Thoughts of Indigo

Adventures in Spain: Day 1

written December 28, 2024 in spain, barcelona, catalonia, travel, international

Day 1:

After a good night of sleep we woke up and walked a few blocks to explore Passeig de Gràcia in the Eixample district of Barcelona. Specifically we were looking at the main houses on the faimed “Block of discord”. Due to the presence of these famous landmark buildings, the block is a significant tourist attraction in Barcelona. The houses are: the Casa Lleó-Morera, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner; Casa Mulleras, designed by Enric Sagnier; Casa Bonet, designed by Marcel·lí Coquillat i Llofriu; Casa Amatller, designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch Casa Batlló, designed by Antoni Gaudí.

Our first stop was Casa Batlló. It was designed by Antoni Gaudí, and is considered one of his masterpieces. We went at 9 am with the gold ticket so we got to go in the house before a lot of people there were over 200 people in line behind us to see the house. And during the entire trip i only saw the house without a line one day... at six in the morning. Several of the architectural features at Casa Batlló have been inspired by the marine world and the Mediterranean sea.

“Gaudí designed an original ventilation system, including different openings on the House’s windows. These openings are manual and make it possible to regulate the air with precision, without having to open the windows fully. Gaudí the engineer achieved maximum comfort following energy efficiency criteria.” You could feel the air moving and the house felt alive. Something that was aided by the structure. where the stairs felt and looked like the spine of the house. But all of the windows, doors, and glass felt very organic and underwater. It truly was a house that felt alive and I certainly see why so many people visit it.

I was able to talk J into one of the profesional photos at Casa Batlló!

Next up we hopped one house down to the much less busy Casa Amatller. Casa Amatller was designed by renowned Catalan architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch. The building was originally constructed in 1875, then redesigned as a residence for wealthy chocolatier and archaeological enthusiast Antoni Amatller between 1898 and 1900. This house has been continuous owned by the Amatller family, and much of the house's interior of 1900 has remained largely preserved. It now serves as a historic house museum, café, chocolate shop and the Amatller Institute for Hispanic Art.

Though it is not definite the rumor is that the the Barcelona flower that you see as you walk about was actually inspired from a four-petal flower-shaped slab was first used to pave the entrance to the Casa Amatller. Though this is not proven it is cool to take the tour and see all of flowers about the city. The Flower of Barcelona

The other three houses on the block Casa Lleó Morera, Casa Mulleras, and Casa Bonet do not currently have tours open for the public. I am sure that all of these house are dreams in side after what I saw of there neighbors!

By that time we were famished and headed over for a delicious brunch at Lato and to see how the locals lived.

Post sustenance we headed to Casa Mila, Popularly known as La Pedrera aka "the stone quarry" it is a Modernista building in Barcelona. It was the last private residence designed by architect Antoni Gaudí and was built between 1906 and 1912. La Pedrera" is in fact a nickname assigned by the citizens who disapproved of its unusual appearance. The scale of this building is a bit brain bendy for what you see from the curb side. While it is not like Casa Batlló in its use of color or its immersive nature. The shear size of the building feels jarring.

So we were still suffering from jet lag and started waning at this point and headed back to the hotel before one of the most anticipated visits of the trips, Sagrada Familia. Antoni Gaudí's renowned unfinished church, started in the 1880s. Paul Goldberger describes it as "the most extraordinary personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages"

J and I were able to get sunset tickets to Sagrada Familia and to get the tower tour. All I can say is we were in awe. The light and change of light at that time of the afternoon truly made the building more stunning than we could have imagined

We were also able to get a tour of one of the towers. I highly recomend this eqecally at sunset. but be warned from our experences J and I are big tall people... these stare cases are small low ceilinged things.... But we survived and were in awe of the view!