

Gaudi was a master of light and ventilation techniques, and well ahead of his time.  His roofs were supported by the use of the catenary arch, shown beautifully along this corridor, which is actually the attic and storage area.  All the light here is natural daylight and fresh air was used to dry laundry, air clothing and store all types of goods.

Spanish houses and apartment buildings have traditionally had roof terraces, so a spiral stairway to the roof is not unusual.  But Gaudi can make a spiral staircase an object of art!

And talking about works of art, just look at these windows.  These are the smaller windows in the reception rooms at the front of the apartments, facing the boulevard.  The large windows were almost the same but about six times as wide and the amount of light coming in made it impossible to take a photo.

Paul managed to get this shot along the front facade, showing the supporting structure and the decoration.

I was struggling to juggle my shoulder bag, the audioguide and a new iPad mini which was my camera replacement, and felt as though it would just slide out of my fingers .....

... but Susan managed it all beautifully, including a hat!