Everything Today is Thoroughly Modernisme

Barcelona had it's own brand of Art Nouveau called Modernisme. The wealthy hired famous architects to design outlandish and extravagant homes and public spaces. The most famous Modernist building in Barcelona, in the world, is without a doubt the Sagrada Familia. Antonin Gaudi designed and began construction on this fabulous cathedral over a hundred years ago. He didn't live to see more than one facade finished. He passed away in 1926, and construction continues to this day. If you are wondering what's taking them so long, historically cathedrals really do take this long to build. Building techniques may have advanced significantly, but budgeting has not. The goal is to have Sagrada Familia completed by 2026, 100 years after her architects passing. I think they'll do it. It's hard to imagine, though, how tall she'll be once those towers are completed! See for yourself!

The iconic Nativity Facade, the one Gaudi lived to complete, is so named because of it's focus on the birth of Christ:

The interior is a forest of pillars and dappled colored light. I've visited cathedrals, some of the most famous in the world, I've never seen anything like this.

This place is made for light, so it is very kind to the camera. I took a ton of pictures, I will never claim that it was too many. You can't photograph this one enough.

And on the opposite side from the Nativity Facade, is the Passion Facade which focusing on the crucifixion. It is stark and bleak compared to the flowery, melting sandcastle of the Nativity Facade.

As you can see, the cranes are still there finishing the towers. The really unfinished towers are behind those you can see and, based on how wide they are, I'm guessing they are little more than half their finished height. They are going to be enormous.

After visiting the magnum opus of Modernisme, it is time for us to explore some of the smaller predecessors of this magnificent creation. The Eixample district of Barcelona--literally "the Expansion"--is home to most of them. In the 19th century Barcelona was finally permitted to expand beyond it's medieval walls. They planned grid streets with wide boulevards, with markets and schools spaced quite evenly so every neighborhood would have their own.

Here it was that Gaudi and his two chums--architects with names difficult to spell and pronounce--designed homes for the wealthy. Behold: La Pedrera!

 And the block of Discord! Broad, unfiltered daylight isn't great for photos. Oh, well. It is what it is. I'm no photographer, I'm just a tourist. These photos are for comparison. Go look these up on instagram and then come back here and compare what they really look like without the filters.

We got a really huge and rather cool lunch at Bodega Joan, which came highly recommended for it's quality paella. Well, the tapas were so good that by the time the paella appeared some of us were already getting full. Then they dished up our seafood paella, giving everyone a HUGE amount. Well, we left lunch totally stuffed.

This is my, "How am I gonna eat all this" face.

We took our over filled stomachs on a little walk and ride to Parc Guell. This was intented to be a residential development, presumably for all the Whos down in Whoville, but that fell through. What remains are two houses and various outdoor features that amount to a beautiful park. The whole thing is built in the hills, so the views of Barcelona and the Mediterranean are fabulous.

These little green parrot birds live all over, we met this one at Parc Guell.

These benches everyone is sitting on are specially designed by Gaudi to have lumbar support. He supposedly used a construction worker on the project to gauge where the curve of the bench should be to provide good support.

The famous lizard, I'm bringing him home with me.

My favorite, of all the photos I took on this trip.

This space, with all it's columns, was meant to be a covered market space. A little more grandiose than your average farmers market, don't you think?

This isn't so much as seat as it is a throne.

Not everyone in Barcelona is happy to be inundated with out of town visitors all the time. There are serious downsides to having millions of extra people in your city every year. This is the only non-welcoming thing I encountered on my whole trip, and it kind of make me happy.