Barcelona - Ancient to Modern

Gothic Quarter * Modernista Architecture * Sagrada Familia *Parque Guell

19,342 steps

We've decided Barcelona gets two thumbs up.  It's a beautiful city and we haven't even made it to the ocean yet.  

We joined a city walking tour this morning of the old Gothic part of town.  Barcelona was settled by the Romans just before the birth of Christ and the old Gothic quarter still has some nice Roman elements like tight winding streets and a few columns and stones from ancient buildings.  It started to rain and thunder so bad during the tour that during one clap of thunder when the ground shook we thought something really bad had happened (like a bomb), thank heavens it was just a rain storm.  We weren't prepared for rain (not in the forecast) and our tour was cut a bit short.  The highlight of the rain though was watching the gargoyles on the Cathedral actually do what they were intended for - act as rain spouts.

We returned to our apartment very wet. After some tapas we made ourselves and after the rain stopped we decided to tour the Modernista Barcelona - this was really fun.  I don't know much about Modernista Architecture, but it is revolutionary and intriguing.  Gaudi is the biggie, but there were others.  Our first stop was the Block of Discord where we stopped at 3 large buildings - they look like the architect took everything good from several different style types and put them all on the same building and then added wavy balconies, flowery designs, tile roofs shaped like ice cream cones, and drippy sandy castles from the beach.  Intriguing!

The culminating stop was Sagrada Familia basilica which was fascinating.  It was started in 1883 and is not scheduled to be finished until 2026.  The outside looks like a drippy sand castle from the beach and the inside is beautiful.  It's busy, but it's inviting.  The stain glass windows are amazing.  The Christian statues are modern and pleasant to look out.  The columns are thick and look like tall trees where the ceiling is the canopy. We really enjoyed this; some of the kids even declared it their favorite cathedral in Europe - despite the fact that it's still under construction and part of the cathedral is blocked off and there are giant cranes still building the outside.

After the Sagrada Famila we took a pleasant walk in an upscale neighborhood towards another Modernista site enjoying the best gelato we'd had since Italy.  Our final stop for the night was Park Guell, a community planned by Gaudi that never was completed and eventually turned into a park.  We sat in his plaza along the wavy ergonomic tile benches watching another thunderstorm roll into the city.  From this hill top park we got our first view of the Barcelona sea.  If it doesn't rain tomorrow - we're going to the beach!

gargoyle rain spouts

block of discord

Sagrada Familia

Park Guell