Gaudí Architecture in Barcelona
No visit to Barcelona can go without seeing Antoni Gaudí’s work.
That’s because Gaudí’s architecture is everywhere. This visit was back in April, and though we had a limited amount of time there (merely 2 nights), we managed to see 4 of his iconic work in Barcelona – Sagrada Família, Casa Milà, Park Güell, and Casa Batlló.
Our first stop was Sagrada Família, and the church was nothing like any church I’ve seen. Gaudí’s passion towards nature inspired him to use elements that made the church seem to grow out of a forest.
The colorful light streaming through the stained glass windows was begging for some portraits to be taken, including a selfie:
As you can see, the line to get into Sagrada Família gets really long. When we went, the line looped around most of the compound, and I can’t imagine how much time these poor tourists waited! We bought our tickets ahead of time online, and were able to skip right to the front and enter right away. I highly recommend doing that to give you more time to explore, less time standing around waiting!
Also, it’s amazing that the construction of the Sagrada Família began in 1882, and will not be completed until 2026. When it’s done 13 years from now, it will look starkly different from how I remember it from this trip!
Here’s a video showing the final stages of building Sagrada Família:
We then walked around town to find some lunch before taking the metro to visit Park Güell. On our walk we saw a building that had the “Gaudí look” – ornamental and organic – and realized we were standing in front of Casa Milà! We didn’t go inside… we’ll have to revisit next time and see the atrium and the roof.
Park Güell is a bit of a walk up the hill from the metro station, but the trek is well worth it. It’s a large site with a great variety of interesting structures, intricate mosaics, good places to sit around to enjoy the scenery, and in our case, a nice shady area for a power nap. The park was built up the hill, which provides a spectacular view of the city of Barcelona and the Balearic Sea beyond it.
It’s easier to just see the beauty and uniqueness of Park Güell in photos…
The weather was absolutely gorgeous the day we went. Bonnie brought the California sunshine and the park was so crowded! Took a little finesse and time to snap a photo of the mosaic dragon fountain head without someone right there.
We visited Casa Batlló on our second day. I love this building because it made me think of pirate ships and mermaids, haha. The skull-shaped windows and bluish tints in the stained glass windows and mosaics must have influenced me to think of this. The building was beautiful at night, standing out of the row of buildings with its warm glow. It was closed from visitors by the time we got there, but it was fun just to study the exterior!
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 |  Sagrada Familia, Carrer de Mallorca, Barcelona, Spain |
| Casa Milà, Barcelona, Spain |
| Park Güell, Barcelona, Spain |
| Casa Batlló, Passeig de Gràcia, Barcelona, Spain |
