Casa Batllo

Saturday
We started the day at Placa Catalunya, a large square in central Barcelona that is generally considered to be both its city centre and the place where the old city and the 19th century-built Eixample meet. Some of the city's most important streets and avenues meet at Plaça Catalunya, such as Passeig de Gràcia and Rambla de Catalunya. The plaza is especially known for its fountains and statues, and for the flocks of pigeons that gather in the centre. Although we had walked sections of La Rambla yesterday, much of it was in fading light, so we set off to explore it more thoroughly. We stopped to look at the church of Belen, one of the few examples of Baroque architecture left in the city. The baroque frontage was started in 1681. The interior was unfortunately burned during the civil war of 1936. A little further down we came across the Boqueria Market, a fascinating mix of colors, smells and tastes, all under the original 18th century iron and glass roof. On the Rambla near the market is a pavement mosaic by the famous Barcelona born artist, Joan Miró’, in his trademark basic colors of red, yellow and blue. I had walked over it yesterday, not really noticing it. It wasn't until I was looking at the guidebook in the evening that I discovered it was by Miro. We continued down past Placa Reial where we had dinner last night, to Portal de Pau square down by the waterfront, with its monument to Christopher Columbus, built for the inauguration of the first Universal Exhibition, held in Barcelona in 1888. We walked along the front, then stopped for lunch at a sidewalk restaurant. It was at this point I experienced a real bit of good fortune. After lunch we walked to the nearest metro station. We had gone down, and were on the station waiting for the train. I was wearing my sunglasses at this point and went to put my regular glasses on, and realized I didnt have them. The last point I knew I had them was when we stopped at the church, and I wasnt sure what I had done with them when I put my sunglasses back on. I was wearing my sunglasses at lunch since we were eating outside. We decided to go back to the restaurant, although I was sure I hadn't left them on the table. It was several blocks back to the restaurant, and all the way I was wondering how I would manage without them! We finally reached the restaurant and asked inside, and much to my relief one of the waitresses reached behind the bar and produced them! The frame was slightly bent, so I have a feeling I may have dropped them when I went to the bathroom! I was so very thankful! In the afternoon we went in search of some of the Modernism buildings Barcelona is so famous for. We visited "La Pedrera", one of the high points of the architecture of Antoni Gaudi., built between 1906 and 1910. Just about three blocks away is another of Gaudi's master works, Casa Battlo, shown in my blip at dusk, just after they had turned on the exterior lights. This one he didn't design from scratch, but rather totally reworked an original building at the request of textile impresario, Josep Batllo. Its striking coloring is the result of combining pottery and glass to produce remarkable tonal effects.

One year ago: Stocking up for winter!