Casa Batllo

Have I mentioned that I love Gaudi? Well, this was my favorite of his houses, ahem, Casa's. Not only is it completely unique, but also incorporates blues, white and dark wood...my fav's. We toured the house, the back terrace and the rooftop terrace. You can see some similar themes between this Casa and Casa Mila. Here are some of the best...

And of course some pictures of the Casa at night! Isn't it magical looking? I kept thinking we were at some Oompa Loompa convention or something...

And now the interior! He used a lot of wood and mosaic tiles, and the cool thing is that starting at the bottom it was light blue, and as you worked your way to the top, the tiles became darker, leading you to the skylights and rooftop terrace. He thought of everything!

Casa Mila

One of Gaudi's houses is the Casa Mila. He was commissioned to design this little ditty, and now it houses a few private apartments and offices. The "apartment" that they let you view models decor from the early 20th century. It was cool, and the wrought iron balconies were impressive! It sits on the corner of a major motorway, so the views are really nice as well!

The biggest "must-see" of this house, though, is the rooftop terrace. Gaudi used his mosaic tiles and love of smooth lines to create a strange sand dune feeling on the top of this statuesque building. It was incredible...and I've heard it's even better when it's lit up at night. And as you can see, we could view the Sagrada Familia from afar!

Boom, upside your head!

If you are singing the little cheer in your head, than you get the title. If not, just ignore my humor and check out this funny story:

We're all walking along the promenade to the beach, excited to see the coast and feel the water. As we're admiring the harbor and chatting a group of young Spanish teens start walking towards us with little clipboards, wanting us to sign petitions. We don't really pay attention until they get really close to us, asking us if we spoke English. Stephen and the girls kind of part ways around them, saying "NO!" and kept walking.

I, unfortunately, was cornered by one of the aggressive little ladies. She pushed her clipboard into my stomach, shouting things in Spanglish, when I felt a little movement in my purse. I pushed her back a bit, saying "No! What are you doing?" when she FREAKED OUT. She walked past me and then HIT ME with her clipboard in the back. It didn't hurt, but I was completely stunned.

Aimee and the others caught on when they heard me yelling at her. They whipped around in time to catch her hit me and just bust out laughing. Well, that's not completely true. They were concerned for a second, but then cracked up. I mean, who gets hit by a pickpocketer? She didn't get anything out of my purse, only unzipped it halfway.

We watched the teenagers reassembling further down the promenade and were able to catch her have a hissy fit at her lack of skills again, throwing her pencil and stomping. Guess I won this round, babe!

The Sagrada Familia and the Jazz night that never was...

Well, our jazz night was a flop. We arrived at the door to be told it was a 10 euro cover charge "unless you can find the people handing out flyers, then it's free!" Are you kidding? Guess they weren't, and we found a flyer-man rather quickly. We make it inside to be told we were the FIRST people at the club. It was midnight. Ridiculous. So, we tried out the music and decided we should make a move to another location. We ended up at a little Irish club called "Cheers!" and found a back booth to play cards. Though overdressed, we had a great time!!

The next morning we decided to head to the Sagrada Familia. I was VERY excited about seeing this part of Gaudi's works. Unfortunately, the church was mostly in scaffolding. I guess that's pretty typical of our European Adventures. Almost all good things have been under construction or being cleaned. The amazing thing about this structure, though, is that Gaudi died way before it was finished, and they are only finishing it as donations and money is given (and according to his strict plans). So, it's estimated that it will take 30 more years to complete! It was amazing, though...see for yourself!

Park Guell and other Gaudi fun...

We ventured out today after the morning rain and went on a little Gaudi walking tour. We decided to save the museums for a different day, since Monica is leaving tomorrow morning. We wanted her to be able to see all of the goodness, so we went to the major sights she hadn't already seen, including two of his houses, and the Park Guell.

The park was a bit crowded, but we had a great time and enjoyed seeing all the kitsch designs! After the park, we walked around our neighborhood, the Old town (Barri Gotic), and enjoyed some late afternoon tapas and gelato...perfect!

Stay tuned for the Sagrada Familia and Jazz night!