Barcelona Days 3,4,& 5

The last day of our class was Gaudi day. We saw the Casa Mila, Parc Guell, and of course Sagrada Familia. We started the day as Casa Mila- an apartment complex commissioned for the Mila family. We were able to walk around the Mila apartment, see the interior, and access the roof. Honestly, I am not a huge fan of the apartment. I didn't take any pictures of it, unfortunately, but the apartment was nothing special- just decorated to the Mila's taste with 1920's furniture. However, the attic and roof top terrace make the entire building. The attic is designed as a spine- literally. Gaudi took thing bricks and arched them as structure to prodce a spine for the terrace. Walking through this space- it feels very dark and archaic, but nevertheless intriguing. There are two stairways leading from the attic to the roof, and when you wrap through the narrow spriral stair, it leads you to an open terrace unlike anything I have ever seen. The entire roof is steped so as you proceed through, you are constantly walking up and down. There are several sculptural elements that act as covers for the exhausts for the building. The sculptures are pieces of art in it of themselves. Some are mosaic, others made of clay. Yet combined, situated on the ever undulating roof, it makes one of the most scenic areas in all of Barcelona.

After the Casa Mila we proceeded to Parc Guell. We stopped at a grocery store along the way to pick up some food and all met at, again, the roof terrace for a picnic in the park. The park was originally designed for a community Gaudi had planned. It was to be a high class area of the city with mansions surrounding the park. All he ever got to build was the park, meant as a means of travel, comfort, and market place- but they community didn't want it. They didn't like how it looked and felt that it was not "high class" enough for them. After the park was completed, the project ended and was sparingly used for years. Today- after Gaudi's death, the park is one of the largest tourist attractions in the city. It has mosaic benches situated throughout and he used stone columns that act and look like trees to comprise several levels to the park. It proceeds up the hill and every turn feels like a new area. It is such a gorgeous and peaceful park once you look past the thousands of tourists and pick pocketers roaming throughout.

The last Gaudi site we visited was by far the most exciting- Sagrada Familia. This cathedral has been under construction for the past 130 years and they predict it will take abother 20 years to finish. But it is by far one of the greatest cathedrals I have ever seen. Gaudi was so far ahead of his time- the current architects weren't able to figure out how he came up with his ideas until there was technology to do so. The shapes he comprises are complicated, yet beautiful, and if you listen to them explain it over and over and over again- you almost understand how Gaudi did it. For example- he created a new type of column. It starts of with 8 sides towards the bottom. As it proceeds to the top, it grows to 16 sides, then 32, then 64, 128, until at the top it is a complete circle which then branches apart into "tree like" branches. He put a connection between the column and branches- and even this has great significance. He took an ellipse, then shrunk it in half and took the smaller ellipse and rotated it around the larger one as a planet rotates around the sun. Wherever the smaller ellipse hits the bigger- there is an indentation to make the shape you see.

We were lucky enough to have a once in a lifetime tour of the Sagrada Familia- only because we are architecture students! Although, this once in a lifetime experience was my second time- it was just as amazing. We were taken through the entire construction site- hard helmets and all. One of the architects of the building took us through the center, up the construction elevators, on top of the roof, through the scafolding, and down the rickety stairs. It was amazing! And to see the expression of other tourist's faces as they watch us on the other side of where they were allowed to go was pretty cool too. I got some amazing pictures throughout the building- here are some of my favorites.

The last two days in Barcelona were very laid back. Classes were over and we had some time to just explore the city to ourselves. Barcelona has some amazing jewelry- I must say I have never seen anything like this anywhere else. I couldn't help myself when I saw these rings. The first one is made from a button, its very simple but pretty.

This one os made of metal and has a blue tint to the center. It was really unique and very Spanish to me.

The last one made me think of my mom. This, I think, is totally a ring she would wear. I couldn't pass it up- it was the last one they had and it was my exact size. But everytime I wear it, I think of her.

We spent some time at the beach as well. It was a little chilly- too cold to go into the water, but nice to sit in the sand and take it easy for a while. I don't know what was going on, whether there was a competition or if people just wanted to make some money- but there were a series of amazing sand castles along the beach. I have never seen anything like this before. Some of them had running water through it and others had smoke. It was really cool!

Overall- Spain was a long trip, but it was a lot of fun. I saw some amazing architecture, took some really interesting pictures, and even had some time to relax for a while. It's nice to finally be back in Paris- but I must say Spain is definitely one of my favorite countries I have been too. I'll miss it- but I missed Paris and am glad to be back. Although- nothing is like home, and I miss all of you back there. I hope all is well, thank you for reading!