creative jewish mom

A Visit To Girona, Spain, Part 1

Last fall, when I was fortunate enough to visit Barcelona, which I posted about here, here, here, here, here, here and here, we also took a day trip to the wonderful city of Girona, which like Barcelona is located in the Catalonian region of Spain.

After posting so many photos of Barcelona, the photos of Girona would have been lost, so I decided to save them for a moment in the future, and at long last I am sharing them with you! I don't have time at the moment to really elaborate with the captions, so just enjoy!

The Joan Miro Foundation Museum, Barcelona

 The Joan Miro Foundation museum in Barcelona is a wonderful place to visit, located on Mont Juic, which actually means Jewish mountain due to the fact that the mountain was once home to a Jewish cemetary, long before it became the site for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games.

There's a fabulous view of the city from the museum........that's the Richard Foster communications tower on the horizon.......

..... and a lovely roof terrace.........

 ......where you can enjoy the architecture of the building........

 ........and some fun sculptures by Joan Miro...........

  

.......which are very approachable and quite kid friendly. In fact the museum itself is great for kids since it's relatively small, and the large scale of many of Miro's works are certainly great for young art appreciators.

There's a nice garden next door.....

..... and when you've had your fill of art, you can head on over to the Olympic stadium and take a look at the olympic torch!

And of course no day in Barcelona is complete without learning just a little bit more about architecture, in this case, Santiago Calatrava's communications tower that was built for the Olympic games and is said to symbolize an athlete bending over to receive a medal. Great art, great architecture, that's Barcelona!

The Mies Van Der Rohe Pavilion, Barcelona

And now, dear readers I proudly present the very very famous and esteemed Mies Van Der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona, which turns out to be in Mont Juic park, right next to the magic fountains that I posted about yesterday! Only I didn't realize that until visiting the pavilion by day, as the area is pitch black at night.

For those of you who are architecture buffs, so just the mention of this pavilion will of course get you very excited, so just imagine how excited I was when just the night before our trip to Barcelona I discovered that the Mies Van Der Rohe Pavilion is in Barcelona. Silly me, sort of forgot about that detail, but duh, his famous chair which he designed for the pavilion is called the Barcelona chair!

Architecture students make a pilgrimage (of sorts) to Barcelona just to experience this premier example of modern architecture! The Barcelona Pavilion was Germany's contribution to the 1929 World's Fair in Barcelona. This building was used for the official opening of the German section of the exhibition, and is an important building in the history of modern architecture, known for its simple form and its spectacular use of extravagant materials, such as marble, red onyx and travertine.

Of course I was silently squeeling inside, silently that is on account of the fact that no one else in our little party of four could understand the architecture or how I was feeling. So now I share that little secret with you all! I'm quite certain many of you understand exactly.

 The stunning red onyx wall and the iconic Barcelona chair and ottoman.

Of course those chairs at just for decoration, no resting your weary feet here!

Chrome, green glass, open space, ahhhh.

 More views from within the pavilion.......

......travertine on the walls and floor was truly daring when this was built. And that's it for the Mies Van Der Rohe Pavilion, a special little place amidst all the excitement that is Barcelona! 

The Magic Fountains At Mont Juic Park, Barcelona

The magic fountains light, water and music show in Mont Juic Park, Barcelona is spectacular and not to be missed! I will say, that I'm not a big fan of light and music shows, but this one is special so plan your trip to  Barcelona such that it includes a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night so you can check it out!

A huge crowd gathered to watch the show which is free of charge, and exhilarating.

It goes on for a few hours at least! Say from 9pm or so until 11 pm, but do ask someone who really knows. Even when we thought the show was over, it resumed so stick around a bit even if there's a break in the show.

We felt truly blessed that after a long day of sightseeing we made the special effort to go out after dark to see this!

I think I love the blue waters most of all.

Though I enjoyed every minute!

And behind the magic fountains there are escalators and steps which lead up to the Museo de Catalunya and lots of gorgeous cascading water.....a truly amazing fountain experience all around.

Of course you've got to climb some stairs to get to the top, but it's surely worth it.

And after the music and fountains are shut down, if you still have a little energy, stop by the old bull fighting arena shopping center at Placa Espanya and take the elevator up to the roof for 1 euro. We didn't do it as not everyone felt up to it, but it looks interesting and infact may be a good thing to do by day when you can experience the view. And by the way, a reader told me that bull fighting is no longer permitted in Catalunya, so they had to find another use for this gorgeous building!

