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| Mosaics on the patio of Gaudi's Casa Batllo |
Barcelona
airport, El Prat, was easy to navigate, and finding the the train into Passig
de Gracia train/metro station in the middle of Barcelona was quick; not a lot of drama finding the hotel. The nasty surprise when
I got there was the ... and I'm being generous...spartan room at Somnio Hostel (251 Diputacio, 2nd floor).
The
location was excellent, near public transportation, shopping and restaurants in
a good part of Barcelona close to everything. The staff couldn't have been
nicer or more helpful. However, I discovered very quickly that there are dozens
of hotels in this area that cost just a little more money and offer a lot more.
At $108,
this stay was WAY overpriced. This is basically a hostel, and I've stayed in
other hostels that offered much more for less money.The room, about 12-foot
square, consisted of a double bed and four white, featureless walls. A couple of hangers on the door
sufficed as a closet. The shower was so small an average-sized man couldn't
turn around—and I paid for a room with a bathtub. A lot was lost in
translation, and Booking.com got flamed for this one.
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| Casa Batllo at night |
Since I
arrived at 9AM, I immediately walked around and took in a few Antonio Gaudi
properties—one of my main interests in Barcelona, along with my love for the
book “The
Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which is set in the old city just south of my hostel.
The wait to enter La Pedrera (known locally as “the quarry” for it’s blocky
gray presence), an apartment house famed for it’s rooftop sculpture garden, was
more than an hour, so I took a tour of Casa
Batllo (BAT yo), once a private home for a weatlthy Barcelona family. The house burst with
Gaudi's ornate natural themes of ocean life, dragons, curves. What an
inspiration!
Gaudi was not formally trained as an architect, and built
everything using plumb lines and models; his works will live forever because of
their incredible whimsy mixed with practicality. Everything, down to the shape
of the door handles, was carefully thought out and handcrafted. Genius!
The
multimedia presentation on the top floor was mind-blowing. There were no credits given, but what a beautiful tribute to an amazing design--the video is projected on top of a five-foot-tall model of the house. See it at Vimeo.
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| Roof of Casa Batllo |
Gaudi's deep
Catholic faith was evident in the crosses he placed here and there on the
property, and the small family chapel off the main sitting room.
That
evening, I walked the length of beautifully lit Passig de Gracia, admiring the
graceful buildings and ironwork. Barcelona is one beautiful city; even the
sidewalks are beautiful.
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| Sitting room ceiling and light fixture |
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| The servants quarters on the top floor were light and airy |
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| The sidewalks of Barcelona; great to look at, hell on suitcase wheels |
