August 23: Barcelona, where Krista fell in love with the works of Gaudi part 1

We had less than a day in Barcelona, and instead of trying to see it all, Tom and I decided we wanted to see as much work by Gaudi as we could. Tom's parents hopped a tour bus, and Tom and I spent the day with Carlos, a friend of mine who is a native of Barcelona. He was awesome! We can't wait for him to visit us in BC.

Bronze-topped building in Barcelona:
Some gargoylish creatures sticking out vertically... wish I'd got a shot from underneath:
A large lantern:
A walkway between two buildings:
A clock in the sidewalk... can you tell what time it is? (Answer at bottom of post)
Krista and Carlos looking for a bar to cool off in (it was early afternoon at this point and as you can see, most places were closed up tight):
The outside of a magnificent concert hall:Bottom of the columns at the concert hall (check out the ticket window):A tree on a building:Toilet paper art. The guy in the very left of the pic is the "artist". He wanted money from us for taking the picture, too!

(It's 2:34)

August 23: Barcelona part 2

Tom popped into a building somewhere and snapped this:
Nice balconys:
Another bronze dome-topped building:

Carlos leads the way, as Krista follows. Tom brings up the rear with the camera:A nice battle scene inbetween two doorways:Interesting building:First view of one of Gaudi's creations:Second view:
Right underneath. A lot of his inspiration came from organic material... nostrils anyone?:Close up of a window; he designed the outer coverings of the buildings to be on top of the actual structure, that way he had a lot more freedom with shape because he didn't have to depend on these parts to hold anything else up; the support behind it all. (If that is confusing I apologize.)


We didn't go into this building because the line up was HUGE. Carlos got us quickly to another one, though...

August 23: Barcelona part 3

First glimpse of the other Gaudi building we went to--an apartment building. It wasn't as colourful as the first building, but it housed a museum on Gaudi's life that was very informative:Krista under an ornate lamp post in front of the building:

Carlos and Krista:A view of the "attic" of the building-the amount of brick arches made it feel like I was inside a whale or something:
A model of the attic, showing all the arches:

On the roof, Krista and others:
There were two of these wells extending the height of the building; they let a whole lot of natural light into each apartment--ingenious. I wish buildings today were like this.
Close up of Krista and the statues:
So simple, yet so different:

August 23: Barcelona part 4

More rooftop shots of the Gaudi apartment building:

Tom on the rooftop, I found the detail on these statues to be so simple and clean, yet so graphic:

A view of our next stop, the Sangrada Familia, a cathedral that Gaudi designed and which is still under construction:Rooftop shots:More of the same style of statues, but covered in green glass or rock...Tom and Carlos completely in shadow, darn it:Happiness:I believe this is a view of the apartment building from the sidewalk:

A view from within the apartment, gives an idea of the unique style of the balcony railings:

The foyer:A view from below of the method Gaudi used to let more natural light into all parts of the apartment suites:*** Our next stop, and the most stunning work of Gaudi's that we saw***

Ever under construction:Sanctus:

August 23: Barcelona part 5

More under construction shots... an incredible amount of cranes:


We could have stood in front of this cathedral all day and not absorbed all the detail. This part looks like tree roots to us:Tom and Carlos looking up.... way up:
Lizard crawling down the side:
Look at the faces of these statues; very similar to those on top of the apartment building:


Underneath the cathedral (we didn't go into the main part):


Gaudi's final resting place (and altar):