the city that Gaudi built

Barcelona

Okay, so Antoni Gaudi didn't actually build the whole city of Barcelona, but many of his constructions like the Segrada Familia and Parc Güell are what stand out the most when you walk through the city. We went to Barcelona a couple of weekends ago (March 5th- 8th) and stayed for three nights. The city is very large and sprawling but there are many interesting things to see.

The Segrada familia is extremely impressive even though it is continually under construction. The cranes surrounding it take away a little of the aw but the building still stuns with its Gothic style and intricate detail.



Parc güell is incredibly impressive. It is a park filled with structures that Guadi designed, all covered in colorful mosaics. I have always loved mosaics and have tried to create my own before, though not very successfully. All of his buildings have a very curvy, playful nature, some even reminded me of gingerbread houses.

Besides the two sights mentioned above, we also visited the Picasso museum. Picasso has never been one of my favorite artists, his work has always seemed a little out there for me, but after seeing the progression of his work showcased in Barcelona, my appreciation has grown. The work is placed in chronological order so as you walk through the museum, you can see how Picasso transitioned between different periods of work, which is especially interesting when paired with the descriptions of what was happening in his life at each time. What struck me most was how talented he was. I knew from art classes and by just looking at his later work that he was extremely creative and origional, but his early work showcases his amazing eye for detail and his ability to realistically capture the form of the human body. Knowing that Picasso could very realistically draw any person or object, makes it so much more intriguing that as his career progressed he chose more and more not to draw what everybody else saw, but to instead capture the feeling and emotions of the piece with shapes, and color. He distorted the images and used unusual juxtaposition to bring out the inner feelings of the subject. Indeed, many of his later works can be seen as strange, but they are unquestionably unique. Most certainly the only person who can explain the meanings of some of the pieces is Picasso himself, as he does to some extent through a quote that I ran across in the gift shop after touring the museum. He said "It took me all my life to draw like a child"... If only we could all learn to channel our childhood imaginations.