Palau Guell, 1

So here, in two posts, is our tour of Palau Guell, Gaudi's first big piece for the ultra-wealthy Guell family. Built in the later 1890s, it is truly a palace, if a smaller one, but in it one can clearly see all of the Gaudi features that would follow. Palau Guell is now owned by the Barcelona city council--it cracks me up that the Catalan for "city council" is "disputatio"--wonderfully renovated and re-opened just in 2012.

Sunday Fun in Barcelona

Our plan, after 4 Cats, was to finish our ramble on La Rambla, started nearly a week before, have lunch at the harbor, and then walk leisurely back through the Bari Gotic and older neighborhoods. Plans change.

At the Placa Catalonya we ran (nyuk-nyuk) into the finish-
line of a foot race--not a marathon, I think--perhaps a 10k;
we were nevertheless thinking of you, Carole; how can you
do this?!

Ditto

Ditto again

Stretching...

A few blocks down La Rambla, on a side street, hunting
down some Art Nouveau structure, we ran into a Sikh baptism
parade

Thus

And thus

And thus

With the street cleaner following closely to gather up all the
celebratory petals

Our plans began to change as we passed by the Palace
Guell, another Gaudi landmark, just recently opened; Vicki
inquired about tickets and discovered that on Sundays, after
3, it has free admission (though one still has to wait in line
for tickets)

We got past the Columbus monument

When we got to the harbor, Vicki re-checked the address of
the restaurant I had chosen, only to discover it was closed
on Sundays; plans changed

So we opted for an alimentario picnic, seated on some large
sculpture on La Rambla; stood in line for half an hour, and
then got into Palace Guell free of charge at 3:05PM

4 Cats

Sunday we were back on tour, and it was a very good day, starting with the hunt for more Modernisme buildings (I'll spare you) and then coffee/chocolate/churros at 4 Cats. We'd walked past the place several times before, knowing it was perhaps Barcelona's most famous eatery/drinkery, the hang-out of the Modernistas, including the young Picasso. This time we didn't just walk by. I'll let the pix speak for themselves, except for the special one at the end.

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In the ladies' room, an authentic Thomas Crapper sink! Click
to enlarge; keen eyes, Vicki!

Mataro

Not every day includes the Sangria Family and Casa Battlo and other Barcelona sights. We were tired, the Saturday forecast was foul (wrong; as always), and so we decided to laze around the campground and do the wash and maybe take the shuttle into nearby Mataro for some provisions. Have I mentioned the campground, Camping Barcelona? All things considered (amenities, price, location, access to sights), it might well be the best campground in Europe, in our experience. And our experience is now considerable. Every day we figure maybe we'll finish up and leave the next day, but Barcelona and Camping Barcelona are just too nice to leave. [We stayed three more days)].

Mataro is a little town of 120,000 about two
kilometers from Camping Barcelona--the
shuttle runs more or less hourly--and perhaps
15 miles east of Barcelona; beautiful little
beach city, a little touristy, but why not? Here
some shirts in a shirtshop I liked

They'd not heard of Menlo Park; wish I'd
bought the Tshirt

Mataro old market, somewhat Modernisme

Some beautiful old buildings here too

Ditto

In City Hall, costumes from the Mardi Gras parade

TI and Chamber of Commerce-approved ad
campaign; I hope the Brits remembered to
copyright the "keep calm" thing; it's
everywhere

Main drag, Mataro, Saturday afternoon (siesta)

Merry-go-round with swings (we're thinking of you, Penelope)

Egyptian hospital

Fortunes told, 12.50 euros

More Casa Battlo

Decor on the terrace

Another historical photo

Another light well, on the way up to the attic and the roof

Ditto

In the attic, Gaudi's parabolic arches

Gaudi chimneys

Roof top

More arches in the attic

Another hallway

In the very large gift shoppe

We didn't, except for the usual fridge magnet...

Another look at a singular place