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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Barcelona, Spain - Street Scenes

I found Barcelona to be a colorful and artsy city.  My first view was on the bus as we traveled through the city on our tour.  I took photographs of the things that were new and unusual to me, and had to research to find out what exactly I was seeing.

This harbor scene shows a row of mopeds or scooters lined against the far wall.  My guess is that these are for rent.  The ads of one of the rental companies says "rent a scooter and see the city with the eyes of a local".  I'm not sure about that as a way for me to get around.  How would I be able to drive and take photos at the same time?


I zoomed in a little closer and I see that these may be bicycles.  So I'm supposed to drive, peddle, AND take photos at the same time?


The public art is colorful and eye-catching.  The face sculpture is "El Cap de Barcelona" (1991-1992) sculpture created by American Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein for the 1992 Summer Olympics.  Its English title is "The Head".  The sculpture was Lichtenstein's first outdoor work using ceramic tile.  It is said to acknowledge Antoni Gaudi.  (wikipedia)  STOP THE BUS!!! I want a better photo!!

Starbucks was available in case we needed a latte.  The website shows about 20 Starbucks in Barcelona.

Street scene with the crosswalk marked in different types of block.  Buildings look contemporary, except for that spire sticking up in the background.

Taxi cabs.  Clever idea to have the car doors and trunk in yellow. Perhaps taxi by day, then take the yellow car doors off, put the black ones on, and private car at night.  Nice lamp post, too.  Blue arrow assures us that we are going in the right direction.

Busy intersection.

I thought that these street lamps were beyond anything that I have every seen. This is in "Passeo de Gracia, L'Eixample District. From wikipedia:
In 1906 the architect Pere Falqués i Urpí designed the avenue's now famous ornate benches and street-lights. By that time it had become Barcelona's most fashionable street, with buildings designed by modernista/Art Nouveau architects of fame such as Antoni Gaudí, Pere Falqués, Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Enric Sagnier and Josep Vilaseca.

What a surprise it was to come across this apartment building.  It is by Antoni Gaudi and is named "Casa Mila".  It was constructed between 1906 and 1910 and was Gaudi's last work before devoting himself to the construction of the Sagrada Familia.  (Source and more info)

The building does not use a single straight line.

The undulating balconies look like a series of waves.  The iron-wrought balconies were desinged by Josep Maria Jujol, who improvised on the spot.  My comment: I guess that he would have to improvise! Who would be able to follow plans?

The Roof Terrace has a bench similar to the one in Parc Guell and a number of surrealistic colorful chimneys.

I was very excited to be able to get another photograph of the fancy lightpost.

Wow, this is just the start of our tour.  More exciting things to see as we moved on to our next destination.

1 comment:

Ginan said...

I always find it interesting how the beautiful design of the mundane (street lamps) can elevate everything around it!