La Pedrera

La Pedrera is an apartment building by Gaudi, 4 blocks or so from the Block of Discord (all this is in the Example, the Extension, the new (c. 1880) addition that adjoins the old city from the Plaza de Catalan). It is part Gaudi museum and showplace but is also still occupied by a few (very wealthy) residents and a few offices.  It was just as incredible inside as outside.

La Pedrera, frontal view

Looking up from the entry

In the foyer

There is a furnished apartment on the 5th floor, part of the

museum, all done up in Modernista, that is, art nouveau,

incredibly beautiful stuff

Roof ornamentation

Closer up

More roof ornmentation; as we'll see, much

of his work involves broken tile--they can

be set in curves that unbroken tiles cannot

Gaudi chimneys

From the roof, a mile or so away, the

Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's church, which

we'll see a lot more of...

And the Torre Agbar, which is 20th century,

not Gaudi, but fits Barcelona just as well

Interior structural support for the roof

Pedrera by night

Block of Discord

Perhaps most famous of all Barcelona's many sights are the buildings designed by Antoni Gaudi, who died in about 1926. Most of his work was late 19th/early 20th century. "Gaudi" is pronounced sort of like "Gowdy," as in Curt Gowdy, my all-time favorite sports broadcaster. I mention this in part because I just learned, via a NYT dispatch, that the Saints beat the Colts in the SuperBowl, 31-17. It is the first SuperBowl in history that I have entirely missed. (I caught the last couple minutes of last year's in a sports bar in Te Anau, South Island.) Just a little stream-of-consciousness for your information.

Anyhow, Gaudi is about the most distinctive designer/architect I have come across. I had read a bit about him and his work and was prepared to be repulsed. But it is entirely seductive, intriguing, amazing. I haven't the architectural vocabulary to describe it--except to say it is very organic, natural, colorful, no straight lines, no right angles--so I'll have to let my poor pictures convey what they can. We spent most of the day Thursday seeing Gaudi sites, getting more and more intrigued...first the Block of Discord, which ranges several modernist structures together, most notably Gaudi's Casa de Battlli.

On the Block of Discord

We had our picnic lunch (ask me about goose mousse) on 
a sidewalk bench right here, listening to various professors 
lecture to their classes (and in English, too)

Barcelona book award sculpture?

Advertising on the Block of Discord, well, across from it

Beautiful grill-work everywhere; a lamp post on the Passeig 
de Gracia

Casa de Batlla at night (we had to go back and see all these 
things lit up)

More Ramblin' In Barcelona

About midway down the Rambla, we ran into
the Liceau, the Barcelona Opera

Where they just happened to have been
doing Tristan und Isolde this week; the
only tickets remaining were 192 and 138
euros; so I decided to pass; a visit to
their book and CD/DVD store, the best
opera store I have ever seen, convinced
 me I could own all the Wagner DVDs I'd
ever want for 192 euros!

Opera interior

The Rambla is lined with mimes of every
description; here's one talking to a "friend"

\

The Barcelona Columbus
monument; after the first
voyage, he arrived back here
to greet Ferdinand and
Isabella

"That-a-way" he seems to be saying

The maritime museum, built from the medieval
ship-building structures

We finished up with an exceptionally mediocre tapas and a paella dinner. Paella, in my estimation, is one of those once-in-a-lifetime things.

Ramblin' On the Rambla In Barcelona

Part of the huge Plaza de Catalona

Bird stalls on the Rambla

In the Bouqeteria, the market

I love markets; but then I also love hiper/super mercados too

Note the knife this woman is wielding

The egg store

The candy store; well, one of them

One of the two or three obligatory activities in Barcelona is a stroll down the Rambla, the broad boulevard that goes from the Plaza de Catalona down to the harbor and the Columbus monument. We did this Wednesday afternoon and evening, seeing the Rambla both by day and night. We also did a bit of the Passeig de Gracias and the somethng-or-other de Angels and also a bit of the Gotic area. Lots of walking. Great, super-great city.

And On To Barcelona

Peniscola is artichoke country; don't ask me about the

symbolism; but we really like artichokes...

They also do potted plants here, big-time;

these are 20-30 foot palms, in pots

And ancient olive trees, in pots large enough to swim in

Miami Beach

At length, the road snaked up the seaside cliffs and went

on for miles

And miles, on cliffs hovering over the Mediterranean

Before finally dropping into greater Barcelona

Welcome to Barcelona!

We followed the coast pretty much to Barcelona, arriving in the mid-afternoon. Our campsite was perhaps our least attractive yet, and also one of the most expensive...the Forum Park n' Ride, 25 euros a night, no services, but a safe place to park and a 15 minute tram and Metro ride into the heart of the great city. There weren't many spaces left!

Pulpi to Peniscola

After not enough lazy warm days at Pulpi--I got to know the wifi bars pretty well--we pushed on west, through Valencia, and into a seaside resort town called (I swear I am not making this up) Peniscola. We spent the night there at a campground, sort of--a parking lot, with services, just for RV's, 100 meters from the beach--for 8 euros.

Self-portraits at Playa del Serena Mar

Red moon rise

Europe is a land of roundabouts ("rotaries," sometimes, in

the US), often decorated with public sculpture, local

interest, etc; this one is some beach-side community,

painted all sea-blue; I wondered, approaching it, what one

would think, at night, half-drunk, approaching it...

Typical terrain...miles and miles of plastic hot-houses,

growing tomatoes; soon to be followed by condos...

Highway of the Mediterranean

Spain had some 10,000 castles at one time, now down to a

mere 300-500; you're never not in sight of one of them

Or another

Or another

And there is always plenty of interesting contemporary

architecture in the cities

Valencia, I think

And more condos

And more castles