Barcelona

Barcelona was a super-fun experience this weekend! On our first trip to Spain we found the people to be friendly and the bakeries amazing! The city itself is gorgeous; it's in the Catalonia region of Spain where they speak their own language, and the signs in Catalan looked more like French than Spanish. (It is actually spoken in a region of France.)

Barcelona's iconic site is Sagrada Família, which is the most fascinating structure I've ever seen. It's been a constant construction site since 1882, and completion is projected for 2026, the 100th anniversary of the architect, Antoni Gaudí's, death. The Nativity façade on the east(above) is covered in detailed nativity-related carvings. This is the part Gaudí actually finished. On the west is the Passion façade (left), which contains simple but striking sculptures of the last part of Jesus' life, including his suffering and crucifixion.

Speaking of Gaudí, we also went to Parc Güell, a city park he designed. The guy had an aversion to using straight lines, so the shapes are organic and fluid. The park was incredible, with awesome views of the city and breathtaking tile and mosaic on those flowing surfaces. It's like an illustration from a Dr. Seuss book--fantastic shapes and lines.

One of the highlights of the trip

was watching the Magic Fountain, which was built in 1929 for the World Fair. It was like a laser-light show, only the colors were all in the water, and it was just really cool. In addition to the wind blowing water toward us,

we also got rain while we watched. But it was worth getting wet!

We also visited the Museu Picasso, filled with an awesome collection of works by Pablo Picasso. It focused on a lot of his early (pre-Cubism) work, and it was a fantastic experience. I'm always in awe of such artistic genius.

Because there are so many great photos, I'm posting a few more below. Feel free to skip them if you're bored with Barcelona. (Arc de Triomf; Barcelona's Bridge of Sighs (not to be confused with the one in Venice which we'll see next month or the one in Cambridge); Gaudí's Casa Batlló; Barcelona's Columbus Column, which represents the place Columbus returned to Spain from his first American voyage; and 2 more shots at Parc Güell, the latter one being part of a ceiling)