Barcelona boasts art and architecture
Published: 02/12/2009
BARCELONA, Spain – Traditionally Roman Catholic, the Spanish people are adamant about Sunday being considered a day of rest. Accordingly, mine are usually spent sprawled on Saint Sebastia beach, recovering from the previous night’s exploits at absinthe bars or Irish pubs.
But in a city of unparalleled architecture and world-class museums, I decided this one should be more productive. Armed with my Metro pass, camera and a comfortable pair of Nikes, I set off to see 2,000 years of art and history before sunset.
Christopher Columbus landed in Barcelona after discovering the new world. I thought it would be fitting to begin my artistic voyage at the sculpture built in his honor. Located at the bottom of La Rambla boulevard and towering over the city’s marina, the inspiring figure of Columbus points toward the sea, surrounded by a host of stone angels and marble lions.
Following La Rambla, I maneuvered the eccentric avenue’s human labyrinth of performers, pickpockets, street vendors and drug dealers to my next destination, the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (http://www.macba.cat).
Unfortunately, the modern art museum was closed but the steps of the building’s plaza are renowned as one of the finest skateboarding spots in the world. I spent most of my adolescence on a skate deck, so I was content to snack on fresh bakery bread and watch the local riders.
Crossing the city center, Plaza Catalunya, I walked further into the city. At the brilliantly blue-tiled Casa Batllo, I admired its skeleton awnings, reptilian scale roof and lance smokestack, designed by architect Antoni Gaudi to evoke St. George slaying the dragon.
Four blocks further I found Casa Mila, also designed by Gaudi. An enormous apartment of seemingly melting stone and wrought iron balconies, the building seems out of place beyond the pages of Dr. Seuss.
Hopping on the metro, I returned to Plaza Catalunya, diving into the narrow streets and hidden alleys of Barri Gotic, the Gothic Quarter. Barcelona’s oldest neighborhood, it's home to a soaring medieval cathedral, built within the ruins of the old Roman wall and aqueduct.
Hidden on a shady avenue nearby, I found more than 3,000 works by arguably the most famous artist of all time: Pablo Picasso. At a price of 6 Euros for students, the Barcelona Museu Picasso (www.museupicasso.bcn.es) holds an impressive collection stretching from the artist’s childhood to his final cubist periods.
Back at the marina, I entered a museum starkly different from Picasso’s. Free with my international student ID, the Museu d’Historia de Catalunya (www.en.mhcat.net) celebrates the story of Catalonia. From Stone Age settlements and Roman Empire conquest, to the rise of the Catalonian Empire and the Spanish Civil War, the museum provides an in-depth history of a nation, one now longing to be independent from Spain.
After refueling with a falafel lunch, I crossed the green lawns of La Ciutadella park and strolled beneath the giant Romanesque arch of the Arc De Triomf, boarding the metro toward Parc Guell.
Planned as an elegant neighborhood mimicking nature, the funding for Parc Guell ran dry before Gaudi could complete it. Today, it’s a sprawling park of stone columns, ornate sculptures and fanciful buildings, all covered in vibrantly colored mosaics.
The sun had set when I reached La Sagrada Familia (www.sagradafamilia.cat). Illuminated by floodlights and set against a backdrop of cranes, it’s an impressive sight. Gaudi’s masterwork is the crown jewel of Barcelona, despite being decades from completion.
Begun in 1882 and projected to be finished around 2026, The Temple of the Holy Family is an artistic and architectural triumph. Captivating the city’s skyline, every foot of the temple’s towers (18 of them when completed) are adorned with symbolic sculpture, stirring evidence of the artist’s genius. Unequaled in its scale and splendor, it was a fitting monument to end my day.
Next stop: London.
http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/27743
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