If this is what bankruptcy looks like sign me up! On the weekend when a 100 billion euro bailout of the faltering Spanish banking system is front page news in the rest of the world, here in Barcelona the only Euro that matters is the one where Casillas not Merkel is the last line of defense.
Some great cities are defined by their imposing skyline, others by their stunning natural beauty. Barcelona is defined by one man. Antoni Gaudi, an artistic genius who towers - quite literally - above the pantheon of Spanish greats. Picasso has his tortured cubes, Goya his Gothic undertones, but only Gaudi shaped the soul of a city with his intense vision of a writhing, organic world of fantastical spires and reptilian caves.
The legendary Sagrada Familia has become a symbol not just of an artist but an entire city. Under construction since 1882, and still with a good 30 years to go before completion, the church also says a little bit about Spanish propensity to get things done... Still, the author who's penning a blog two weeks after the fact can hardly comment.
Europeans, and Spanish in particular, do an incredible job of blending cutting-edge contemporary architecture with the rich history they have to work with. In the case of the Sagrada Familia, the fusion is real; as the church was slowly built up over the centuries a myriad of different visions have combined into a single work of art unlike any other. Speaking of vision, it's hard to see anything if you insist on sunnies indoors.
Does anyone else get the feeling something is about to hatch?
Even the pipe organ has a reptilian quality to it, like the scales of a giant beast clinging to the wall.
Google Translate is struggling to keep up. The smart money is on "look at all these stupid tourists posing in front of me".
The old way and the new way. You'd think with those mean looking CAD stations they'd be able to cut down that 30 year ETA. Then again, even computers seem to need siestas in these parts.
The design technology may be cutting-edge, but when it comes to getting up and down towers, the old way is the still the only way: the good old spiral staircase.
Eventually the church will have something like 18 towers, but even in its present condition the view from the top is impressive. If you look hard enough you can see those industrious Germans out there on the horizon working hard so you can knock it off early and hit the tapas bars.
No surprise here, the crane seems to be quite stationary. Must be time for siesta numero dos. Chillax folks, we've still got another 29 years up our sleeve.
Gaudi drew his inspiration from the geometry of nature. Mei draws her inspiration from the Kate Spade catalog.
Watching everyone else doing nothing is hard work; time to refuel with some tapas.
Ice cold white sangria and steaming Andalucian octopus. One bite and suddenly bankruptcy never looked, or tasted, better. The Germans can keep their Bundesbank, BMWs, and Bailouts; we have the Beaches, Babes, and a Better football team.
Gaudi was a busy fellow; so busy that regrettably he never saw the tram coming that abruptly ended his prolific career.
Even the benches are styled in Gaudi's organic curves. Although after a hot day trekking between Gaudi-this and Gaudi-that one doesn't really care what they look like.
One of Gaudi's most stunning works is his Casa Batllo, an apartment building like no other. In fact, building is a total misnomer, it's more like a hive of almost alien-esque chambers wrapped around a gaping central void.
There's something a little freaky about this place, a kind of ominous foreboding that lurks at the edge of the subconscious. Eh hem, now you can see why Rock's Art History career never really took off.
Siesta and Spain go together as naturally as Champion and La Roja.
To Gaudi, a wall is never just a wall, and a straight line is a wasted opportunity. Colors and curves are the tools to transform the mundane into the extraordinary. Too bad it's not working on this blog.
Nothing sets the mood for dinner like an alien hatchery in the dining room ceiling.
Where's Obi-Wan Kenobi when you need him?
So Photoshop has a Gaudi filter now?
Even less straight lines than Provincetown... which is saying something.
Ok, that's just weird. Someone has to live in this joint you realize?
Even the chimneys become sculptural opportunities under Gaudi's boundless imagination.
Cool roof, but the moral of the story is: watch out for trams.
In the belly of the beast. Gaudi was fascinated by the rib cages of giant mammals; Rock is too, when they come in the form of BBQ ribs.
Coke in a glass bottle! Gaudi had plenty of masterpieces, but none that rival the sensuous curves of the Dynamic Ribbon Device (TM) on a smoking hot day.
El Born: a twisting maze of narrow streets and passages, dotted with tapas bars and pulsating with the kind of energy that only exists in a city where no one has to, like, work. Get up at noon, hit the tapas bar till midnight. Repeat as desired. And then wait for the Northerners to bail you out so you can repeat again.
On the plus side, 50% youth unemployment leads to some nifty street art.
It's hard to go in the wrong direction, since there's a tapas bar at every single street corner.
Senorita!
No one can eat just one.
They don't seem too concerned about 50% youth unemployment. After all, if your government hands you out a thousand Euros a month, benches like this start looking mighty comfortable.
The Arc de Triomf. Not quite as big as Paris', but this model comes in a snazzy Catalan red.
The Bohemian neighborhood of Garcia is Barcelona's answer to the East Village. Funky tapas bars nestled between graffitied doorways, with cadres of artists and musicians fueling up for a night on the town.
It's not just the artists who are fueling up...
Hang on, wasn't this dude Dutch?
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