The Essential 4 Things to Do in Barcelona 2017 - Must See Attractions by Barcelona Photoblog

Whether you visit us for many days or are just here on your way to other destinations, there are some must see attractions of Barcelona you wouldn't want to miss!

                 Here are the essential four most visited and beautiful hallmarks of Barcelona

1 - Basilica of La Sagrada Familia by Antoni Gaudi: The pharaonic project

Started in 1882, this ever growing gargantuan project, product of the imagination of a genius of architecture, called Antoni Gaudi, will blast your every sense on every corner.

It doesn't matter which of the three sides of the basilica you contemplate, the Nativity façade to the East, the Passion façade to the West, and the Glory façade to the South, you are bound to be astonished with so much art and so many impossible creations.

Sagrada familia is full of small details, like gorgeous stain glass windows, baroque or modern religious sculptures, gothic spires, surrealist designs, natural adornments here and there, so typical of Catalan Art Nouveau (modernisme), complex architectural concepts and simple and elegant solutions, elaborate metal doors, or even a canopy of lights covering Jesus in a cross hanging from the ceiling.

I could give you figures and concrete data, in fact Barcelona Photoblog has published many posts on Sagrada Familia in the past, but today I just wanted to give you a general idea, the impression that you get.

Remember to plan your visit ahead and get tickets online at www.sagradafamilia.org the official site to avoid the long queues.

Address: La Sagrada Familia
Carrer Mallorca, 401


Metro: Sagrada Familia (Blue Line, L5) and (Purple Line, L2)

2 - Park Güell by Antoni Gaudi, the unsuccessful dream

Park Güell, which is the right name, is frequently misspelled as Parc Güell, Park Guell or even Park Güel! Güell is the last name of a prosperous businessman who commissioned Gaudi to work on a very advanced concept, creating a new housing development in a mountain near the city, with many lots for luxury houses.

Although both Count Eusebi Güell and Antoni Gaudi got to live there to give the project a little push, the whole thing failed and thus it ended up being what it is today, a municipal garden. Oh, but what a garden it is!

Imagine a garden that you can enter from a lower level or a higher level, furnished with a vast sandy mirador enclosed by amazing serpentine benches from which you can admire the city, imagine that such mirador is on top of a hundred columns under which you can listen to music played by improvised artists, imagine getting lost under inclined archways that resemble coral formations or the very gardens of Babylon.

You cannot leave Barcelona without visiting this place so get your tickets to Park Güell  and climb up there!

Metro stop "Lesseps" or "Vallcarca" (Green Line, L3).

Check Park Güell on Google Maps

3 - Tibidabo Amusement Park, the Lookout Tower 

Maybe you will leave Barcelona without climbing to the highest point from where to appreciate her intense beauty.

Well, shame on you if you do! Especially if you came with your kids, your incredible friends or your beloved couple.

Entrance is not very cheap, but it is worth the price, at least once.

Tibidabo Amusement Park, carrying more than a hundred years of history on its back, the second oldest in Europe, was the project of a pharmaceutical businessman named Salvador Andreu. Well, in fact he just wanted to make houses up there and so his company inaugurated a road to the mountain which paved the way to luxurious houses, new trendy spots to watch the city, a tram, a cable car and a great variety of prequels to the final park, like the magic mirrors, fortune teller machines, shooting galleries, etc.

And so it goes that today, more than 25 rides, like the impressive 1921 Talaia lookout tower from which you can have an even higher view of Barcelona, make Tibidabo Amusement Park a wonderful must-see spot especially on a bright and sunny day. Find more Barcelona Photoblog posts on Tibidabo

Bus: Tibibus special bus service from Plaça Catalunya square

Train: Take (Brown Line, L7) from Plaza de Catalunya Subway then Tram then Cable Car

Get directions

4 - The Santa Maria de Montserrat Monastery: A Pilgrimage to La Moreneta virgin

The monastery or abbey of Montserrat, in the mountain by the same name, is a sanctuary devoted to La Moreneta virgin or Virgen de Montserrat, venerated in the shape of a dark colored  wooden icon which is preserved in an altar of gold, and one of the two patrons of the city of Barcelona together with Sant Jordi.

