Barcelona slowly (part 3)
Day 5
Masterpieces Gaudi's Casa Milla (aka La Pedrera) and Casa Batllo were planned, as well as a walk through the Quarter of Disagreement and along nearby houses.
It was interesting what Gaudi did with almost ordinary houses for rent, except for unusual facades (which I have already seen more than once).
Tickets were taken on the Internet while already in Barcelona, mindful of the failure to visit Palau Guel.
A digression about buying tickets online.
It seemed to me that tourists are being persistently pushed towards this decision. Several tasks are solved at once:
The cost of staff and accommodation is reduced.
For all known objects, otherwise people gather in crowds from 14 to 17. In the Internet tickets there is a clear time of entry (with a tolerance of usually 15 minutes). Thus, the flow is distributed evenly throughout the day.
The maximum simultaneous number of tourists at the facility is regulated - nowhere was there an excessive (interfering to see) influx of people. Those who bought a ticket in advance have the opportunity to enjoy in a fairly comfortable environment. And lovers of impromptu stand in line (rather not for a ticket, but for the right to enter) sometimes for quite a long time.
Everything is logical, and probably right.
The only time I regretted that I had bought tickets through the Internet at the Aquarium was that the ticket on their smartphone was not enough for them, they needed a printout, they lost time on this.
Casa Milla (La Pedrera)
The main highlight (except for the facade) is the roof. Gaudi generally fought against faceless and sloppy roofs, but here something very special (apparently due to the spaciousness), strict (like the whole building), mysterious, similar to a castle turned out.
The audio guide is not bad, but disingenuous. He tries to quickly take him from the roof to the attic (aka the museum). The museum itself is not bad - here they will tell about Gaudi, and show models of his buildings, and briefly inform about the features of his work.
But. . . I would advise you to spend maximum time on the roof, then go down to the apartment, and then sit quietly in the museum and listen, if you still have time and energy.
The apartment is also very interesting with its hundred-year-old household details.
It was very interesting what it was like to live in a Gaudist apartment (without straight lines). It turned out that there was nothing to worry about. Moreover, we saw something similar in our adobe huts, when there were no renovations yet))).
We managed in 2 hours, but we were running out of time - the time of entry with a ticket to Casa Batllo. An extra half hour would have been better.
Casa Batllo
Functionally, it is the same residential building with apartments for rent and apartments for homeowners as Casa Mila, only smaller. The patio, stairs, roof are also open for tourists, but instead of an ordinary apartment, there are two-level apartments of the homeowners. But if the first house is strict, reminiscent of a castle, then the second is just a flight of fancy, the fairy-tale palace of the Little Mermaid, a precious box!
Here, the audio guide is quite adequate, and with the function of augmented reality in the main rooms (it looks like a smartphone and shows the view of rooms with furniture, besides, it uses special effects!!! ).
It is impossible to describe the beauty and unusualness of the facade!
The main and most beautiful inside Casa Batllo is the apartments of the homeowners.
And, perhaps, the decoration of the walls of the patio.
Two hours was enough for us.
Although the price for visiting these 2 houses of Gaudi is rather high, I advise you not to spare money and time.
The Quarter of Disagreement was watched already in the evening. In general, the most massive accumulation of interesting houses in any style is on Passeig de Grà cia, go and enjoy! They remembered the houses that they admired on the first day... Compared to the Passage de Grazia - worthy, but simple... !
Day 6
Walking through the green area of the Montjuic mountain, ascending it and descending to Barceloneta to the beach.
We started our hike from Plaza de Españ a, along the fountains (they didn't work in the morning), bypassing the Royal Palace from three sides, into the green park area. A gift of fate - we passed the vertical part of the way uphill near the Palace on escalators! Our legs, already buzzing from intense exercise, were happy! But yesterday, in some incomprehensible courage, we walked up to the 8th floor of Casa Milla (what a stupidity! ), Instead of using the elevator!
Magnificent views of the Royal Palace from different sides framed by greenery.
Along the route there are entrances to numerous parks and gardens, about a dozen in number. Beautiful. We do not go - there is no time. The way to the funicular did not seem long. We rise on it to the fortress of Montjuic. The cabins are modern and comfortable. You can also get to the ski lift by metro.
We enter the fortress (5e) - a military facility of the 20th century, that is, not a medieval castle.
We are mainly interested today as an observation deck on top of Montjuic with views of Barcelona, the commercial port, and the sea.
We descend by a different route - to another funicular that takes us to the Barceloneta area. So you need to walk a little, again through several gardens / parks, one of them, with a cascade of fountains (modern), is very pretty.
At the funicular station - a cafe on a panoramic platform, sat, ate ice cream, took another portion of the views from above.
The funicular itself is a hundred years old at lunchtime, and it looks the same, it looks like trams from the time of my childhood)))))
Sama Barceloneta is a kind of enclave of a seaside resort in the center of a million-plus metropolis. A strip of beaches and a street (leading to the metro) with cafes. The beaches are a wide strip of sand (of medium purity, by the way) not only without a single handel, but also without a single sun lounger (especially rows or clusters). It turns out that this is possible too !!! )))))) Looking ahead, on other beaches of Barcelona - the same picture.
It's not hot, sometimes a blind rain splashes, so we only symbolically wet our feet in the sea. By the way, we saw the sea for the first time during our visit to the city, it was not in vain that they used to joke here that Barcelona stands backwards to the sea))).
In time, it took us 4 hours from Pl Españ a to the beach.
In the evening, on the advice of the travelers, we combined a visit to the pearl of modernism of the Courts of Catalunian Music (PALAU DE LA MÚ SICA CATALANA)with a visit to a musical spectacle in it. And what to listen (watch) in Spain - of course flamenco!! ! We were lucky that in our time in Barcelona there was a performance of Arte Flamenco tickets were taken very early in order to sit in the best seats. In principle, the stalls were full, there were empty seats on the 2nd and 3rd floors (at the back).
The building itself. Outside - interesting, but IMHO overloaded with figures.
But inside - incomparably, another precious box!
The highlight is the stained glass ceiling!
It was even scary that all this splendor would distract from what was happening on stage. But no, the play of light (and darkness) extinguished all this, and FLAMENCO began.
We were on it for the first time, we had an idea from the videos. Amazing spectacle! Mass of emotions. Every visit to Spain is ready to go to this! An hour and a half of the deepest emotions and experiences.
