Sunday, April 16, 2017

Casa Amatlla, 2

Continuing the tour of Casa Amatllo
In the study

Good as Tiffany

Hall hat rack

More of the study; like working in a kaleidoscope, Vicki
observed

Hall

Now in the dining room, huge sculpture above the fireplace:
Aztec/Mayan/Incan princess with the Spanish royalty...where
chocolate comes from

Giant fireplace; seats six

Unending eclecticity




Yes, William Morris wallpaper in the music room

Pre-fiddle

Sheet music chest


Dumbwaiter from the downstairs kitchen;
worked too

More eclecticity


How about a Renaissance chest?

Moorish columns



Now in the gift store

Selling, what else? Amatller chocolate...which is all over
Barcelona

Senor Amatllo had the good taste to engage Mucha for his
advertising

For us, it sort of Thai'd a lot of things
together...chocolate, South America, Liberty,
Stil Mucha..., origins of Modernisme

Architecture had devolved to this eclecticism...not knowing
where to go next

Until Gaudi appeared next door

Casa Amatlla, 1

Sitting right next to Gaudi's Casa Battlo, Casa Amatllo has to be one of the most looked-at buildings in Barcelona, although it was opened to the public, with original decor and furnishings throughout, only a couple years ago. The structure was built earlier in the 19th century, but renovated to then-current tastes only in the late 1890s. Its style is eclectic--the stepped facade is a giant clue--fitting the tastes of its owner, the 3rd generation chocolatier Antoni Amatlla, a world traveler and collector.
Walking innocently along the Block of Discord

The facade of Casa Amatlla fairly sparkled in the morning sun

Alas, not something the camera could catch, but it literally
beckoned

We walked right into the lobby and--the price for jubilados 
being right, even for non-Spanish and non-EU jubilados--
bought tickets for the 11AM English tour

Staircase to the first floor/museum

But first, a little chocolate

A chocolatier better have a chocolate shoppe on the premises

Ceiling of the grand staircase, way up there

Chandelier in the main hall/living room

Senor Amatlla

Some of his very extensive glass collection


Stained glass windows facing the street

Ancient glass

Ceiling










































The main hall/living room

Amatllo lived with his grown daughter; her bedroom; the wife,
we were told, had run off with an Italian musician...

Looking out the daughter's bedroom window, people gawking
at what the Amatllos must have thought was the monstrosity
next door

Talk about ruining the neighborhood

Nice screen

In the 30s, after her father had died, she decided she could stand
the Art Nouveau stuff no longer and converted her sitting room
to Art Deco

In dad's bedroom

Nice Gothic chair

More incredible glass

Senor Amatllo was really into glass

Barcelona Scenes, 3

Another day's rambles...
But this day, we finally did a house tour, the Casa Amatlla, on
the Block of Discord, only open since 2016 (next post)

Its younger, rather more famous, next-door neighbor

And after that, time for another lunch at Cerviceria Catalana
(great location in L'Eixample)

The "Spanish" omelette was awful, but the anchovies were
fine...for Catalonia...the land of the bland

Famous farmacia nearby


Walking now on Valencia and/or Mallorca




Risking serious neck injury


Passing a garden market















Only when Penelope is with us...


We walked as far as the Familia Sangria, just to make sure work
was still on-going

Tower of St. Dionysus

Actually, but for the tourists, things seemed rather quiet

Especially on the side of St. Rebar, which has looked much the
same in the years we have been visiting BCN


Although most of the Modernnistas in the
touristy part of town are well marked,
occasionally you find one that isn't; this
beauty contained mostly law offices

Attencion!

We took the 5PM shuttle back to the campground, just in time
to watch the sailboat races...