Barcelona is undoubtedly an architectural marvel. Its a sheer delight to walk in its streets and be awed by the creations of its master Architect Antoni Gaudi; Or get frenzied in its soccer mania; Or savor its lively beaches.
Among all this, what caught my attention after first few hours of walking around the city was that most of the buildings have amazing Balconies. They are symmetrical, intricate and have both modern and pristine look. Some have Georgian look and some of them are real quirky.They are ubiquitous in the entire city and I could not get enough of them.
When I zoomed in and clicked this, I was instantly reminded of a poem we read in school. Cant relate it better than now.
“What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare….”
These balconies are amazingly symmetrical and look prototyped
And this beautiful building is work of the Catalan Architect Antoni Gaudi. Casa Mila or La Pedrera on Passeig de Gràcia today houses a cultural center. For its unique architecture, its inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
Casa Mila or La Pedrera
Another wonder from Antoni Gaudi on Passeig de Gràcia is Casa Batlló. The building was also known as House of Bones. The facade looks to be made from Skulls and Bones. The balconies are skulls and the pillars are the Bones. The colors are starkly vivid chosen from marine life. This was one of the best work of Gaudi.
Another amazing building with filigree patterned balconies
This probably would be one of the old buildings. It has elaborate balconies and detailing on its facade
One of my favourite. Notice the painted shells design on the walls..Or are they umbrellas?. It amazes me the painstaking decoration on the walls of simple buildings
I find it really hard to believe that the buildings are so painstakingly decorated. I wouldn’t say that each building in Barcelona is like this, but as you walk around Catlunya and many of the streets where works of Gaudi are there, spotting these exquisite balconies is easy.
While the Must See lists and Not to Miss websites would name all the famous monuments of Barcelona, for me, the most notable feature of this city would be its amazing and elaborate balconies…And Iam sure there were more of them which I still need to see….
In Barcelona it became more and more apparent to me what the masses of tourists were doing to the city, but it only truly hit home to me when I visited Park Güell, which I’ve wanted to see for most of my life. Entrance into the park was metered to avoid overcrowding. It occurred to me that this park now almost completely belonged to the tourists, and was nearly useless as a park to the people of Barcelona. The Basílica de la Sagrada Família was being used far more by sightseers than by worshipers. Las Ramblas was a mass of foreigners. My only chance to speak with a native of the city was cut short, so it lasted less than five minutes.
It was like visiting an aquarium. You’re physically there, but you aren’t really in the world you’re looking at. All you can do is look through the glass.
I’m glad I saw Barcelona, however briefly, but out of respect for it I’ll never go back.
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I totally get what you are saying Rodney, most of Europe is engulfed in over tourism. People are seeing most of the cities thru their smartphones, trying to click 100s of pictures more of themselves though 🙂
I got robbed in Barcelona when I was going to visit Sagrada Familia so I definitely have to go back to have a look inside.
I visited Seville last year in November, though its touristy but it was quite less at that time of the year. I could spend time to admire the monuments streets and have some good tapas with not so crowded restaurants.