Barcelona Part II--December 9-10, 2006

Saturday:

This was the opera house for the Catalonian Opera Society built at the turn of the 20th and is another of those buildings that mixed practical structure with beautiful, eclectic decor. If nothing else, the tear drop sun stained glass ceiling was worth the price of admission alone.

Palau Musica Catalana from the exterrior (unfortunately, no cameras were allowed insided)



We took the tour, heard the organ play, and saw the decorative motifs. It was beautiful.

After the Palau, we walked through town up to the Olympic Park.
There we climbed hundreds of steps to the Museum of Art which is perched on top of the hill and just beyond were the Main stadium, and other facilities.

So yeah, this is where Barkley decimated an Angolan kid with a 40 point blowout in effect during the '92 Olympics. Pretty sweet.

Our step stop was on the other side of town...

Sangrada Familla:

Designed by Gaudi, this is the single most impressive structure I (Steve) have ever seen. Period. I can't even do it justice trying to describe it, so just go here. Enormous already, the most impressive thing is that its only half done. We've promised each other to come back and see the finished product.

These are just the interior shots, because the ones we took did not do it justice.

LEFT: Steve admiring the grandeur of the cathedral and imagining what it will look like when completed. CENTER: Inside ceiling. RIGHT: Inside window

After our awe-inspiring trip to the Gaudi unfinished masterpiece, we headed back to our hostel to get ready for the FC Barcelona football match. To see the GAME. CLICK HERE. Trust me, it's worth the look!


Sunday:

Spent the mornign at the Picasso museum. As we waited in line to buy tickets, this man sang us a tune. (He sounds like the Portugese singer off of the Royal Tennenbaums movie.) What do you think?
Some of Picasso's work was absolute cubist genius and it was nice to see his early works when he understood the nose goes in the middle of the head. That said, in needing to fill a whole gallery, I get the feeling there were some studies in there that were never meant to be seen by the outside world. Still very cool though.

After another picnic lunch on the hill overlooking the city, we worked our way back down to the city and to the beach.

We sat on the main Barcelona Beach in the afternoon and basked in the sun. There we watched some crazy woman actually swimming in the Mediterranean Sea in the middle of winter. We, on the other hand, were trying to work on our tan in the middle of winter.

We've become a bit pastey living in the Alps...

And of course, the veiw of the beautiful Mediterranean Sea.

Of course, there are a whole bunch of things we' left out, a whole bunch that is going to go in the food section, and a great set of knockers.

For all the Barca pictures, go here and here.