Barcelona Apr 1-6 : Gaudi Tour Part 5 Up High

Now when I enter they wanted to know if it was a ticket or a ticket and a lift. I didn't want to do the lift not knowing about it. Luckily the girls in front of me were talking about it and I decided to do it. Well, who knew I was afraid of heights...well I knew, but doesn't stop me I guess just slows me down a bit.

Ok if you look at this picture I went up the right tower crossed over the bridge tiny bridge and walked down the left tower. It doesn't look that high, but it was high. Now this picture was taken zooming in.


This picture isn't. Those towers are 100 meters high (roughly 328 feet).


This is me at the top, totally freaking out. I was holding on to something at all times. I don't know why that calms me down a bit, but it does. It is not like if things decided to crumble I would survive.


This is the view out from where I am standing.


A view looking up from where I am standing.


This is the other tower and walking down the steps, you can take the elevator, but I decided to take the stairs to take pictures on the way down.


Here is some fruit and decorations on one of the wings being built. I believe in the background that is the Virgin Mary tower being built. When that one is done they will start on the Jesus tower which will be 170 meters high.


Here is a detail of the fruit.


Here is the bridge crossing the two towers I am on to the other two towers. You can see him on the first and second photo on this blog.


Here is a video at the top.

Barcelona Apr 1-6 : Gaudi Tour Part 4 Inside

The inside. I can tell you even if you see pictures you still go in there and you immediate reaction is to just tilt your head up and look up. It is quite spectacular. The inside is officially done, the outside is the only part that need to be completed.

As you walk in.


A look down the nave. On the left(where all those people are) is where I entered. On the right is the original Nativity scene Gaudi did.


At the other end of the nave which you can't tell in the picture, but it is quite golden where the sun is streaming in. You can see it in the above picture which is above the gold ring that has Jesus on a cross under it.


Has beautiful stained glass. This is from the opposite side I entered in which goes out toward the Nativity scene.


A close up of the stained glass.

Now the next pictures I took as the tour guide showed them to us. This is how Gaudi understood columns in the Sagrada Familia. He would take a sheet with hundreds of weights and he would pull and readjust until he was satisfied. Then he would take a picture, like the one below.


He would then take that picture and flip in upside down to see the columns he wanted to use in to structure. Now I don't get it completely, but he was well before his time in figuring out open space using the idea of a tree. So if you look at the above pictures of the Sagrada Familia you can kind of see a tree like structure at the top so there was less columns on the ground to block the view.

Barcelona Apr 1-6 : Gaudi Tour Part 3 Outside

Sagrada Familia was started by Gaudi, but he knew he wasn't going to finish it because of his age. He made sure that the molds and plans were left so others may finish his church for the sinners. Unfortunately, the Atheist took over Barcelona at one time and wanted to destroy all the churches. They wanted to destroy this one, but the bridge between the four towers which represent the bishops saved this church. So instead they destroyed Gaudi's workshop with all the plans and molds. Since then they have slowly found and put together molds and lost plans to give them an idea of what the church was originally going to look like, but the reason it is taking so long is because they can't figure out how to put in together. Gaudi was way beyond his time and even ours in constructing new ways of putting buildings together to create this and that kind of shape. In the next post I will show you how he created columns inside Sagrada Familia.

Let's look around the outside first. The original parts from Gaudi are still there. This church will show the different aesthetics due to the number of years this church has taken to be rebuilt and still continues today and for the next 30 years.

Of course have to show myself in front of it. Yep, I was there too. This was the original side that Gaudi worked on.


It shows the Nativity scene with the Christmas tree in the middle of the four bishops (which are the towers).


Closer view, but you can see the four bishops and the Christmas tree and so on.


Gaudi used real people to help depict these sculptures.


Closer look at the Virgin Mary and Joesph(?) on a donkey going to the manger. As the tour guide stated the man in real life had 6 toes so Gaudi included that into the statue.


This one has some story to it, can't remember. The babies you see are still born babies that Gaudi got from the morgue to use as models in this scene.

Now the other side of the building is newer and slightly weirder for me, but everyone has their own way of depicting their our aesthetic.

It took awhile for the builders on this side of the building to figure out the columns because none are straight up and down. I do like the columns.


This is were you enter hence a lot of people.


This is the art I was telling you, I reminds me of Star Wars with the bad guys in white plastic outfits.


A closer look.

Next blog will be in the inside.

