Casa Calvet And La Monumental

Our day of recovery, after the ascent and descent of the Sagrada Familia tower, included a couple short walks, one to see Casa Calvet, another of the Gaudi-designed houses, and La Monumental, Barcelona's main (former) bullfighting ring. Any walk in Barcelona will happen by ever more architectural beauties, so there were a few more of those too.

Casa Calvet, one of Gaudi's mature works...but it
was in a nice, refined neighborhood, and the
proprietor, a textile manufacturer, told him to
tone it down...

Certainly nothing at all like Casa Battlo, etc., but still pretty nice

 

Entrance

The main floor is now a pretty nice Chinese 
restaurant, and it features some of the original
decor

We were tempted, but had just finished two nights
of Chinese...

On the building exterior

Next door, another beauty

And another

A school in the neighborhood, gearing up for...

St. Geoge's day...the day of books and roses...a subsequent post

Only a few blocks from our apartment, La Monumental, Barcelona's
major bullfighting venue

Catalonia banned bullfighting in 2010, and La Monumental now
hosts rock concerts and such; the other bullfighting venue, the
Arena, at Placa Espana, is now a shopping mall

Sagrada Familia, 2023: The Out-Takes

"Oh Lord, I beseech Thee, please get this pigeon off my
head, Amen"

"Oh when those saints, come marching in..." 

Among his more interesting religious beliefs, Gaudi
would not depict angels with wings, contending that
with the usual wings, they could not actually fly..."what
is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow"... thus
this one has a harp

Unhelpful model; but behind the reflection is our
tour guide

"We three birds of Orient are..."

Halo effect

"If I had a hammer..."

St. Darth Vader

Just really good friends

Holy door beetle

The Holy Parafoil catches a thermal and carries
Jesus up to his new home in Heaven

Rare dorsal view (thanks, Vicki)

"This space available...your message here"

Anatomically correct Jesus

Sagrada Familia, 2023: School And Museum

 After the towers, we did the school and museum, and, of course, the gift shop...

In 1906, with work well underway, Gaudi established a school on
the construction site premises, for the children of the workers

Helpful model, with undulating Gaudian roof...it would be until
the later 20th century that Friedensreich Hundertwasser would add
an undulating floor to the mix (helpful architectural insight) 

Classroom; note non-Modernista desks and benches

Undulating roof

In the museum now, a helpful chronology of the construction

OK, so, see, it was the Spiritual Association of
the Devotees of St. Joseph...

Helpful model #11,377, an early model

Among Gaudi's earlier sketches...

Early floor plan

Proportions...click to enlarge

Example of tubular bells used in the temple

Re-creation of Gaudi's office; it was all destroyed, along with many
of his papers and designs, in the Civil War (Sherman's March to the 
Sea...wait, no...)

Helpful model #11,378, along with self-portrait of
the photographer

Re-creation of one of Gaudi's design models

More helpful models

Workshop where all the helpful models come from

Photograph of procession for the 2010 consecration of
the temple, featuring whomever was the pope then

All the chief architects who have worked on Sagrada Familia; so far

Actually the tienda was pretty good, as well it should be; among
the three best, Battlo, MNAC, and Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia, 2023: Ascent And Descent of The Towers

Practical tip: If you visit Barcelona and do the Sagrada Familia and think you want to do the towers, be sure to scroll down and carefully read the fine print before you buy your online tickets. There, you will discover that, while an elevator takes you nearly to the mirador in the tower, you have to walk back down. No elevator. What it doesn't tell you at all is that you have walk down a very narrow, steep, exposed, winding 406 steps. 406. Not good for 70-something knees, especially the artificial ones; nor for persons with balance issues. But we did it, enjoyed the views, and only had to take one following day off and additional doses of pain reliever to recover. Further practical tip: there are other, cheaper, less painful ways to see Barcelona from on high.

At the mirador, which is actually a sort of catwalk between
two of the towers

Construction site

Baguettes?

Now most of the way down, wide enough to stop
for a few pix

In the forest of columns

Literally, at the exit, they tell you...