So what better than making your own pilgrimage to the very heart of Barcelona's most sacred roots, to the most essential thing to do in Barcelona if you are a real fan. Go and get blessed by touching the relic or simply spend an unforgettable day at the incredible mountain range of Montserrat with its unique ragged silhouette. Witness the same landscape that benedictine monks saw back in the 10th century when they founded Santa Maria de Montserrat.

Tip: It is much more fun to take the cable car to get there!

Buy train tickets at Plaça Espanya in front of Line R5 to Manresa 

(2 options: With cable car or with Cremallera Funicular. Train stops at base of the mountain. Different train stops according to choice taken)

Art Nouveau Mosaics: The Trencadis Technique

Parc Güell, that amazing jewel of Art Nouveau, where Gaudi left his unmistakable legacy in spite of being part of a housing project that was bound to fail, is a vast green area where your eyes are immediately seduced by curious shapes, impossible lines, incredible designs and innovative ideas. Such is the case of the mosaic benches around the square facing the entrance to the park. Serpentine benches waving around the central arena, feature spectacular combinations of colorful shards of mosaic that apparently at first sight do not make any sense but that are part of an intelligent meaningful composition, a sort of magic snake showing off her shiny scales on top the 86 Doric columns that hold the square. The scales are really thousands of little shards, fragments of mosaic carefully assembled to create a sort of mural in which chaos generates beauty and such technique is called trencadis.

Tourists in Park Guell Gardens

Japanese tourists at Park Guell gardens

This is what we call a clotted picture. You might as well try looking for Wally, or in this case, a couple of Japanese tourists in the middle of the exuberant vegetation of Park Guell gardens.

You don't see what they are pointing their compact cameras at but I can tell you: it's the house where Antoni Gaudi used to live when he was building Park Guell which is a museum nowadays.

Columns at Park Guell, Barcelona, Spain

These are some of the 86 Doric columns under the terrace at Park Guell, Barcelona. The place was featured in Barcelona Photoblog a long time ago so here's a link to: Park Guell Columns

Serpentine Bench Detail at Park Guell, Barcelona, Spain

Serpentine bench detail at Park Guell by Antoni Gaudi

A detail of a serpentine bench at Park Guell, Barcelona. Not the first time I show you these modernist benches by Gaudi. Using the trencadis technique he composed curious patterns that not only included color tiles but several other pieces that look like bottle bottoms to me. If you enlarge the picture you will be able to see what I mean.

For those of you who have not visited the park I should say that the undulated benches encircle a big terrace with a view over Barcelona and the sea. More posts about serpentine benches in Barcelona Photoblog: Mosaic Work Called Trencadis by Gaudi, Mosaic Serpentine Benches Landmark of Barcelona and Trencadis Serpentine Bench at Park Guell.

Park Guell, Barcelona - Entrance Tower With Spire And Trencadis Work

This is a detail of one of the two towers at the main entrance to Park Guell (Olot street). Both buildings were once the houses of the park's keepers. In the picture you can see a narrow spire crowned by a four armed cross as well as a small mushroom-like cupola with some oriental reminiscence and the peculiar battlement around the edge, an ackward combination you only associate with fairy tales or very wild dreams. Notice the impressive trencadis work of the roof, in other words, the mosaic composition created with irregular shards of tiles omnipresent in Gaudian architecture.

Figure of Saint Holding Child at Park Guell

This photoblog has been updated although images are not accompanied by any text since the last days of July since this blogger is and will be on holidays till September 1st. I hope you understand the lack of information. In the meantime, please feel free to browse my work, be my guest. Next block of pictures coming soon.

