{"id":9860,"date":"2015-11-14T13:01:51","date_gmt":"2015-11-14T18:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=9860"},"modified":"2015-12-03T16:55:37","modified_gmt":"2015-12-03T21:55:37","slug":"antoni-gaudi-day-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=9860","title":{"rendered":"Antoni Gaudi – Day One"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday, November 14, 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We rode the Metro to ‘The Block of Discord’ where three Modernista facades stand out among the classic style\u00a0residences along the wide boulevard of Passeig de Gracia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Liceau Metro Station:\u00a0\u00a0\"IMG_7577\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We first visited Casa Batllo, Gaudi’s famous extravagantly designed residence, which he created for a wealthy textile merchant.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0277\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0285\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0308\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0322\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Even the roof, with its spectacular views of Barcelona, was enchanting:<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0361\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Afterwards, we walked a couple of blocks to La Pedrera – Casa Mila which was an apartment building Gaudi designed and\u00a0built\u00a0in 1906.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0383\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Most of the building is\u00a0occupied by residents but tourists can visit\u00a0parts of the building to learn about Gaudi’s architectural process. An apartment was furnished as it would have looked during the early 1900s:<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0461\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0463\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0473\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The roof was an undulating complex of tiled steps around 30 functioning chimneys.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0413\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0432\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We took another\u00a0Metro to Sagrada Famalia, the cathedral which Gaudi designed and began building\u00a0before his sudden death in\u00a01926. The city of Barcelona and wealthy benefactors have continued construction hoping to complete the magnificent church\u00a0by 2026.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0483\"<\/a>
\nSince 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. \u00a0We didn’t want to waste our time standing in line so we took the Metro back to Las Ramblas.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7586\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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. \u00a0It 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\u00a0Taverna Basca Irati for Basque “pinchos” or ‘pintxos’ in the Catalan language.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7605\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7598\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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. \u00a0They were all one price: 1.85 euros each and one or two euros for drinks.\"IMG_7600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"IMG_7602\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The yummy treats included salmon, tuna, octopus, jamon (ham), sausage, beef, peppers, potatoes, cabbage, etc., etc. \u00a0Every single pintxos was delicious!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7603\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.\u00a0 We rode the Metro to ‘The Block of Discord’ where three Modernista facades stand out among the classic style\u00a0residences along the wide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9860"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10107,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9860\/revisions\/10107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}