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<< Day 14: Barcelona—Sagrada Familia & Parc Guell
Barcelona: Casa Batlló and Montjuic
Even after yesterday's outings to La Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell, we still didn't have our fill of Antoni Gaudí’s amazing creations. (But would we ever?)
This was our last day in Barcelona, and we wanted to see one more of his architectural masterpieces—a residence called Casa Batlló (pronounced “Bye YO”). The house was only a ten minute walk from our hotel. Along the way, we had a constant stream of visual treats, such as this upside down set of stairs in Plaza Catalunya:
The stairs were a monument to Francesc Macià, a former president of Catalonia. The sculpture was created in 1991 by Josep Subirachs, the architect who designed the angular “Passion” façade on La Sagrada Familia.
How many times does one normally exclaim “Wow! Look at that!” in a 10 minute period? I think we broke some kind of record.
Even the street lights in Barcelona had artistic pizzazz:
Sandwiched among stunning neighbors, the Casa Batlló still turned heads:
From 1906 to 1908, Gaudi had transformed an ordinary 18th century residence into one of the most famous buildings in Barcelona. The wavy roofline has caused some people to speculate that Gaudí was inspired by the story of Saint George, a legendary dragon slayer and the patron saint of Catalonia. The balconies supposedly represent the skulls of those who met a fiery death from the dragon.
Gaudí designed this home for the Battló family, who lived in the lower floors and rented out rooms in the upper part of the building.
We stood in line behind about 50 other people for our turn to enter this beautiful structure.
While waiting, we had a fabulous view upwards:
The hefty ticket price of $24 each for Ben and I included an audio guide headset. (Genevieve’s entrance fee was $19, and Sebastian was free.) It was worth every penny.
Looking out the front window:
The interior had a light, airy feeling, with swirls and curves and anthropomorphic shapes appearing throughout.
This light fixture was in the midst of a swirled ceiling:
Even with no light fixtures, the ceilings sometimes had intriguing shapes that protruded downward:
The stained glass windows were a perfect blend of function and art:
In the center of the building, a blue-tiled atrium stretched to the rooftop, allowing light to flow down into the lower rooms.
Some tilework in the backyard:
Our favorite rooms were in the attic area, which had funny curved ceilings that made us feel as if we were inside a giant fish.
The rooftop patio had beautifully tiled chimneys:
The front edge of the roof was decorated with bulbous tiles that looked like turtle shells:
To us, Casa Batlló seemed to have an air of enchantment. One would have to be a curmudgeon to leave there without a smile.
We then hopped on the underground metro and headed for Montjuic, an extensive park along the Mediterranean Sea, with a cable car, a castle fortress, playgrounds, and museums.
The name “Montjuic” means “Jewish Mountain”. To reach the top, we exited the metro, boarded a funicular that took us part way up the mountain, and then rode a cable car (called the “Teleferic de Montjuic”) up through the air.
Up, up and away!
At the top of the mountain was the 17th century fortress called Castell de Montjuic, which has a dark history as the site where dictator Franco imprisoned, tortured and executed many people during the Spanish Civil War. Part of it has now been transformed into the Barcelona Peace Center.
Genevieve and Sebastian used the huge canons and guns as climbing structures:
Walkways and patios around the fortress offered a sweeping view of the Barcelona harbor:
On one of the patios was the statue of a naked woman supposedly honoring a Spanish soldier named Gaspar de Portola, who explored (as well as governed) the San Diego and Monterey areas of California.
(One could ask WHY a nude female statue would be selected to represent a conquistador, but that would be another story. A long one. However, I doubt that this sculpture was commissioned or created by a woman.)
The protective netting over a coat of arms on the fortress façade wasn’t enough to protect it from what looked like several red paint ball splotches.
Inside the fortress were some displays of weapons as well as this painting with symbols of “peace.”
Genevieve and Sebastian liked the small hallways that connected the interior rooms:
In the central courtyard of the fortress was a cafeteria-style restaurant with excellent coffee and decent food.
After lunch, we climbed up to the rooftop of the fortress, which is now a huge patio area where people can relax and enjoy the views.
The children were intrigued by the small turrets in the corners—perfect for hiding.
The narrow slits in the towers gave a nice view out over the city:
After all of the rain that we have had over the past two weeks, the bright Barcelona sun felt wonderful on my face.
Here are Genevieve, Sebastian and Ben on top of the fortress, with the harbor behind them:
We watched some small tugboats guide a large cargo ship around the tight corners:
The melody of this man’s saxophone followed us as we left the fortress area:
A winding road led down the hill to our next stop—the Joan Miró art museum. On our map, the building had not looked that far away. However, there was no straight route, and we had to walk along the large sweeping switchbacks to get down the mountain.
Some long slides provided a short cut—wheeeeee!!!!
I think the road designers expected visitors to take the bus to get from one point to another—where were the sidewalks?
Finally, we arrived at the museum, called the Fundació Joan Miró.
Joan Miró was an artist who created colorful and bold paintings and sculptures, many classified as “surrealistic”. He was born in Barcelona and lived from 1893 to 1983. This museum was created to showcase his work.
Outside the front door was a large bronze figure called “Personage” or “Figure”:
Below are some of my favorite pieces from the museum.
“The Morning Star” (1940):
“Girl Escaping” (1967):
“Summer” (1937):
“Figures on Red Background” (1937):
“Woman and Bird” (1967):
“Woman and Bird” (1969):
Because many of Miró’s artworks have a playful element to them, I thought that Genevieve and Sebastian would enjoy this museum. And they did to a certain extent; they do love art and had really enjoyed our visit to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. However, at this point in the day, the kids’ receptors for “new information” were on overload. They had already absorbed a lot during our tour of Casa Batlló and our visit to the Castell de Montjuic. While they were not complaining, their energy levels were definitely drooping.
They sat and rested with Ben while I did a brisk perusal of the remaining rooms in the museum.
The funicular was only a short walk away.
Going down, Genevieve and Sebastian sat in the front car so that they could get the best view while whisking in and out of the small tunnels:
Back in the metro station, we admired the tile design on the walls:
After a short rest at the hotel, we were back on the streets. This was our last day in Barcelona, and there were still some things that we couldn’t pass up before going home. The first thing was La Boqueria, the local food market on La Rambla.
Inside were stalls piled high with all kinds of fruits, nuts, mushrooms, vegetables, seafood, and dried meats. We were drawn to the fruit juice stalls, which had cups of frothy goodness.
We each selected a delicious combination (the strawberry coconut was heavenly).
La Boqueria also has a number of snack shops and eateries. Sebastian and Genevieve couldn’t pass up the pizza kitchen:
The final event for the day was experiencing the sound and light show at the Magic Fountains (“Font Mágica”) in front of the National Palace. The fountains were built for the 1929 Universal Exhibition, and they were renovated for the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Our train was a bit late, and we had to run from the metro station. The show started just as we were arriving:
For 15 minutes, we were treated to a colorful display of "dancing" water, with lively music. Genevieve and Sebastian had a love-hate affair with the wind-blown water spray.
In front of the fountains was a fenced-off area, with tented exhibits and rows and rows of . . . Harley Davidson motorcycles!
It was the start of the annual Harley Days weekend in Barcelona! What a surprise!
We are a moto-family, so of course we had to check out all of the action, including sitting on some of the new bikes.
It was the perfect ending for a fun-packed day.
The streets were quiet the next morning as we rolled our bags to the airport bus.
This had been a fantastic journey, and Barcelona had certainly captured a piece of our hearts. We bid a silent “Hasta luego” (“Until later”), not a final “goodbye”. We know that we will be back here one day.
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