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Park Guell Gardens

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Mosaic in the Chamber of the 100 Columns, Park Guell, Barcelona

Ceiling mosaic at the 100 column hall in Park Guell

This is the second mosaic I show you of those you can admire on the ceiling of the Chamber of the 100 Columns at Park Guell. 

Please read the last post here to know more. And of course, do follow labels to compare to other works by Antoni Gaudi. 

I encourage you to enlarge the picture for a more detailed view of the shape of the fragments, their colors and distribution to make up the final figure.

Gaudi Museum in Park Guell, Barcelona

Pink Tower - Gaudi museum at Park Guell

This a museum inside Park Guell, a modernist house Gaudi bought in 1906 and that had been built by Francesc Berenguer, one of his collaborators. 

The house had been part of the park's utopian projects and later it could not be sold. Thanks to that it came into Gaudi hands who lived there for 20 years first with his father and niece and then completely alone till 1926 the year of his death although he was not there till he died cause he abandoned the house some months before due to the distance with the city and went to his workshop in the cathedral. 

The house was known as the Pink Tower because Antoni Gaudí was very devout to the Rose Virgin. This is the view of the building as taken from a low angle in the garden that is in the backyard.

Flower Patch Detail

Today I didn't feel like showing any specific place in Barcelona and I've decided to brighten up your eyes a little bit. I got this beautiful flower patch at Park Guell but framing the whole triangle was too obvious so I finally chose one of the corners to trace a diagonal line in the picture. It's a pity there was that tree shadow but I suppose felling the tree was impossible now that green is a sacred word. I hope I don't disappoint people when Barcelona is not featured in my photoblog in one way or the other but my camera sometimes digresses just as her proud owner.

Young Girl Climbing on Rocks at Park Guell [Barcelona, Spain]

I was lucky to capture this young girl the other day at Park Guell while she was climbing on the rocks of the arcade. I certify she was not my model and that this is a spur of the moment picture although the pose is so perfect that it seems prearranged. Fortunately enough, she was wearing a nice color dress, a hat and a handbag which made the picture even more interesting from the point of view of kids photography. With her natural pose and the texture of the rocky background it was pretty easy to compose in this case. I like the fact that she is staring vacantly into space in the middle of a silent game perhaps. I admire the ability of kids to find happiness in the most boring things: for example, climbing on a rock.

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Flower Digital Photography: Light Purple

Another assignment for flower enthusiasts: I came across these beautiful purple flowers at Park Guell gardens. Due to the long stem and leaves I suppose it is a bulb flower very common in public places but I must have missed that botany lesson so I need your help one more time.

Last quiz answer was Lantanas. Thanks to those who gave me the correct name or enhanced the scarce information of the post.

Update: agapanthus was the name!

Ceiling Mosaic Inside The Chamber of the 100 Columns, Park Guell, Barcelona Spain

Trencadis ceiling at the 100 Columns Hall in Park Guell

Not the first time Barcelona Photoblog visits Park Guell in Barcelona to show you the impressive work of Gaudi.

We have dealt with mosaic work recently, we mentioned the trencadis technique but we needed some more examples where the degree of improvisation and nature leitmotifs were more evident. Such is the case of this ceiling mosaic inside The Chamber of the 100 Columns including not only tiles but fragments of cups and dishes among other materials to make up something that recalls a flower.

Please follow labels for previous posts.

Pure Classical Music at Park Guell, Barcelona, Spain

Double-bass playing classical music and girl at Park Guell

A street musician playing for money at Park Guell in Barcelona.

The well tempered sound of the string instrument, a double bass I suppose, attracted a curious visitor who invaded the scene, something that I really, really appreciate. Classical music really touched the pure fibers of this baby cause she stood there like a grownup with a musical background.

Mosaic Work Called Trencadis by Gaudi at Park Guell

A closeup of a serpentine bench adorned with mosaic work known as trencadis at Park Guell, Barcelona.

