Barcelona Day 3: Catalonian History and Culture

With Tanner out of the running for the gold, we had a few extra days to sight see.  We tried to get Tanner to join us, but he was pretty content to hang out with the team and his BYU coach who had served his mission in Barcelona, Spain, we decided not to wait for him any longer.  He was having his own experience.

I was so awed by what I learned about Gaudi the day before on our walking tour, I was interested in delving a little deaper into his life and his art.  We chose to return to Casa Batlló and tour the inside and hear the story behind the façade.  Casa Batlló is part of the Manzana de la Discòrdia (Apple of Discord)on Passeig de Gràcia.  Three rivaling architects were commissioned to build houses for prominent families in Barcelona.  All three had a style of their own and did not blend well together on the street.  By far, Gaudi’s Casa Batlló was the most captivating.  I love how Fodor’s tour book of Barcelona describes the scene:  “Of the three, Gudi’s Casa Batlló, with its undulating dragon backed roof, multicolored façade, skull-and-bones balconies, and underwater interior is the most remarkable.”  

It definitely caught my attention and imagination.  Gaudi’s use of Catalonia’s nationalistic symbolism dates back to the middle ages in the time of King George (St, George) and his crest with the impaled Dragon of Evil.  The skulls and bones represent the victims of the dragon.  You definitely get the feel of medieval chivalry and religious zeal that permeated this time period.  Not only did Gaudi’s work inspire imagination but also ingenuity.  He was on the forefront of blending form and function in design and architecture. It was a thrill to walk through his work and see his attention to details not only in appearance, but comfort to its inhabitants. 

Following the Casa Batlló we went to the Casa Mila, another of Gaudi’s commissioned homes.  The façade of the Mila does not awaken the imagination as the Casa Batlló does, but the interior (which we were able to enter due to an art exhibit taking place that weekend, otherwise it is closed to the public) felt like you were walking into one of Claude Monet’s paintings.  It was beautiful!

Casa Mila

Everyday walking to and from our hotel we passed Gaudi's Palau Güell. Now we had to plan a day to see Park Güell; Gaudi’s vision of a planned housing development for the rich of Barcelona set on the hill above the city and my study of Gaudi would be complete. 

Palau Guell Entrance

In the later afternoon we happened upon a Catalan Festival and got to dance the national dance with true Catalonian’s and see many other traditions of Catalonia, including the art of people stacking, called castling.

One of the great Basilica’s in Barcelona is the the Santa Maria Del Mar.  The story behind this basilica was the basis for the historical fiction book I chose to read on this vacation.  I am so glad I learned about this great structure and the care the people took to build it.  The simplicity of the Gothic architecture is the polar opposite of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia.  The heart and the soul of Catalonia can be found here.  This place of worship was built by the common people.  Each stone was quarried on top of Montjuic (where the Olympic stadium now sits)by hand and carried upon the backs of the bastillos (seafarers) on their days off.  The women and children of the town would provide them with water and food as they hauled the large blocks.  It was a right of passage for boys to begin carrying the stones when they were strong enough.  They would start with the smaller stones and work their way up to the big ones as they developed into adulthood.  This building united the common people in a great cause and gave them a sense of pride and devotion to their way of life.  Maybe I felt so much for this building because of its similar history to a building that is so important in my family history, the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We returned to the hotel exhausted.  It was quite a day of sight-seeing, and we had learned so much about the culture and people of Catalonia:  We learned why the shepherd of Catalonia always held a special spot in their nativity scenes, we were able to dance the national folk dance with a group of Catalonia nationalists, and see some of their festival dances - one honoring their countries heroes and one telling the story of the Savior's mission on the earth.

The Shepherd of Catalonia

Catalonians doing their national folk dance -
they let us join in with them!

Dance to honor the brave men (Lion) who fought under the
Catalonian flag and less than stellar leadership (Donkey).

Representation of the Death of Christ

Representation of the Resurrection of Christ

We learned why Eric’s Spanish wasn't quite cutting it in Barcelona and why he didn't understand some of the words he saw and heard. The native language of Barcelona is Catalan, a cousin of Spanish.  This made communicating and adventure in and of itself.  We needed additional wash rags at the hotel and we could not get our need communicated to the hotel staff.  They kept bringing us hand towels.  After a few tries we just laughed and used the hand towels they kept bringing us.  

In preparation for church I decided I needed to wash my hair, but still had a stiff neck.  Eric said he would help me blow dry it.  We were using the proper electric converter for the plug, but we still blew a hotel fuse.  Eric had a fun time trying to explain that to the hotel staff and get them to reset the breaker for our room.   This communication gap not only made working with the hotel staff difficult, but made every food order an adventure and using public transportation very interesting as the signage throughout Barcelona was in Catalan also.