Saturday (Barcelona)…

Today we headed boldly into L’Eixample, and completed the trifecta of Antoni Gaudi’s greatest hits. Well we did two and a half of them 🙂 I will explain.


After a breakfast of strong coffee and couple of meaty-cheesy-flaky pastries, we strolled the tree-lined Passeig de Gracia to Casa Batlló. Completed in 1906, the house oozes Gaudí’s signature modernist style inside and out. The balconies undulate. The interior windows are framed in carved wood mirroring natural shapes; the exterior windows are also oddly rounded but trimmed in ceramic tiles or colored class. Walls are wavy like the oceans; ceilings take on the shape of shells. And the roof…covered in colorful tiles and glass and twisted into bizarre-yet-natural shapes. The entire Casa Batlló is a museum, leaving us to wander from room to room in admiration.


A bit further up the Passeig de Gracia is an altogether different Gaudí masterpiece…Casa Milà. Compled a few years after Basa Batlló, Casa Milà is a multi-unit building. It wears it’s best features on the outside…it’s iconic monotone, undulating facade…and it’s uneven rooftop, rising and dipping around ameba-shaped interior courtyards and dotted with natural-shaped sculptures. Watch your step!! The roof provides sweeping views of the city out to the sea, and a peek at Sagrada Familia in the distance. Inside the building, the tour gives you a glimpse of the beautiful arched brick attic, and an art nouveau apartment.


We had a late lunch of croque monseiur in the Casa Milà cafe with a striking wavy ceiling.


Finally, we walked to the nearby Sagrada Familia, Gaudí’s crowning achievement. This cathedral is an icon of Barcelona…and still under construction after more than 100 years. We didn’t have time to visit the interior today…we are saving that for Monday…but we did circle the cathedral in the warm afternoon light. It is truly inspiring. Of course! By the time we headed back to the apartment, the Passeig de Gracia was teaming with locals…out for their ritual afternoon stroll.


We paused in the apartment for cold Cava (Spanish sparkling wine) and fresh peaches. So refreshing.


Dinner in the Plaça Reial tonight. Drinks at a couple of spots in the L’Eixample. We discussed the quirks of American politics with a new German friend visiting from Berlin.