Trencadis, the technique that consists in breaking tiles of different patterns and different shapes to compose a single mosaic was constantly used by Antoni Gaudi and his followers. This particular shard with numbers on it reminds me of notations made by master masons or stone cutters on ancient walls.

Mosaic Serpentine Benches: A Landmark of Barcelona

Serpentine bench with Trencadis mosaic technique by Gaudi

This is I believe the third picture where I show serpentine benches by Gaudi located at Park Guell in Barcelona. 

These mosaic or trencadis-made wonders of architecture and design look specially attractive under the last rays of the sun. Although I am used to watching them I always enjoy them as much as this tourist lost in his own thoughts through the viewfinder of his camera.

Mosaic Wall Signs at Park Guell. Why Park?

Although on looking at the thumbnail (some of you come through the City Daily Photo Blog portal or directly searching for Barcelona pictures in Google images) you might think these are a couple of hand wrist Swatch watches nothing could be further from the truth. These are the two mosaics found on the wall at the entrance of Park Guell, which were made following the trencadis technique used by Antoni Gaudi. For English speakers the name is completely normal but it is odd for us that it reads Park and not parc (Cat.) or parque (Sp.). Why "Park"? Basically because the place was initially conceived to be a sort of city on the lap of the mountain based upon the Garden City model by British inventor, Ebenezer Howard, who impressed by a futuristic novel published in 1888 and some other preceding works created his own Utopian plan about a garden city, a new home for an idyllic society that would make a better world. Remember that Gaudi and his art patron Eusebi Güell i Bacigalupi were very influenced by the modern ideas of those times, coming from Europe and the United States, and besides, they were very religious men. About the image, I should say they were taken on a dull weather day and are not especially my favorite, in fact, I think the idea of mixing both words in one is not new but they surely have helped me make my point about the origin of the name.

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Colonia Guell, Barcelona: Art Nouveau Stained Glass Window

Colonia Guell, was a textile community which was established in 1890 along river Llobregat like many other such water-powered industries. There was an important recession from 1885 to 1890 in this sector. Eusebi Güell, an important Catalan businessman who commisioned Gaudi many of his works (remember Park Guell), had to move his factory from Sants to his lands near the city, the municipality of Santa Coloma de Cervelló at present. In 1880 there were important steam-powered factories near Barcelona, like Can Batlló in Les Corts or La España Industrial and Vapor Güell in Sants that were slowly declining. Antoni Gaudi had started to build a church for all the community inhabitants in Eusebi's estate but it finally ended up as a mere crypt (but what a crypt!) due to the financial problems of his mentor in the middle of this economic crisis. The entrance to the crypt in Colonia Güell is quite similar to the impossible inclined column pattern imitating the aerial roots of trees in Sagrada Familia, in fact this small sanctuary served as a small scaled model for the cathedral. I took this interior picture of the stained glass windows, featuring a cross but also suggesting a big flower as elements of nature were a leitmotif in all of Gaudi's work. The image is taken in a hurry as opening hours are limited due to Mass service. So I only had 10 minutes to madly rush along the oval temple and then run up the external staircase to the unfinished part of the building where the church was supposed to be (there is only a small belfry). I was the last one to come out of the ugly fenced perimeter which makes it impossible to take a decent full scene shot. More to come tomorrow.

Park Guell Columns: Mathematical Architecture

A man playing guitar in the quietness of the 86 Doric columns below the famous terrace where many of you have been chatting and enjoying the view over Barcelona city. The colonnade may look sober in design but it is strong and stable thanks to the mathematical perfection of its architecture. Maybe that is what creates the wonderful acoustics this musician is taking profit of. The ceiling incorporates colorful mosaic plafonds that cannot be appreciated here due to the counter light effect. I liked the way this light pierced through the corridors onto the polished floors. Here is a Google Earth image of Parc Guell and specifically the terrace under which you could listen the melodic notes of this classic guitar musician or many other artists. See also these other pictures at Gaudi All Gaudi. This a digital photo but I used some lab color effect to make it look like film.