Hospital de Sant Pau- Modernist gem

Barcelona is not short of its own versions of Art Nouveau and Gothic style architecture which became known as Modernism in the late 19th century. The scale and extent of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau started in 1902 on the medieval site which has been in continuous use since 1401 is something to behold.

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Parc Güell Barcelona

One of the must see places in Barcelona is the Parc Güell which Gaudí designed between 1900-1914 for his patron the banker Eusebi Güell. Actually a failed upmarket housing project, only 2 houses were completed, and Gaudí bought one for his family.
The park is set in several hectares and as with all of Gaudi’s projects there are lots of interesting details to take in as well as some of the best views of Barcelona spread out below.
Set around a central open space with the famous dragon seats with the “trencadis” (broken tile pieces used to cover curved surfaces) which are both colourful and comfortable.
The park is well maintained and there are always plenty of flowers and trees along the paths providing both shade and exotic smells wafted up by the sea breeze which was one of the original selling points of the location.
Be sure to look closely at the gates, walls, windows and roofs to see the amazing things Gaudí did with cement, metalwork, bricks and tiles inspired by his love of nature.

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La Sagrada Familia-work in progress?

La Sagrada Familia is one of Barcelonas iconic buildings and well worth a visit, in fact I have probably visited dozens of times and the nice thing is that because of the on-going building works it always looks different!
This Gaudi masterpiece has been a work in progress for the last 100 years with frequent and heated debates as to whether the “new” part is really in keeping with the Gaudi original.
This post was inspired by a news item recently which assured us that it would finally be finished in 2010 and so I decided to have another look and see what a Sagrada Familia without cranes would be like.
I decided to look at details rather than the undoubtedly impressive overall impression with its soaring towers, zooming in on the fruit and bird life hidden on the facades and the amazing use of stone, ironwork, glass and ceramic tiles.
My unequivocal conclusion is that there are so many interesting and fun things to admire in/on this church that it will always be a pleasure to visit, and just for the record I love the “new” part and hope that cleaning the pollution stained exterior of the “old” part can begin when the cranes do eventually come down, but I think 2010 is optimistic, personally!

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