Sheer artistry in Barcelona

Oct 15 2010 By Jon Perks

With oodles of sun, sea, sand, food and culture Jon Perks finds it’s hard to beat Barcelona as a destination.

What’s not to like about Barcelona?

Quite why Fawlty Towers’ hapless waiter Manuel ever wanted to leave to go and work in Torquay is beyond me.

Sunshine? Check. Culture? Oodles of it. Food? Fabulous. Surroundings? Eye-catching. Beaches? Golden.

There’s also the world class football team, great transport system ... even the buskers and street performers are top drawer.

No wonder it always comes high in the ‘top world cities to visit’ lists.

A long weekend is ideal for a break in the Catalan capital, although even our four days didn’t seem enough to pack it all in. Especially with the obligatory breaks for food, drink and the occasional spell in the sun.

Art, architecture go hand in hand with Barcelona (or ‘de la mano’ as the non Catalan-speaking locals might say); Gaudi, Picasso and Miro all have left their mark on the city and vice versa – and a visit to at least some of the connected museums and landmarks is a must.

You can spend a nice leisurely day visiting the various works of architect Antoni Gaudi; his unconventional, imaginative and unmistakable creations are dotted around Barcelona.

Built at the beginning of the last century, Casa Mila, aka La Pedrera (‘the stone quarry’) is a corner apartment block on Passeig de Gracia in the Eixample district north of Plaça de Catalunya which has a typical Gaudi exterior – curvaceous (he was influenced heavily by the lines in nature) with odd twisted wrought iron balconies – and the most wonderful roof terrace with its alien-like pillars and structures which would not look out of place in the Star Wars universe. Hard to believe they are over 100 years old.

Also in the neighbourhood is Casa Batllo, another extraordinary creation – an apartment block given a Gaudi facelift with an undulating facade and ceramic buttons, with a small tower and 3D cross on top.

Head north-east from here and you’ll soon spy the spires of Gaudi’s most famous work – Sagrada Familia.

As with many of his creations, it was unfinished when Gaudi was killed by a tram in 1926, aged 74.

Scaffolding adorns the exterior; cranes tower over the stunning spires (which you’ll spot from across the city); inside, stonemasons metaphorically rub shoulders with the tourists as they queue for the lift to the viewing area on high. Be warned, the wait is lengthy.

Next on the Gaudi trail is Parc Güell; built in the early years of the 20th century on the outskirts of Gràcia, it was arguably Gaudi’s second most ambitious project, a garden city with hall of columns (complete with street traders and buskers), stone houses and a mosaic lizard next to which everyone seems to have their picture taken.

It’s a relaxed, enjoyable space to stroll for an hour or so, before heading back home – which for us was a great apartment a stone’s throw from La Rambla (or ‘the Ramblas’ as we Brits call it); owned and serviced by Staying Cool, who also manage apartments at Birmingham’s Rotunda. It was the perfect base.