The gorgeous arena facade was kept intact, and as you can see, it's right near the Espanya metro station.

Amazing tile and brick work that is truly Barcelona, and a wonderful evening was had by all.

Antoni Gaudi's Park Guell, Barcelona

Park Guell is one of Antoni Gaudi's masterpieces, built between 1900 to 1912, originally as part of a housing development for wealthy city folk seaking a respite from the factory air. The development idea however was not successful, and the land was eventually turned in to a city park, fortunately for us!

Get off the metro at station Lesseps, walk down the hill and make a left on a street that looks like this. It's a steep hill reminiscent of San Francisco, but guess what folks, there are two escalators to help the weary tourists up the hill! So look for the street called "Avinguda del Santuari de Sant Josep de la Muntanya" and I know you'll thank me for this little tip that I came across purely by accident! 

I think the whole experience is more magical if you start at the top of the park and walk down, little by little discovering all the surprises. So take my advice about the metro station and you'll find yourself at the top of the park!

A first glimpse of the gatehouses at the main entrance to the park.

What is this? A stalagmite inspired promenade!

Quite interesting I must say, and I'm so very impressed by the range of Gaudi's explorations!

A metal gate leads way to .........

..... a large area surrounded by a curving mosaic bench, for which Gaudi is very famous. And that is Gaudi's house in the background, now a museum.

 The colorful mosaic benches that look like something we'd do today!

 A house high up on the hill.......

Descending another level to the area underneath the mosaic benches, we find large columns and a mosaic ceiling!

 So much attention to detail, and so very unique.

I wonder how Gaudi supervised the making of this mosaic?

 And down some more stairs, a checkboard wall that's just gorgeous!

And the view looking up from the main entrance, as you can see the park was packed with tourists! There's a mosaic iguana of sorts, behind those green bushes, that everyone wants to photograph, but honestly it's not by any means one of the highlights of the park, in my humble opinion.

 A fantastical gate at the entrance.

 Playful mosaic details on one of the two gatehouses.

The gatehouse roof, which was apparently inspired by Hansel and Gretel.

So very charming, and long before Disney!

And such fun details....Gaudi was really very very brave to do something so radically different in it's time.

Truly inspiring.

And certainly worth a special visit. In fact I'm thinking I just might have to go back again, and experience this amazing place yet again!  So goodbye for now, Park Guell, you're only a 4 1/2 hour plane ride away, so I think it's safe to dream a little...........?

Antoni Gaudi's Casa Mila, Part 2....Period Apartment Tour

I really truly fell in love with the interiors of Antoni Gaudi's Casa Mila in Barcelona, completed in 1912. And I was having an interesting deja vu of sorts that was a cross between memories of my paternal grandmother (who had fabulous taste and loved antiques) and my pre-war apartment on the Upper West side in Manhattan, pre-life in Israel! Oh and that artwork wasn't a period poster when this apartment was designed, that's how women dressed then! Love that double chair designed by Gaudi, and the custom carved door trim.

The back hall, has wonderful light, and was one of my favorite areas of the apartment that's open for a look around, when you pay the entrance fee to the building.

And from that back hall one can experience the roof garden, at least on the higher floors.

 Love the patchwork marble floors and all that custom design.

The dining room, which by today's standard is a bit small for such an elegant apartment, guess they didn't entertain much!

Looking into the dining room from the sitting room.......

.......and the view looking over the elegant avenue of  Passeig De Gracia from the sitting room.

When we entered the kitchen, which is relatively plain compared to the rest of the apartment, we suddenly realized how very old this apartment actually is!

 Look at those tiny taps, and they didn't have paper plates then!

 A view into the child's room.......

 ......the maid's room nearby........

....and the sewing room, where there was quite a lot of work to be done maintaining the home's linens and the mistress of the house's elaborate clothing! That's it for my little tour of Casa Mila, do visit yourself if you have the chance!

You can see the roof garden and other areas of Casa Mila in my previous post here. Lots more Barcelona photos to come, over the next several weeks, so stay tuned!

Antoni Gaudi's Casa Mila, Part 1....The Entrance and Amazing Roof Garden

On my trip to Barcelona, on the very last day, just hours before we needed to be at airport, my daughter and I hopped on the metro and went to spend our last moments in Barcelona at Casa Mila, designed as a luxury apartment building that's one of architect Antoni Gaudi's masterpieces, finished in 1912. I'll admit, from the outside the building looks interesting, but a little drab, so we almost didn't take the time to visit......fortunately we had second thoughts and boy am I glad......it's an amazing work of art, definately worth the visit, and one of the highlights of our trip!

