Barcelona - Part 2

While in Barcelona we also visited the Casa Batllo, a residence designed by Antoni Gaudi. The original building was refurbished by Gaudi between 1904 and 1906.

The building had an amazing exterior with balconies that look like skulls. It looked very organic as well.

Once inside, we took an audio guide through the residence. The internal woodwork and glass were neat.

Here is a photo of a ceiling with an amazing light fixture. I want one!

Here is Lia learning about the room from the audio guide with a impressive window behind her.

We also had some fun trying to take a photo of us in the room with my camera. Too close up!

Here is Rica taking in the view. (Photo by Grigo)

Gaudi had also designed two amazing light wells in the building to help with bringing daylight to the different floors.

The light wells were covered in ceramic tiles.

The tiles also got darker the further you got up to the top of the building. Quite ingenious if you ask me, as the lighter tiles were at the bottom where you needed the most light.  Here is a photo by Grigo looking down one of the light wells.

We also were able to visit a small courtyard area that had more ceramic tile work. Here is Lia and Grigo enjoying the tour.

There was also this strange art wall in the courtyard.

This is the backside of the building. Definitely not as impressive as the front. The crazy thing was, three stories up you could see lots of modern stuff from the family who now owns the place and lives in it.

Besides the first floor, the tour allows you to see the attic rooms which use to house the laundry rooms. The ceilings had these great ventilation openings and created a neat design.

Here is a photo of another ceiling. They look like seeing eyes.

And of course, we ended the tour on the roof looking at his signature chimneys.

Gaudi really knows how to top off a building.

Here is Keena and Rica listening to their audio guides on the roof.

It was really neat to see his imagination in the architecture. They probably thought he was crazy in the early 1900's.

Between our Gaudi building visits, we also had the chance to take in some local tapas. Here we are waiting for our food. (Photos by Grigo).

It turned out to be a big day. The girls got to split a Coke, which was the first they ever had.

They both were rather excited!

Much of our time in Barcelona was spent walking the streets. Here we are having some fun.

We saw plazas.

And many plant filled balconies. As Keena says, it looks like a city that is lived in.

Because we just could not get enough of Gaudi, we decided to see one more of his buildings. Here is a photo taken by Grigo of us in the subway waiting for the train. For some reason, we had all decided to sit far apart. Kinda funny.

Here are the girls goofing off on the subway.

After getting off the subway, you kinda stood in awe at the church designed by Gaudi, Sagrada Familia. The church is still unfinished even though it has been under construction since 1883. There were cranes everywhere moving materials.

On one of the sides of the church, you could see a new part that had been completed. You can tell by the shade of the stone.

Apparently, when Gaudi died in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was completed.  The progress of the build has been extremely slow because the construction has relied on private donations.  They are anticipating it will be completed in 2026. What!!!!!

There is a park that sites right across the street which allows for some great photos.

I was also able to get a fun photo of Keena and I with my camera phone.

There was also a nice little playground that the girls had fun in. Here is Lia on a small climbing wall. What a crazy backdrop.

We also walked around the outside of the church. Here is a side that is yet to be completed.

Here is a photo of the front which is very different from the back. We did not go inside as the line was wrapped around the building, but definitely something to do in the future.

Besides getting our Gaudi fill, we were able to visit some of Barcelona's markets, which were quite amazing.

There were mounds of food which such great color.

They had all types of dragon fruit and things you don't often see in the supermarket.

They also had tons of dried goods that looked so good. Mum, check out the dried pineapple in the background!

I just wanted to buy everything.

Look at all those dried mushrooms. I wish we had markets like this in London.

On our last night in Barcelona, Rosa invited us over to her house for a traditional Spanish dinner. She made her famous octopus paella. Rica was very excited. (Photos by Grigo)

Kinda disturbing photo!

Here is Lia having a heart to heart with Grigo over dinner. So cute.

The girls thought it was fun to go through Rosa's things after dinner. They had found Rosa's head massager. Here is Keena enjoying the massage.

The girls also took over Rosa'a jewellery, dancing around the flat in the excitement.

We had a lovely stay in Barcelona and I can't wait to go back again! Too bad I only had a short time with the family, but I was happy that I was able to spend two weeks with them travelling around France and Spain.  Next stop...Valencia!

