Day 13: Gawking at Gaudi in Barcelona

This morning, we caught the 8:40 am flight from Bilbao to Barcelona, and made it to our hotel by 11am to drop off our things and hit the town. As we stepped outside, Jack said, "It's supposed to rain today, should we grab the umbrella?" I shrugged nonchalantly, waved my hand, and said,
"We're from Seattle... what's the worst that could happen?"

Famous last words.

First stop? Lunch of course, and I'm pleased to report that my appetite was back in full force. We walked through our neighborhood, L'Eixample, drinking in the details of the beautiful apartment buildings, with their intricate wrought-iron balcony railings, stained glass detailings and stone molding.

Within walking distance of our hotel was a restaurant that Jack wanted to try called Hysop. We were the first diners that afternoon when they opened at 1:30pm, and we were ushered into a modern, minimalist-designed room with a brick barrel ceiling.

I loved the delicate accents of red scattered through the room... a red rose head in the vase, a long- stemmed rose hanging on the wall, a red chair surrounded by black ones along the banquette...

We both did the 3 course lunch menu, and I loved every bite of my foie salad, perfectly-cooked, crispy-skinned corvina, and rice pudding.

After lunch, we stepped outside into a thunder and lightning storm, which seemed to grow stronger with every step we took towards the Sagrada Familia, our next destination. As we walked, we ducked under some awnings and stepped into this beautiful, modernista house, labeled Casa Asia. The attention to detail and the soft, curving stone work was reminiscent of Gaudi's style. Turns out, the building hosts all sorts of events related to Asian education.

The storm let up to a light drizzle, and we ran towards the Sagrada Familia, one of the top attractions in Barcelona. Progress on the cathedral is slow... Gaudi began work on it in 1883, and work continues to this day, with a projected end date in another 25 years! I visited the cathedral about 7 years ago, and to be honest, not a whole lot has changed. I was still incredibly awe-struck by it, and Jack was also impressed by the genius behind the design. Gaudi's philosophy behind architecture stems from his experiences and observations of nature, and I did find that the spires of the cathedral resembled stalagmites in a way.

A glimpse of the Passion facade to the cathedral...

Walking into the catheral was a bit like walking into a cave, with the unique stone work and the curving streaming lines seeming more natural than man-made.

Outside, a scene of the Passion facade again above the side entrance. I found it interesting that the face of the Christ figure was left un-detailed, as was the face of the mother figure at his feet. Instead, the mother figure holds the shroud, with an imprint of His face.

After about an hour wandering through the catheral and the adjoining museum, we followed our map to another famous Gaudi design, the Park Guell. The park was originally intended to be a sort of gated, residential community, but these days, it is a whimsical park filled with the geometric shapes, patterns and lines so unique in Gaudi's work.

I loved these colorfully-tiled benches, waving gently around the outlook point.

We were so glad that the sun peaked out at this particular moment... can you seen the rainbow in the distance?

Throughout the park, there are some fantastical structures, which Jack commented, seemed sort of like an alien from outer space had come down to earth and planted itself. I added that it seems like if you touched the walls, you'd almost expect them to be warm and fleshy, and maybe a little bit sticky. But of course, they weren't.

We headed back to the hotel at 7 pm so that Jack could take a work conference call, and also so that we could rest up a bit. Since neither one of us were really hungry, we decided to take an evening stroll down the bustling Ramblas, the exciting pedestrian street that runs through the middle of the city, all the way to the waterfront.

Even at night, the street was action-packed, with street performers, artists, musicians, locals and tourists all out to check out the scene. Can't wait to see what it looks like in the day!