Lee’s World
Barcelona
I had visited Barcelona in 2002, when I stayed in Sitges. Barcelona was my escape from Sitges, a place I just didn't take to.
I returned in 2008 for my birthday. Swiss Air did their best to ensure that I didn't get there - bad weather at City Airport had caused problems which were then exacerbated by Swiss Air and it took me 16 hours to reach Spain (via not only Switzerland but also two London airports and Germany!).
This was my first stay in the
city and I could not have chosen a better hotel - the newly opened Barcelo
Raval. It was slightly over- designed - the damask wallpaper in the rooms
was on the lightshades in the restaurant, and even on the pavement outside
the main door!
The shower was a glass box in the room, but it was beautifully done, and I
would stay there again.
Given I had lost an afternoon in
the city by being shuttled around Europe, I had a tight schedule. So 10am
tour of Lluís Domènech i Montaner's Palau de Musica - the Palau
celebrated it's centenary this year. It's a crazy
ceramic,
glass and iron building with an over the top inverted dome.
Then it was on to Gaudi. Firstly
a tour of Casa Batllo, with its ceramic chimneys, exquisite archways and
those teardrop windows. Yes, it's pricey (at 17.5 euros for admission) but
worth it. Then across the street to Casa Mila for more chimneys (which look
alien). This building attracts a crowd as it is probably more well known and
bigger, but I thought that Casa Batllo had more to offer.
Then a quick walk through town to the still unfinished Sagrada Familia Cathedral. It is spectacular, but I couldn't tell what had been built in my six years absence from the city.
After all that decoration and
ceramic it was time to return to clean lines and a complete
contrast
- Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavillion at the foot of Montjuic. It was
the most amazing space - clean lines, walls of glass, travertine, pools of
water, and the iconic Barcelona Chair in it's original home. I could have
spent hours there. I kept wondering what it would have been like to visit
the building when it was first designed in 1929, and witnessing the reaction
to it 75 years ago. It looks as modern now as it probably did futuristic
then.
I finished the day with two of
our contemporary star-architect's work in the city - Santiago Calatrava's
Communications Tower next to the Olympic stadium, and Frank Gehry's fish, by
the Arts Hotel; before a walk along the beach towards Port Vell.
My final morning was spent in the Gothic Quarter - the narrow streets surrounding the Le Seu Cathedral. A fascinating area with so many hidden gems and corners.
I'm not leaving it six years next time before I return to Barcelona again!