Anikka and Dierk arrived right on schedule, just in time for a quick lunch before we four headed off to Passeig de Gracia and the district's polethera of houses in the Modernisme style. This area of Barcelona, the Eixample, grew up as the city expanded following the dismantling of the Roman era walls that had earlier confined the population to a small area close to the port.
Three well-known Catalan architects, Antoni Gaudi, Lluis Domenech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch, helped imlement the city's orderly expansion plan initially drawnup by Ildefons Cerda i Sunyer in 1854.
We first stopped by Antoni Gaudi's apartmetn complex, Casa Mila, (built between 1906 and 1910). However, the ticket line looked longer than we wanted to wait; so, instead, we wandered through a beautifully mounted photography show featuring the black-and-white images of Chema Madoz -- and were able as well to see a bit of the Casa Mila interior courtyard as we entered and exited the exhibit. We'll return to this architectural gem for a more extended visit later, that's for sure!
There are numerous other architectural masterpieces in the immediate area, so for the next hour or so we simply walked around the neighborhood, Lee snapping pictures one after the next ...
Our final stop of the afternoon took us to another of Antoni Gaudi's creations, Casa Batllo, from 1906. The ticket line here was much shorter and moved along quickly. Moreover, the use of audio guides means everyone moves through the building independently at one's own pace which provides all the room needed to see and contemplate that which interests without having to push through a crowd trying to listen to a single guide. This visit, too, was immensely rewarding -- and quite a different experience from that of Palau Guell.
Three well-known Catalan architects, Antoni Gaudi, Lluis Domenech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch, helped imlement the city's orderly expansion plan initially drawnup by Ildefons Cerda i Sunyer in 1854.
We first stopped by Antoni Gaudi's apartmetn complex, Casa Mila, (built between 1906 and 1910). However, the ticket line looked longer than we wanted to wait; so, instead, we wandered through a beautifully mounted photography show featuring the black-and-white images of Chema Madoz -- and were able as well to see a bit of the Casa Mila interior courtyard as we entered and exited the exhibit. We'll return to this architectural gem for a more extended visit later, that's for sure!
There are numerous other architectural masterpieces in the immediate area, so for the next hour or so we simply walked around the neighborhood, Lee snapping pictures one after the next ...
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