Lay in today, until 10am anyway, that's quite a lay in for us. The Scottish ladies had snuck around extra quietly in the kitchen to avoid a nasty Nicki emerging to confront them!
We had a plan for the afternoon, but the remainder of the morning was dedicated to getting some passport pics for our all important (and expensive) trip to the embassy the next day. So we wandered backover to the shorrping centre/aquarium near the harbour.
It was there that it called to us..like a siren.
The Golden Arches
Dos McPollastre por favoure. For shame, Starbucks, Haagen Daas and now this.....
Moving swiftly on!
I don't think I've mentioned Gaudi yet, he's (or was...but still is) THE man in Barcelona, artist and architect. His work is amazing, I believe his original inspiration was gothic, but he soon made it something his own, organic and completely individual and distinctive.
Antoni Gaudi was born in Southern Catalonia on 25th June 1852. Catholicism was important to him and as such he embarked upon what would be his masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) in 1882. The church would have 18 towers, 12 for the apostles, 4 for the evangelists, one for Mary and one for Jesus. However, as time and construction went on, one by one everyone that was important to Gaudi seemed to slip away. A niece and a longtime friends deaths seemed to be the final straw and Gaudi started to withdraw into himself and away from the public eye. To this day the Sagrada Familia remains partially constructed.
On 7th June 1926 Gaudi was knocked over by a tram. His ragged appearance meant that no cabs would stop for him and eventually he was taken to a hospital for the poor. He was only recognised the next day when friends came to find him, and he refused to be taken to a better hospital.
He died 2 days later on 10th June 1926. Remarkable in life, such an unremarkable death.
Nicki and I planned a little walk today to see the Sagrada Familia itself, and another of Gaudi's masterpieces, La Pedrera. Then we'd wander off to Jardin de Montjuc to see the Magic Fountain give its wonderful display.
La Pedrera is quite something even from the outside. Gaudi was commissioned by a couple with more money than sense to convert this building into apartments. You can see from the outside that it has that hotel-type appearance. 'La Pedrera' actually mean 'The Quarry' in Catalan, it does almost look as if the whole edifice is carved out of one piece of stone.
The sense of space on the inside is amazing. Gaudi was all about including gaping apertures in his work. Sturdy structures built on what seems like huge holes, almost like a honeycomb. The main reason Nicki and I wanted to come here though was the roof terrace. Check this baby out:
The sense of fluidity up there was amazing, the shapes and patterns were incredible. I'm not sure what those strange sets of statues are meant to symbolise...on one hand they look like soldiers, and on the other.....well, I'll leave that to your imagination.
The sense of fluidity up there was amazing, the shapes and patterns were incredible. I'm not sure what those strange sets of statues are meant to symbolise...on one hand they look like soldiers, and on the other.....well, I'll leave that to your imagination.
We moved onto the Sagrada Familia, as we walked in the general direction we joked that it would probably be surrounded by cranes just like the Cathedral. As it came into sight.....sure enough, there they were. It was only afterwards that we found out it's been in a state of perpetual construction since 1882 so I guess we should have expected it!
It is still an incredible and imposing structure, very impressive! Maybe Catholicism outdid itself this time, still not having enough money to finish it and all. Nicki and I didn't go inside this time...still suffereing the financial strain of having all our money nicked, we sat in the park opposite and admired it for a while whilst we tried to figure out a way to get to Jardin de Montjuc for the magic fountain show. Next time I go I would like to see inside, it's supposed to be replete with Christian symbolism in every aspect, Gaudi intended for it to be the 'last great sanctuary of Christendom'.
So....off to the Jardin.
It seemed that we chose the wrong Metro to get off at as we walked through some kind of a ghetto (not really...only compared to the rest of what we'd seen), and Nicki was making noises about whether we'd get out unscathed. We did!! After about an hour of walking...we were seriously knackered by the time we found this bloody fountain!!
Much to our delight there was a little van there selling, you guessed it, Estrella, so we grabbed a couple of cans and a couple of seats and waited for the lights to begin. Nicki had a glance through the guidebook for some info on it.
'Becki'
'Yah?'
*withering look*
'what??'
'The light show runs October to March, every 30 minutes between 7-8:30pm'
'Yeah....'
'On FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS!!'
'Uh....today is Sunday right?'
'....yes...'
'Oh'
So we went back to the apartment and ate fish! Look at that lovely sunset though...it wasn't ALL for nothing.
So we went back to the apartment and ate fish! Look at that lovely sunset though...it wasn't ALL for nothing.
