Barcelona - Parc Montjuïc

Saturday 19 November 2022

It was Parc Montjuïc day today.  JC wanted to see both the Fundació Joan Miró and the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) and I had espied a botanical garden, a funicular and a cable car so I was game!

We took the metro to the funicular, then trundled up on that to the Parc Monjuïc hill.  These things get me far more excited than JC.  

First off was the Fundació Joan Miró, definitely a choice of JC's as I'd never even heard of the artist (bad me).  I think I know why I hadn't heard of him as I don't really like his pictures it turns out.  I'm obviously uncultured.  Well, to be fair, some of them were nice.  

But I couldn't get my head around these ones.

Once JC had had his fill of JM, we thought we'd go for a spin in the cable car.  However we decided against it as (a) it would either take us too far across the mountain, with a long walk back, and it was quite pricey for a return ticket (b) the queues were big and (c) we'd forgotten our face masks which were mandatory.  So instead we headed down to find Teatre Grec for a change of scenery.

And a few sparkly fountains with something Romany behind them.

We had timed (free!) tickets for MNAC so headed for the botanical gardens.  We somehow weren't charged for entry, but, to be fair, November in the Northern Hemisphere is hardly a fantastic time to see a botantical garden.  It was pleasant stroll though.

And then it was time for the MNAC.

On JC's itinerary were the Romanesque frescos.  This collection is the largest in the world, with numerous paintings lifted (as in, peeled off the walls) from dilapidated buildings around Spain.

The MNAC had been built for the International Exposition of 1929 so had an amazing hall complete with organ (and coffee shop).

We now had 1.5 hours left to view the modern art and it was a rush!  I enjoyed this section, although I always get more enthralled the more arc deco/stained glass there is.

A series of mosaics.

And some beautiful stained glass friezes.

Back to the main city, we had our best meal in Barcelona at a wonderful tapas bar, which turned out to be Peruvian.  An awesome way to finish!   

Barcelona - Gaudi Fest - La Pedrera and Cassa Battló

Friday 18 November 2022

Our Gaudi treats today were at the Isla de la Discòrdia (block of discordia) just north of Plaça de la Catalunya.  La Pedrera, also known as Stone Quarry, was developed between 1906 and 1912 and is another super example of modernist architecture.

The entrance foyer has a staircase designed like a dragon fly, and it just goes on from there!

Again, glass, stone, tiles, mosaics abound - beautiful, light, sparkly, lovely.

In the attic, you can see the use of the catenary arch again.  He wanted to design the attic to be like a whale, a room fall of supportive and spacious arches.  At one stage this area was turned into apartments, but they have since been removed.

The roof is wonderful, full of stone warriors.  And, through the carefully positioned arch, you can see another of his works, the Sagrada Familiar.

We found a quiet café off a side street for lunch (more tea!) then visited Casa Battló, which turned out to be the residential building I loved most out of the 3 we'd visited.

It was just so gorgeous inside.  I love glass, wood and art deco/nouveau styles so this ticked all my boxes.

We strolled around really slowly, immersing ourselves in the beauty of it all.  Of course, it didn't stop indoors as, on the terrace, there were mosaics galore.

As we ascended further inside we came across the Gaudi classic arch.

And then onto the roof.  His roofs never cease to amaze me!  The one featured a dragon, and the back was wonderfully tiled with a rainbow of scaly colour.

And then we descended down a Kengo Kuma staircase that had been installed post Covid-19 pandemic - so sinuously delicate and a delight to run your fingers through.

We ate out at a lovely tapas bar but it was SO noisy, we didn't linger.  

Barcelona - Santa Maria, Parc de la Cuitadella and Picasso

Thursday 15 November 2022

We started our day, as all days should, with breakfast on the roof terrace.

Once fuelled up, we headed for the Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi.  This is the only surviving example of a pure Catlan Gothic church, so was certainly worth a visit.

As per the cathedral, this too is having works undertaken on it, but there was plenty to see outwith the scaffolding.

We went up onto the roof terrace which was actually a lot more fun than the cathedral visit, mainly because it was empty and we seemed to be able to wander all over the place at two levels.

We walked around a balcony level with the top of the stained glass windows and noticed how they could be opened to ventilate the church - this is why you can see gaps in the stained glass from the inside (I thought the panes had blown).  A lot of buildings were destroyed/ransacked during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 and many stained glass had been replaced due to fire damage from this period.

It was time for another park visit, Parc de la Cuitadella.  This one also has a piece of Gaudi in the form of an elaborate fountain.  

As it was pleasantly sunny so we simply strolled around, and took a photo of me with the elephant as you do in Spain.

On our return, we came across ruins of the medieval Barcelona in the El Born district.  They had been discovered underneath a market and debate raged about covering them over again to build a library, or keep them exposed.  The latter group won and they are really interesting to view (just no photography allowed).

Then we had timed tickets (free!) for the Picasso Museum so we enjoyed an hour or two in there with the throngs also making use of the freebie.  Picasso lived in Barcelona as a teenager and passed many of his sketches to the museum when it was established.  

He was particularly into drawing pigeons as his Dad was a breeder, and I love these stylised ones.

We had yet another tapas meal out (hardly a surprise in Barcelona).  But, before then, we'd popped back to our apartment and had a quick peep on the roof at night time.  Gorgeous.  We had pre-booked this restaurant, rather than randomly falling into one, which saved us the stress of trying to find that was free/Ruth-friendly.