So, we’re back from Barcelona.

We went there specifically to visit our good friends Jared and Julia and their new son Zander, who are there on Jared’s sabbatical.  Jared and Terran started UNM at the same time, and by chance we ended up both spending the first half of sabbatical in the same country.  We had a wonderful time visiting, and it was great to spend time just hanging out with friends.  Unfortunately, the picture we took of us (sans Terran) completely failed to come out, or I’d post it here.  Sigh.  We should have thought to take more pictures together, but we were having a good time visiting and didn’t think of it.

So, I have heard that Barcelona is a grand old city, much older than Madrid, which really only dates as a city of significance to the 1700s.  So I expected to see a lot more old architecture.  But I completely failed to realize that Barcelona’s architectural claim to fame is Gaudi the Modernista.  So, instead of looking at more old buildings, we spent a lot of time looking at (relatively) NEW buildings.

Now, I have to say that I’m not generally a fan of weird modern architecture.  MIT, for example, is all about impractical ultramodern buildings now that it has recovered from its craze for large concrete blocks.  These buildings are wild to look at, but the all seem to be the kind of thing that is great to look at but lousy to try to use: poor acoustics, bad ventilation, unusable office spaces, no privacy, you name it.  And usually these things aren’t just mild annoyances but actual work-stoppers.  Before we left, they were planning to build a cubical farm for grad students out of cardboard.  No foolin’.  I don’t know how that worked out.

But I have to say that Gaudi absolutely blew me away.  Now THIS is a man who got it right.  Some of his buildings look like Chihuly seaforms or stranger, but he put meticulous care into the practicalities of life: ventilation, privacy, direction of natural and artificial light, chimney exhaust, air direction so that you don’t smell the clothes that are hung up to dry, all of it.  Exotically beautiful AND impeccably practical.  I didn’t know you could have both together.  We toured his townhome Casa Botlló and were blown away.

Here are some Gaudi pictures:

La Sagrada Familia

Possibly Gaudi’s most famous architectural project was La Sagrada Familia, or Temple of the Holy Family.  This project was unfinished when Gaudi died in 1926, and work has been progressing in dribs and drabs until now.  We’re not sure, but we think we heard a tour guide say that it was projected for completion in 30 years.  That means that the total construction time will fall in around 150 years.

The wild thing is that with modern stoneworking techniques, the whole thing looks like it could probably be done in a year or two.  Apparently, the issue is that it’s privately funded, so the limitation is the speed of fundraising rather than technology.  I don’t know if the city of Barcelona has tried to buy it up from the private group that owns it now.  I’m sure the city would love to have control of this tourist attraction.  I have to assume that they just ain’t sellin’.

The interior features columns in different shades of stone modeled to look like trees.

Interior of La Segrada Familia

The funny thing is that when I was talking to Dad after we got home, he immediately brought up the unfinished cathedral.  It doesn’t look like all that much work has been done on it since he was there in the 60s. If it actually gets done after we retire, we absolutely have to come out to see it.  It will be amazing.

The tour of Casa Batlló was more than we wanted to pay, but it turned out to be well worth it.

Exterior of Casa Batlló

We think we like Gaudi’s interiors better than his exteriors.  The interior of Casa Batlló was done in underwater themes.

A chandelier in Casa Batlló

Oh, and we also got a chance to see the traditional Castillian dancing in front of the Barcelona Cathedral at noon on Sunday.  Apparently this has been going on for a while too because Dad saw it while he was there.  It was kind of exciting that we both got to see it.

Rings of Castilian dancers

We also visited the Gothic Barcelona Cathedral during mass.  I thought it was kind but weird that they would allow tourists come in and wander around their cathedral during services.  The cathedral has a famous cloister that was just as beautiful as it said in our tour book.  It was almost impossible to photograph, though.  Here’s an attempt to show a piece of it:

A bit of the cloister at the Barcelona Cathedral

I’d never seen a cloister with an ornamental pond, a fountain, and a flock of (VERY mean) geese in it before.

We finished the weekend with a classical guitar concert with Jared and Julia in another old Gothic church.  The music was incredible, and old stone churches are fantastic places to listen to it.

All in all, a good time.