Day 20 – Barca Architecture & City Views + A Night Out

Barcelona claims to have the greatest collection of Art Nouveau design, aka modernism from 1890-1910, in all of Europe and the location of most of those buildings is in Eixample, the third and final part of town on my TO DO list.  By far the masterpiece of Barcelona’s Art Nouveau movement is Antoni Gaudi’s Temple of the Sagrada Familia. To say that this church is massive is an understatement.  It’s a skyscraper in the middle of modest surroundings.  And it’s not even finished yet.  It was started in 1884 and work continues today (construction is financed by subscription).

My first stop on Wednesday was the Encants Vells flea market. I didn't find anything worth buying, but...

...I think I found where all the stolen laptops, phones, ipods, and cameras are resold.

The Temple of the Sangrada Familia.

 

The west facing facade looks like four melting candles.

 

The church from a distance...you can see how much larger it is compared to the surrounding buildings.

The east facade is the main entrance to the church.

 

Eight of the 12 spires, one for each apostle, have been built. At the time of architect Antoni Gaudi's death in 1926 (he is buried in the crypt inside the church) only one tower was complete.

 

This facade, known as the Passion Facade, was completed from 1986 to 2000. Having seen so many castles, buildings and art from centuries ago, it's cool to think that such a historic building is still being worked on in my lifetime.

 

After oohing and aaahhing at the Sagrada Familia church for a little while, I headed to  see another one of Gaudi's masterpieces, Parque Guell.  Gaudi designed and built the 50-acre park from 1900-1914. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 

On my way to Park Guell I stopped off for a trim...7 euros.

The entrance to Park Guell features these gingerbread looking houses. Gaudi lived in these houses from 1906-1926.

Gaudi's designs included the "Room of A Hundred Columns," which is a cavernous hall of 84 crooked pillars.

More Art Nouveau design in Park Guell.

The views from the top of Park Guell were spectacular. The green strip on the left is the tree-lined Las Ramblas, Barcelona's most popular street and where I stayed while in Barca.

It was around 6pm so I caught a decent sunset.

Top of the world. This is a view from the highest point of Park Guell.

 

 

I eventually made my way back down the hill and back to the hotel.  It was my last night in Barcelona (and in Spain) so I had dinner reservations at a fun place called Cera 23 (#5 restaurant in Barcelona according to Trip Advisor) and I got myself on a list for a club called Sutton in the nicer part of town. 

Cera 23 was only four or five blocks from Las Ramblas, but far from touristy. If a tourist trap restaurant is overpriced, average food, impersonal, and quick to get you in and out, than Cera 23 was the complete opposite. It had great food, was extremely hospitable, great atmosphere, low prices considering the food, and the staff couldn't be nicer.

I had reservations at 10pm and got there early and hung in the bar area.

The black mojito was delicious; it tasted like refreshing grape juice. The fact there was alcohol in it scared me because I could polish off a baker's dozen and never taste the booze.

The sangria was equally tasty and had a ton of fruit in it - apples, pears, bananas, lemons, blueberries, blackberries and even coconut chunks. BTW, this ginormous glass was only $4.50.

The dining room was quaint and intimate. The kitchen is right off the dining room to the right.

 

It was an open kitchen so I was able to see the chefs at work.

The menu was one of those that had a dozen things that sounded delicious, but I had to narrow it down. I started with the roasted red pepper salad with ventresca tuna (ventresca is the high-priced belly of the tuna) and onion rings.

For my main dish I went with good old meat and potatoes. It was a Galician steak (a traditional cut of meat from Galicia in the northwest part of Spain) with seasoned roasted potatoes and a tetilla cheese sauce (tetilla cheese is also from Galicia).

I finished with a Torta de Santiago, which is an almond tart.

In between putting together some great food, the chefs were nice enough to pose for a photo.

Owners Ruben (L) and Guillermo (R) opened Cera 23 a year ago and said it was a slow start, but word began to get out and positive online reviews started popping up and it's been nonstop for the past five or six months - they had to hire more people because they weren't ready for the onslaught.   Apparently I got the memo on the black collared shirt...I told them I could come work for them. On Thursday I ran into Ruben at the La Boqueria market buying fresh produce and spices for the menu that night.  

 

 

 

After dinner it was time to get my groove on so I headed to Sutton.  I wasn't expecting much since it was a Wednesday night, but I've been told that in Barcelona there's always something going on. 

For a Wednesday Sutton had a decent crowd. Apparently nowhere near what they get on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday, but still fun.

Party goers...

The DJ played a nice mix of pop and dance music.

 

The crowd went in waves...it would be crowded and fun for 30-minutes and then it would clear out a bit and then ramp back up. Good times all around.

 

I haven't done a song in a few posts, but Queen's "Under Pressure" has popped up on a few occasions including at the club in a great mash up mix. I also watched a really funny and underrated movie called "It's Kind of A Funny Story" with Zach Galifianakis and this song is a highlight. 

Thursday is my last day in Spain and then I fly to Milan.  My flight is in the evening so I have the full day to check off any last sites or eateries.