Saturday, November 14, 2015
Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) is the most famous architect who contributed to Barcelona’s “Modernisme revolution.” He experimented with new construction techniques to create both practical and decorative buildings and objects.
We rode the Metro to ‘The Block of Discord’ where three Modernista facades stand out among the classic style residences along the wide boulevard of Passeig de Gracia.
Liceau Metro Station: 
We first visited Casa Batllo, Gaudi’s famous extravagantly designed residence, which he created for a wealthy textile merchant.
The exterior has been described as having the appearance of the scales of a giant reptile and the interior as the bones of a sea creature. I would describe the house as ‘whimsical’ and a lot of fun.
Even the roof, with its spectacular views of Barcelona, was enchanting:
Afterwards, we walked a couple of blocks to La Pedrera – Casa Mila which was an apartment building Gaudi designed and built in 1906.
Most of the building is occupied by residents but tourists can visit parts of the building to learn about Gaudi’s architectural process. An apartment was furnished as it would have looked during the early 1900s:
The roof was an undulating complex of tiled steps around 30 functioning chimneys.
We took another Metro to Sagrada Famalia, the cathedral which Gaudi designed and began building before his sudden death in 1926. The city of Barcelona and wealthy benefactors have continued construction hoping to complete the magnificent church by 2026.
Since today seemed to be ‘Gaudi Day,’ we thought we could visit the cathedral this afternoon. But when we arrived the line to buy tickets was so long we decided to save the tour of the cathedral for another day. The weather was perfect: high 60s and sunny. We didn’t want to waste our time standing in line so we took the Metro back to Las Ramblas.
We rested for a while at the hotel then went out for supper. The ancient narrow alleyways are well lighted and many people were out. It was difficult for us to adapt to Barcelona’s meal schedule: a late lunch, tapas snack 5 to 7 at night, and dinner after 10pm. Tonight we went to Taverna Basca Irati for Basque “pinchos” or ‘pintxos’ in the Catalan language.
Pintxos are eaten standing up at a bar. Visitors walk in, find a place among the locals, order a drink and ask for a plate. The young woman behind the bar didn’t seem to care what you ordered. I saw everything from glasses of wine, cava (bubbly wine), beer, and soda. Then you carefully look over the plates on the bar heaped with delicious-looking choices.
You reach over and help yourself. The idea is to save the large toothpicks holding the pintxos together so, at the end, the woman counts up the sticks and you pay accordingly. They were all one price: 1.85 euros each and one or two euros for drinks.
The yummy treats included salmon, tuna, octopus, jamon (ham), sausage, beef, peppers, potatoes, cabbage, etc., etc. Every single pintxos was delicious!
