No seatbelts required

Hi! My pics from Spain are (finally) online. But since most of you are either busy bees (with limited time to spare) or hummingbirds (limited attention span - like me), I've selected a few pics that I like from each day of my 3-week vacation & posted them here with added commentary. A day a post...let's pretend that I'd actually done that. 

If you'd like to see more, here're the rest of the photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/absolutboo

All 926 of them. So knock yourselves out. :o)

Have fun & leave a comment!

March 25 to 28, 2008 - Barcelona, Spain

Gaudi! 1st day in the city and 1st Gaudi encounter. More on the Casa Battló later.

The Sagrada Familia...still under construction...I was on the upper (open) deck of the tourist bus, taking a bus ride round the city 'cos I was a bit pooped after the long flight. So more of this awesome building later.

I was still on the bus. These are "city bicycles" - by Bicing. There're racks like that all over the city to encourage commuters to reduce their carbon footprint. An annual membership (very reasonably priced) allows a "renter" to use the bikes anytime. Each bike can be taken away from a station for a limited period of time (like 2 hrs or something). If a bike isn't returned after 48 hrs or something (sorry for the lack of precision, I was on a holiday), the entire cost of the bike would be charged to the "renter" (couple hundred Euros). Outside of Europe, this bike-sharing system has recently been introduced in the US (Washington DC being the 1st).

March 25 to 28 - Barcelona

You can't tell by looking at the photo, but this was a really noisy group of schoolkids playing in the backyard. And because it was a "corner" alley, the noise was amplified. They were playing some form of football/soccer but I think that there was more shrieking and laughing than kicking. Very cute bunch though. I was with a group of tourists on the "Gothic Walk" (conducted by the tourism office) and all our us were just momentarily captivated by this lively group of kids.

A gargoyle in the form of an elephant. Go Jumbos!

It's a candy store. Great name, eh?

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The facade of a building along La Rambla (probably the most touristy street in Barcelona). It used to be an umbrella shop, I think.

Same facade. Don't know the significance of the dragon. But the umbrella's there.

Joan Miró's sculpture at the Fundació Joan Miró in Montjuïc. Completely irrelevant, but I had the yummiest toasted turkey & brie sandwich there. I don't get Surrealism. Does that explain the food memory?

March 25 to 28 - Barcelona

Architectural highlight: Casa Milà (La Pedrera) by Gaudi.

The exterior. Gaudi designed this home for Rosario Segimon and Pere Milà.

The rooftop. This was the 1st of Gaudi's works that I'd visited. And frankly, I was simply bowled over by Gaudi's ingenuity & the boldness of his avant garde designs during that time. On hindsight, his talent showed early. When he graduated as an architect, his professor had remarked that only time will tell if he (Gaudi) were a "raving lunatic" or a "genius".

Another shot from the rooftop. See the undulating facade of the building? They hardly make them like that anymore.

The interior.

Stairs.

Inner courtyard.

Look at the wrought-ironwork on the balcony. Adds to the organic feel of the building.

March 25 to 28 - Barcelona

Architectural highlight: Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia

Josep Bocabella was the founder of the "Association of Devotees of San Jose". It was his desire to build a temple dedicated to the Holy Family. This was in 1866. After successfully raising sufficient funds to acquire a huge plot of land, the temple's foundation was laid in 1882. When the project started, the architect was Francesc del Villar. So how did Gaudi get into the picture? Through Joan Martorell. 

Martorell was an an architect whom Gaudi was assistant to on other projects in the city (also churches). Martorell was also a member of the Temple Council. A disagreement ("creative differences" perhaps) between Martorell and Villar led the latter to resign in 1883. Upon Martorell's recommendation, Gaudi took over the project. Gaudi continued to devote 43 years of his life to constructing the temple, even going on the streets to raise building funds. Until he met his untimely death in June 1926, when he was run over by a streetcar. No one had recognized him at the time of the accident & his friends found him in a public hospital the next day. If it sounds strange for a supposedly high-flying architect, it is because Gaudi had experienced a drastic change in the last years of his life. The consecutive deaths of his family members and people he was close to professionally deeply affected him and he retreated from the public view. His body was buried in the crypt of the temple.

The bell towers.

Another view. The cranes are visible from everywhere.

The Nativity facade. Sculptures by various artists.

The Passion facade. More recently built (note the lighter tone of the stone, despite the lighting). "Angular" sculptures by Subirachs.

Lofty interior: Let in the light! Love the stained glass! (You'd realize as you read on that I have this thing for stained glass.) 

As you can see, the whole place was, or I should say is, still very much a work-in-progress.

These must be the most looked-at construction workers in the world. Last note: Proceeds from the entrance tickets help to pay for the construction.

March 25 to 28 - Barcelona

Architectural highlight: Park Güell

A housing development that wasn't meant to be. So it became a public park after there were no takers for the project.

Gaudi had let his art adapt to the existing landscape & not the other way around. It was dusk, thus the lack of natural lighting. 

I like the whimsical buildings... as if out of a fairytale.

Lots of Gaudi's famous mosaics... here on the ceiling....

On the serpentine-like bench...

A closer look.

March 25 to 28 - Barcelona

One more example of Modernisme (kind of Art Nouveau in Catalonia) architecture:

This is the Palau de la Música Catalana. To me, it is just amazing to see such an elaborate and colorful - almost animated - building in the flesh (or should I say brick). Really moves you.

In your face, Minimalism (which I happen to like).

A closer look.

WYSIWYG. As you can guess, the Palau de la Música Catalana is a concert hall.