Gaudi - Casa Batllo and Parc Guell

Sorry we haven't posted in a while.  Between sightseeing during the day and working at night, it's been hard to find the time to write the posts.  Hopefully we'll have some time this weekend to catch up on the blog and on some sleep!

We have been doing some fun stuff though!  This week we checked out some landmarks of Modernisme.  The architecture of Antoni Gaudi is a major draw for tourists and locals alike.  Like Frank Lloyd Wright, Gaudi insisted on designing every aspect of his buildings from the building materials to the lighting and furniture within.  His buildings are both organic and surreal.

Can you guess which house Gaudi designed?

Casa Batllo from the street and from the rooftop.

Gaudi designed Casa Batllo for a weathly industrialist who wanted a dramatically different house than his neighbors.  Mission accomplished.  The interior of Casa Batllo has almost no straight lines anywhere in the building.  The windows, walls, staircases -- nearly every room is curved.

The main windows facing the Passeig de Gracia

Kevin exploring under the curved stairwell

Parc Guell is another space that was designed by Gaudi, this time for Count Eusebi Guell.  The count wanted to build a housing development with a large park designed in the modernisme style.  The housing part never really took off, nowadays the park is known more for the monuments Gaudi designed to decorate the space.

The park is large but the monument area is separated by a fence and charges admission to get in.  They time the tickets so that there aren't too many people in the park at the same time.  We got there early and got right in with no waiting, although by the time we left there was a long line and quite a wait.

Here's Kevin on one of the vaulted terraces

From the terraces, you can see amazing views of the entire city all the way to the Mediterranean sea.

Here's a sneak peek at more Gaudi to come - the Sagrada Familia.  We've only seen it from the outside so far but we plan to visit it at some point while we're here.  So beautiful, but soooo creepy.