Head Over Heels for Gaudi

BARCELONA, SPAIN -- May 5, 2006

This was the day I fell in love with Barcelona. A beautiful day of blue skies and sunshine never hurts, but it was Gaudi, the famous artist and architect, who made today such a special discovery.

I began at the Sagrada Familia, the cathedral which has become Barcelona's most famous -- albeit unfinished -- building. Gaudi began construction in 1882 and threw himself into its creation until his unfortunate death some twenty-something years later when he was hit by a tram. It is today still unfinished, but as my visit attested, builders are hard at work on the construction of this cathedral, which is estimated to continue until 2082.

Today eight of an eventual eighteen towers stand, their spires rising high above the skyline of the city. The beautiful sculpting of the Nativity Facade (which Gaudi himself supervised) is intricate and beautiful, while the sculpting on the Passion Facade, opposite, is more earthy, angular, and modern in feel (constructed in the 1950's). I climbed a rather congested spiral staircase inside one of the towers, which offered some impressive views out over the city.

Leaving the Sagrada Familia, I next visited Parc Guell, which lies on the north side of the city, a good 15-minute walk from the nearest metro. Set up in the hillside, this park was truly one of the highlights of the city for me. Gaudi's artistic touch, in addition to the beautiful setting, combine to make this park truly memorable.

Gaudi's creativity is evident in the gingerbread castles that lie just inside the entrance, as well as in the earthy, moody touches, such as the famous dragon of tile and broken glass, columns appearing as tree roots, and a snakelike bench atop a lookout point that snakes its way along the rim of the park's upper reaches. I lingered here for some time, as did everyone else, enjoying the fairy-tale feel of this almost other-wordly existence.

After rejunenating myself amid the palm trees and calm breeze, I descended to Passeig de Gracia, a long road running through the area of the city known as L'Eixample. Here lie some of the most famous modernist buildings in Europe, again, with Gaudi at the forefront of the architectural creation. His most famous along the Passeig de Gracia is probably La Pedrera, a gray-stone apartment building which at first appearance does not seem overly spectacular. But its design, with rippling, curving, anything-but-straight lines, is imaginative.

Among its many unusual features, the rooftop is far and away the most amazing aspect of this incredible building. It is a series of steps leading up and down in a random, circular fashion, with immense, masked statues clustered in various places throughout. It's difficult to describe with words, but I found myself lingering here as well, shooting frame after frame of these unusual designs set against a deep blue background of the sky. Incredible.

The night finished out with a few drinks and into-the-early-morning conversation with a couple of very tall Dutch guys on holiday from the southern side of the Netherlands. We chatted up the educational system of the Netherlands, which enabled Mark, the younger of the two, to graduate from university with 35,000 Euros in his pocket. Attending university is virtually free, and on top of that, the government will pay you a stipend for going. On top of that, you have the advantage of an educational system that values multilingual instruction. And when all your schooling is done, you are paid a decent wage to work no more than 35 hours per week. In fact, as Mark explained it to me, if he works a long week, then he has the right to take a day off the following week... or save up a few and have an extra week of holiday to spend as he likes.

Sometimes I wonder if I was born in the wrong country! The Netherlands sure seem to have a few things figured out!

~Melanie