European Wanderings: Barcelona's Fantasy Gaudi Architecture

Spain was the one place I really wanted to visit in all of Europe. Before the tiny seed about exchange had even been planted in my mind I had been impressed by Spanish food (through watching A Cook's Journey Through Spain) and a documentary on Granada's Alhambra. My trusty travel book, A Dummy's Guide Through Europe, also named the whole of Spain as an underated (read: underappreciated) place in Europe. So of course it was not going to be left off my itinerary.

Barcelona reminded me of a lot of places. Its beach reminded me of those iconic images of California, especially when it also has a super smooth skating path by the sand. The WTO building which stands by the beach took me to Dubai with its futuristic sail shape. Its eerie gothic quarter,was reminiscent of so many places across Europe. Only the buildings designed by Gaudi stands on its own as quintessentially Barcelonian.

Still, the representative building of Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia, also reminded me of many non-Spainsh things. The front facade (the part built when Gaudi was still alive) reminded me of the Flying Dutchman in Pirates of the Carribean - the nobbly bits sticking out of and dribbling down the wall reminded me of the barnacles on Will Turner's dad, or maybe just oldern day ships generally. The luminous modern interior reminded me of the rainforest in Avartar because of the branching columns and the colours added by the stained glass windows. It was such an amazingly beautiful place, I could have stayed there forever taking in all the details.

It was very bright inside, Gaudi made use of light well

Another of Gaudi's masterpieces was Casa Batlló. Some people say those balconies are like skulls, and the window panes on the first floor resemble bones. I didn't get that ominous vibe - it was way too colourful for that - so to me it looked like an underwater masquerade, very The Little Mermaid. Inside I was impressed by how Gaudi used art to perform structural functions - just as he used the branching columns at La Sagrada Familia to negate the need for horizontal beams so that nothing gets in the way of your vision as you admire (just another one of) his architectural masterpieces.

Street view of Casa Batlló

This lightwell at Casa Batlló: the tiles gradually get darker as it nears the sky light. The darker tiles will absorb the stronger light, whereas not so much light would reach the lighter tiles at the bottom. As a result the lightwell will look as if it has the same colour

I believe the shape of this...ceiling serves a structural purpose, in addition to resembling the interior of a dragon/monster

These are chimneys! Possibly the world's most beautiful chimneys

Park Guell was intended as a housing site, but it was commercially unsuccessful. It really is an amazing park, not in the Versaille way, but in the one of a kind, Gaudi way. Now don't go assuming, as I did, that just because this is related to Gaudi and was intended as a housing estate that there will be more Casa Batllós, because no there is only one Casa Batlló. There are only three buildings at Park Guell. The two at the entrance, although very Gaudi on the exterior, are rather uninspiring on the inside. The third is the Gaudi Museum, and may I recommend you spend the €5 entrance fee elsewhere? Yes it is only €5, but it really was not worth the money for such a short tour and for the artistic quality of what was on display. Ironic, isn't it? - buildings not being the highlight of a Gaudi place. But as the name suggests, the park itself was quite awesome.