I don't know what this mezzanine space was originally, but now it's a very unique cafe....called La Pedrera Cafe.  No, I didn't eat there, just popped my head in to check it out, on a previous day when we were walking by. Casa Mila actually has two names, the second one being La Pedrera.

The stunning entry doors......a design sensibility that looks like something you might see newly constructed today.

 An entrance to an apartment in the courtyard.....check out that banister!

 The interior courtyard which allows all the apartments to have light and air from two sides.

The stunning and very sculptural roof garden, not to be missed! Originally there were no fences, which is a scary thought, guess the residents didn't take their kids up there!

 The sculptures on the roof aren't randomly placed, they actually mark the stair wells, and smoke stacks.

 If we had payed the admission fee to only visit the roof, it would have been worth it.....

....... a truly special experience......

.........and a great view of Barcelona! That's the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya on Mont Juic hill in the distance, and do you see Santiago Calatrava's communications tower? That is a part of the Olympic Village from the 1992 summer olympics.

Looking in the opposite direction one sees the green hills of Barcelona.......home to Park Guell, another amazing Gaudi masterpiece that I'll be sharing with you too!

And looking towards the ocean and the new part of town, there's architect Jean Nouvel's Agbar Tower, completed in 2005, and marking the gateway to the technological district of the city.

That's it for now, stay tuned for part two, coming soon!

A Walk Down Passeig De Gracia, Barcelona!

Are you ready to get just a little bit acquainted with Barcelona? Well, then you're in the right place, as over the next few weeks I'm going to share with you quite a few posts about my recent stay in the city of Barcelona. I sure wish there had been a web site that had told me what I'm going to tell you! I spent hours doing research on line, which was certainly a big help, but once we arrived I felt totally clueless and even literally lost! Not to complain, figuring things out for ones self is also part of the adventure!

On our first day in Barcelona, we boarded the metro and headed into the center of town to the Placa De Catalunya, where there is a tourist information office and this beautiful fountain. I thought we'd  take a leasurely stroll down the famous street Las Ramblas, and with a map in hand and some directions from the tourist information office, we set out to see the city. Only quite a bit later, and after lots of confusion on my part, did I realize that we weren't on Las Ramblas at all but rather on Passeig De Gracia! 

Of course this really turned out to be for the best as we ended up having a great introduction to the city and some of it's architectural treasures.

 A typical street corner on Passeig De Gracia

Love this mosaic, from the same building, that looks so contemporary but is actually something like 100 years old!

 The Hotel Majestic, very appropriately named for a very majestic street!

There are amazing lamp posts with curvy mosaic benches, reminiscent of Gaudi, though designed by Pere Falques i Urpi in 1906, just as Gaudi was finishing his Casa Batillo and starting the construction of Casa Mila, both on Passeig de Gracia.

I had read about Casa Amattler, so I was surprised to come upon it........

but much more surprised to come upon Gaudi's Casa Batilo, since I thought we were on a different street altogether, silly me. Okay, I'll admit, I was a bit tired having not slept enough the night before.....you know I was trying to do research on Barcelona! 

Love the juxtapositions of Casa Amattler and Casa Batilo. We didn't go inside Casa Batilo as there were crowds, it's a little expensive, and it just wasn't calling me. A bit of an oversight on my part, and now I'm trying to figure out when I can do a layover in Barcelona just to go into the city to visit Casa Batilo and go inside!

Many of the buildings have luxurious penthouses, as you can see. 

And here's Casa Mila, another of Gaudi's masterpieces, which we fortunately went back to visit on our last morning in Barcelona. I can't believe that me, of all people, was about to miss going inside a Gaudi masterpiece. I think I got a bit thrown off track as I wasn't so attracted to his buildings from the outside. Fortunately we did go inside this one and it was one of the highlights of the trip. (A post on that to come!)

One of the modern buildings across the street from Casa Mila echoes Gaudi's work. 

High end shopping often means amazingly creative window displays, such as this one for a handbag company.

A typically grand facade on Passeig De Gracia, a lovely street very worthy of an afternoon stroll anytime!

That's all for now, stay tuned for many more posts.....just gotta find the time to go through all those photos and pick the very best to share with you!