Barcelona - Part 1

When we arrived in Barcelona, we really didn't know what to expect. I found a flat to rent on-line and we were hoping it turned out okay. We were extremely surprised to find an enormous apartment with all the room we needed.

When you entered the apartment, there was a nice little seating area.

Followed by a long hallway.

It led to a nice sized kitchen that had everything we needed.

The dining room/living room was huge.

There were two bedrooms and a cot for us to use for the 5 days we were there.

We also had a nice little roof terrace that we used sometimes in the evenings.

The flat was only a few blocks from Keena and Grigo's friend Rosa. So the girls were very excited when they finally saw her and she provided them with gifts! (Photo by Grigo)

Rosa spent the day with us exploring the city.

Here is a photo of the old bull ring that Rosa said has been turned into a shopping mall.

Rosa took us to the Museu National d'Art de Catalunya. You can see it in the distance on the hill. (Photo by Grigo)

It was a really nice walk up to the museum.

It was rather impressive!

Rosa snapped a family photo for us. It was the only photo of all us taken over the two weeks we were together.

Here are the girls posing for a photo by the fountains.

We had to climb many steps to get to the top of the hill where the museum was located but it was worth it. Once we were there, we had great views of Barcelona. Here is a photo of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in the distance.

We headed into the museum. They had some lovely art by Juli Gonzalez, a Spanish sculptor.

These sculptors look really big, but they are only about 8 inches high. I also saw lots of his work when I travelled to Valencia the following week.

We also saw work by Antoni Gaudi. We spent most of our days in Barcelona seeing his artwork/architecture.

Here is Rica in front of some art.

The building the museum was located in was also really impressive. Here is a photo of the ceiling in one of the halls.

They had an exhibit of models of buildings from around the world. It was really neat to see everything so small.

Here is Rica looking at the buildings.

We also stopped by an exhibit that had some interactive 3D viewing. Here is the family watching the show. (Photo by Grigo)

After a while, the girls were becoming restless so we headed back to our neighbourhood. We stopped at a local square to get some drinks. We had a bit of an accident with a wine glass and I got cut. Here is a photo of my cut and Rica having fun in the background. Cheeky monkey! (Photo by Grigo)

Lia was also having some fun. (Photo by Grigo)

The girls ran around and danced in the square to blow off some steam. (Photo by Grigo)

In the evening, we headed to one of the local tapas restaurants for dinner. The wine was ridiculously cheap. My huge glass of wine in this photo cost 1.50 Euros! I love how Rica also looks like she is drinking Keena's beer through a straw! (Night photos by Grigo)

After dinner, the girls started to become restless and wanted to run around.

One of the local waiters stepped in and offered the girls some chalk to play on the sidewalk. The girls loved it.

A number of people walking by stopped and commented on their masterpiece.

They must have spent about an hour having a fun time. All in all, a great day in Barcelona.

The next day, we headed out to see the Guell Palace, which was one of Antoni Gaudi's first major buildings in the city.

The ironwork was really amazing outside the palace. It was a home built for the Guell family.

We had an audio guide that started us in the basement. Interesting enough, the basement was used to house the stables.

Can you imagine having horses down here?

There was a really neat walkway down from the main floor for the horses to get to the basement.

Here I am pointing out something interesting to Lia. (Photo by Grigo)

From the basement, we progressed up through the house. Every inch of the Palace had some kind of unusual design. Here is a beautiful door.

An unusual ceiling.

A staircase leading up to the upper floor.

An ornate walk carving.

Another amazing ceiling. (Photo by Grigo)

And another! There is a dome on the top of this ceiling which has many different holes in it to allow for light. (Photo by Grigo)

Here is Keena and Lia standing in front of the chapel in the central hall. (Photo by Grigo)

We also visited the bedrooms for the family. Here is a photo of the royal loo!

Outside we also saw some of the amazing architecture. This looked like a simple picture window on the inside, but it looked totally different on the outside.

We ended our tour on the roof to see Gaudi's 20 chimneys. The man really had a thing for chimneys!

Each chimney was extremely different.

Who would have thought that chimney tops could be so fun!

Really neat.

Here is Grigo in front of one of the chimneys. (Photo by Keena).

Another photo of Rica thinking about the world.

Besides the chimneys, there was also some skylights on the roof. Lia ended our visit with a few jumps on them.

We had a great time at the Palace. Stay tuned for more adventures in Barcelona!