Barcelona Apr 1-6 : Gaudi Tour Part 2

Now the Bakers house was very popular in that time. A man saw it and decided he wanted Gaudi to build a building from the ground up and make it better than the Bakers house. So Gaudi drew him a line drawing of the exterior of the building which was a rough black and white drawing. The man loved it thinking it would be better than the Bakers house.

Well it didn't turn quite like the owner wanted. This house is just down the street from the Bakers house. Do you think it looks better or similar to the Bakers house? Nope. Well neither did the owners and decided not to pay Gaudi for his work, well the court thought otherwise. Now Gaudi is a man that put little things here and there in the front of the building as a symbolism for what he thought of the owners.


It is quite a larger building and people thought this was ugly and harsh. They wanted it torn down. They all loved the Bakers house, but not this one.


Here is a close up.


Now as I said before about the symbolism, if you look at the middle balcony there is a bird in the middle. Now this bird creates its nest out of it own shit. It is called 'The Shitter Bird'. Also in another balcony he added a greek mask which shown that the owner was a Jackal and Mr. Hyde kind of guy. Let's just say Gaudi didn't like these people.


Now the doors were pretty cool this is looking out from the inside.


This is the door open, which was on my door blog too.


Interesting handle for these massive doors.


Shots of the inside. Gaudi liked smooth walls and wave like shapes on the ceiling.


Here it shows more of the curve from wall to the ceiling and the added curves near the columns.

Barcelona Apr 1-6 : Gaudi Tour Part 1

After doing the Gothic tour the day before I decided to to the Gaudi tour the next day. I planned to meet-up with Margot and Richard from Miami. I was waiting and waiting for a bus that morning and none were coming. I couldn't figure it out. Finally decided to get in a cab to take me there because I was running out of time before the tour. Well, within 2 to 5 minutes I figured it out with the cab driver. The Spain Marathon was on and the street was closed off. I paid the cab and started to run/walk to the meeting place off Las Rambles. Wooo was I hot and tired when I got there, but I made it. This TOUR was WELL WORTH it. All should do this tour and see Gaudi's work.

I am doing segments of his work because there are so many good photos I have and wanted to share. So this is the Bakers house (not official name). This house was re-designed by Gaudi and was owned by a baker.


Starting with the details, the whole front is tiles. All different colors and interesting balconies.


As the pictures slowly move out you get to see more and more. This shows a part of the first floor where in that time was where the main owners would live. Then the above floors could be where tenants lived.


More of the first floor with a lady talking on the cell phone. I didn't go inside that best was outside for me.


Now there is many ideas of what this building represents, it is up to the viewer to make his or her own decision. They say that the roof looks like a dragon and the balconies and columns are the skulls and bones of the people the dragon has eaten.

The other story is that this is the Baker's house so the decorations would go on some treats or cakes the Baker was making.

All in the eye of the beholder, I guess.


This street had very interesting house, I like the one right next door(not created by Gaudi). You can see the different in styles, use of materials, and colors.


View of the whole building.


A view of the two houses next to each other.

Barcelona Apr 1-6 : Gothic Tour

I decided to venture out and go do a free walking tour for the Gothic part of Barcelona at the end of the tour you tip the tour guide for what you thought the tour was worth. When I have taken these they have been a highlight and I very much enjoyed them. The best part was that I watched a couple the day before at the train station trying to figure out how to get advance tickets. I had arrived well before them and was just waiting for my number to be called. Who do you think I meet at the meet-up place the next day, but the same couple. They were delightful, funny, and from Miami, Richard and Margot. We chatted and walked around exploring Barcelona together.

Love the look of the streets. How tiny they are, the interesting lights, graffiti on ones side and french quarter like on the other side.


We stopped first at a square that means pine tree square(hence the one pine tree). As you can see in the photo(people staring at the church) I didn't think much of the church, but the buildings(also gothic) on the opposite side. From what I can remember this is sand fresco on the buildings.


Here is a closer shot of the designs.


Walking in the Jewish Quarter, very tiny walkways, but in someway very comforting and interesting. The reason they are tiny is because the city grew fast so the buildings moved in and up.


You all have seen this door before, in my doors and door handles blog. Now it is in the context of the area I was walking.


Gothic section, very famous bridge though I didn't know that I saw it until a while later. I was just snapping pictures at everything and anything.


Gothic church. I didn't seem much of it, this part I did like though.


Me in front of another church and courtyard area. If you can see there is gashes in the building behind me. Those are from a bomb landing and exploding here in this area. The scars are still left from the war years ago. Amazing how things last.


Finally, an interesting mailbox that lend into a building. I was not paying attention at this point so I don't know why things are on it, but you have to touch the turtle for luck. I did.