Park Guell: Park Guell

A fantastic welcome to brighten this dreary morning of an all-day park tour...

"If it's called 'tourist season,' why can't we shoot them?"

This is one of many abandoned buildings that has been taken over by young and old who cannot afford houses in the overpopulated and pricey city.

Gingerbread? Mmmm...no. This. Is. Gaudi.



Tile: The beauty is in the detail

Greetings from Gaudi's creature...

at least we know he has SOME concept of the order in life :-)

"Sweet...more columns," you say?

Indeed--but also QUITE large and covering a pretty big area which was originally intended to be a market, if I'm not mistaken. This whole park was originally designed to be an independent town...Autonomous, if you will.

Sean is LOVING the Gaudi bench, the most infamous area of the Park

Yeah...we are architects...and this is AWESOME...no matter WHO you are.

A view from inside

Turo dels tres creus-Hill of 3 Crosses...Billy is the stand-in...I think Rob took the other cross home...? haha

And there she is, Barca herself.

To your left, Torre Agbar.

Slightly left, Sagrada Familia.

At center, the towers at the beach of Villa Olimpic.

In front-the mar Mediterraneo

Behind-las montanas

Here...Turo dels tres creus...CUArch

Mon and the gatito

Sean and el creu

Another incredible colonnade

Did I mention yet how ridiculous this architecture is?!

So...we were impressed...obviously. And it may take us a while to realize it, but 8 am in the rain actually IS the best way to see Guell, according to Professor Vidal: no tourists.

Un poquito de todo: A little of everything

After a morning at the competition exhibit in Placa de la Catedral, we took a walk down to the Market done by the people at our first firm visit...pretty impressive, but we were all pretty hungry, so we hit up a bar nearby to show Spiro what eating in Spain is all about. He has a surprising amount to say about how much he loved the bread...who knew?!

Maybe he was just really hungry... We couldn't dawdle too long before heading to grab our things to get over to a weekend firm visit in Gracia which ended up being delayed and giving us time for a cafe with Prof. Vidal.

La presentacion esta terminada: The presentation is finished

FINALLY we got to present to a member of the council-town. It was really strange to attempt to present projects that we have only had a few months to work on to a man who has, no doubt, been trying to solve the problem of Placa de les Glories for years! When all is said and done, though, we still have a final presentation to prepare for...but tonight deserves some celebrating at Machito's in Gracia.

Dave flew in from Rome for the jury...whose idea was it for these two to sit next to eachother?!

Felipe, Professor Vidal, Mary, and Eugenia

Beer and Margaritas all around...did I mention this is a Mexican restaurant?

We are ALL relieved when the food arrives and we chow down!

Of course, what would a night out in Barca be without flower sellers interrupting all of the fun...poor Prof Vidal! (Hold your tongue, Sean!!)

After dinner, it was still only 1am...plenty of time to head back to Aldana, change into some fresh clothes and head to Sunset.

Of course, this not-so-pequeno-gatito made for a great pic of the guys, and for some fabulous entertainment for the girls and the locals hanging out on Rambla del Raval.

Vic and Spiro at Sunset...chillin...it was a pretty slow night for a Thursday.

But who needs everyone else when we have the three stooges?! :-D

example...Spiro, Billy, and Ben...about 1.5 seconds before the homeless man that Ben is stepping on jumps up and scares them all senseless!

Who doesn't love carousels at 4am?

Even the little kid in Rob comes out...sharing with Monica--precious

El distrito de 22@: The 22@ District

It never ceases to amaze me how informed Eugenia is about her city...how many of us could explain the detailed history of the growth of our city, of the individual buildings and their architects? How many of us to recount the transitions that each corner of our home city has undergone since its founding? Every sketching class I am in more awe...even when my own drawings or watercoloring isn't quite as awe-inspiring!




Ben looks distraught...or just tired. We were all up last night finishing our projects for the city council (the "council-town") which has been rescheduled for tomorrow.

FOCUS: Light and Shadow

FOCUS: materials

Un dia al parque: A day at the park

Despite our best efforts...(yeah right)...we finally woke up, got dressed and strolled through Parque de la Ciutadella. It's my FAVORITE! We had fun just goofing around, watching all of the good, bad, and the just plain STRANGE uses of the park on a beautiful day like today was. Oh flowers!

Balloons with legs!

Why don't people near us just carry dancing shoes and a dance partner around to stop at parks and entertain?! We were jealous--WE wanted to learn to dance like these couples!

Ahhh, the Gaudi fountain...I believe Jessie began to appreciate Gaudi at this point-haha

The icing on the cake...er...fountain

Jess up at the top

Jess and Meg

"Dude...I think you like guys in bands. Do you like him? He looks like he's in a band. Dude-Are you in a band?"

Little kid, big dog...entertainment for at least 30 minutes of our lives.

The Arc de Triomph

MOOOOOPPEEEEEDDDDDD! After an Easter dinner with the McG fam at the loft, the CUA crew headed toward Aldana/studio/Gran Via for the night.

With only a few distractions along the way...

...at least they were architectural! (Hotel Nouvel--interesting...)

Una noche de fiesta: Party-night!

I couldn't have my family come all the way to Barcelona and not show Jessie the crazy clubs that don't open til 2 and don't close until sunrise or later...

NUBAA is always an appropriate place to start the evening...an English-speaking bar with English and Hispanic bartenders...home of some of our fond Barca memories!

Jess matches my Mojito

Fredo wanted to know how to order a BIG beer...

Bob apparently has that down in Spanish somehow...!

Sissuuuuuuuu!

Alfredo and Meg on the way to Sunset, one of more than 4 night hotspots perched atop the 3-story open-air mall called Maremagnum.

Typical! haha

The Bob Stare

Jess and 'Fredo

Look who decided to join us?! VICTORIA! Woot woot! haha

Meg and 'Fredo

BLUE EYES!!!!!

I LOVE THIS WALK...this picture captures the lighting along the water perfectly.

~another good night in Barcelona