Astrovelo

This must have been the most touristy day of our trip. We started off with a visit to one of Antoni Gaudi designed houses - Casa Battlo. Our timed entry ticket was at 8:45 am. Considering that the sunrise time here is around 8 am, we were ready and out getting breakfast when it was still dark.

Casa Battlo is a very beautifully designed house with inspiration from nature. It is amazing how the air flow and natural light is controlled through design (not by devices). There are many (at least 3) such buildings around Barcelona and visiting one is probably good enough unless you are an architecture student/enthusiast.

Second stop for us was Mercat la boqueria. It is a huge food market with many many small shops selling everything from fresh and cured meats, fish, shellfish, vegetables, fruits as cooking ingredients. There are also numerous shops ready to eat foods such as ham, cheeses, fried fish, empanadas, burritos, juices and more. The whole place is a feast for the eyes and tongue.

In the afternoon, we made our way to the Picasso Museum. As the name suggests this consists of only Picasso’s art. It is great to see his evolution as an artist over the years. Some of his paintings (first few photos below) from the time when he was 13-14 years old are truly fantastic. They also had a special exhibition of art made by Miro who was Picasso’s friend and artist. They both influenced each other.

The last activity of the day was to attend a flamenco performance at Tablao Flamenco Cordobes. This is supposed to be the most authentic flamenco in Barcelona. It was my first time seeing such dance and it was impressive. Only a guitar, clapping and foot stomping provided the music along with singing that is influenced by cultures from Northern Africa. I highly recommend watching a flamenco if you haven’t already.

We went on a day trip to Montserrat. It was a guided tour that took us about an hour by bus to go to a monastery in the hilly areas called Montserrat (serrated mountain) near Barcelona. There is a nature park near the monastery where we hiked for an hour or two which was very nice. We had some snacks at a farmer’s market set up near the monastery.

There is not a whole lot to see in the monastery as the monks live there. The church there houses the famous black Madonna that many pilgrims come to visit. Most tourists were non-religious like us and seems like the monks make a lot of money by running restaurants and gift shops for the tourists. The hills are quite pretty and views of the surrounding areas are spectacular. Totally worth a visit if you have enough time in Barcelona and want to get out of the city.

In the afternoon, we visited the most famous landmark of Barcelona - La Sagrada familia cathedral - the masterpiece of architect Antoni Gaudi. The design and decorations on the outside are not to my liking and our guide kept gabbing on and on about history and evolution of the Catherdal.

Once we went inside it was something else. There is very little artificial lighting, if any. The whole building is bathed in natural light. We were there in late afternoon when the Sun was lower in the sky and the whole building was sparkling withh colorful lights streaming through the huge stained glass windows.

The building is symmetrical and huge. It is hard to find the right spot to capture the symmetry.

It has taken 140 years to build this much and is projected to take 10 more years to finish it. Maybe, we will come back when it is finished.

In the morning we went for a walk around the old city aka the Gothic quarter. This city has been around since the time of Roman empire. It used to be a walled city surrounded by a 25 foot tall wall. Some sections of the wall are still visible but most of it was demolished more than century ago to allow the city to grow.

Barcelona Cathedral with its gothic architecture and four pillars of the ancient Roman temple of August that are still standing were the highlights. Here are some pictures.

Interestingly, the pillars of the Roman temple are surrounded by private property and they can’t be seen unless you go into this enclosed courtyard.

Arrived in Barcelona for the holiday break. Line for immigration was so long and it took forever to get through. This was the worst immigration line experience in recent history.

Walked by Gaudi’s Casa Battlo. Looks pretty good from outside. Planning for a visit inside but don’t know when.

Tapas lunch at El National.

After a short nap, we were out walking and exploring the city again. It was all lit up in the evening. Couldn’t believe how crowded it was and this is supposed to be the off season.

More Tapas for dinner at Bodega La Palma in the Gothic quarter away from the crowds and bustle of La Rambla.

Ended the night with a concert at Gran Teatre del Liceu. The Hollywood symphony orchestra performed music from Hollywood Sci-fi movies with the second half of the concert solely made up of music from Star Wars. The theater was beautiful and music was fantastic too.

It was a great first day of vacation. Look forward to rest of the week.