Barcelona is an ancient seaport city, some 2,000 years old. Originally founded as a Roman city, it is heir to Greek, Phoenician, Gothic and Arab cultural legacies. It is the capital of Catalonia, a region of eastern Spain. The central city is composed of so many different style of architecture and plazas with streets that are straight and narrow, but go off in different tangents making a newcomer wondering where the heck are we. It is the Spain's second largest city, and is the sixth most populated urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, Madrid, the Ruhr Area and Milan. That's one for your trivia game.
Barcelona was the home of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Antoni Gaudi. In case you didn't know where the word gaudy originated from, it is from the work of Antoni Gaudi, which I will describe later. Barcelona has been described as a Mediterranean Manhattan, a cosmopolitan center for political ideas and artistic creativity. Barcelona has inherited cultures and people from Romans to Arabs. There are castles, bridges, aqueducts, and ancient structures that reflect the influence of invading forces through the centuries.
This is my second time to Barcelona. The La Sagrada Familia, a Roman Catholic church designed by architect Antoni Gaudi, was closed for inside visits the first time I was here. I really wanted to see the inside of this magnificant, but gaudy (Gaudi) church so I opted for a tour that would get me inside. Little did I know what a treat I was in store for. Antoni Gaudi was an architect who had a vivid imagination. The guy was creatively brilliant or mad, or possibly both. He had a fancy for fantasy. His work resembles those mysterious looking castles you created as a child building sandcastles by the sea.
Over 550 feet tall and still under construction (it was started in 1882 and is expected to be completed by 2026), it resembles a gigantic sandcastle made by dripping sand through clenched fists, drop by drop until the sandcastle reaches the sky. There are towers, buttresses, gargoyles, and serpent-like arches. Every sculpture depicts something important.
Inside, the stain glass is a kaleidoscope of fascinating and vivid colors infusing the interior with much light. The lines to get inside were very long, but being in a group got us right in. My senses were lit up, the intense reds (my favorite) caught my eye. All around me were people, but looking up they disappeared as I soaked in the colors of the rainbow. Pictures do not do this place justice.
And if that wasn't enough, we went to Park Guell, a park where Gaudi lived out his remaining years (he died in 1926 at the age of 74). The park was originally designed to be a residental complex incorporating viaducts, water-collection systems, and footpaths for people to enjoy. Begun in 1900, Eusebi Guell entrusted Guadi to create 60 plots for Barcelona aristocracy. This plot of land was on a steep hillside, so building conditions made the project unviable. Work was stopped in 1914 and the city acquired the property in 1922 as a public park.
All I can say about this is OMG. What an incredible place! I loved the church, but this was something else. Aquaducts, columns for water collection, mosiacs, gardens houses, grand staircases .... it had it all. It looked like something Disney would have created, but Gaudi was way ahead of his time. The monumental flight of steps had so much detail: gargoyles, mosaics, dragons, and snakes. And did I mention stairs, steep flights of stairs. We started on the uphill side entrance, walking down down down. These are some of the sights we saw:
The aqueduct
After our tour, I thought the bus would meet us at the downhill entrance, but I guessed wrong. We walked back uphill taking all those steps. I'm not sure what was worse, my knees or huffing and puffing, but it was worth it. While riding on the bus, we toured some of the main sights of Barcelona, including Gaudi's dragon-designed house, and the seashore house. We drove along the tree-lined pedestran boulevard Las Ramblas back to the ship.
Michael had a wine tasting tour that took place in a citdel built in the 11th century to defend the area from Muslim invaders. His tour also took in an overview of Barcelona and circumnavigated Montserrat mountain. He thoroughly enjoyed his tour.
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