November 23, 2017

I started my day with an irresistible breakfast at Café Escribà, where I tried a Catalonian pastry with pumpkin, and I sat right under a picture of Ronaldhino, who apparently ate at some point right there at the same café. 

Full and happy, I went on a solo trip to Güell Palace. This is a mansion designed by the same Antoni Gaudí for the textile industry tycoon Eusebi Güell and built between 1886 and 1888. This early Gaudí building is less magical than Casa Batlló, but it has exquisite wood work and is, for the best reasons, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaudí."

The home revolves around the main room for entertaining high society guests. Walls and ceilings are ornate with detailed wood and metal work.  I found the home very cold and dark, especially since five children lived there, but I realize that all lit, it was probably very different. As usual with the Gaudí houses, the roof seems to be the most entertaining – chimneys become whimsical characters, covered in colorful broken tiles.

Chimneys on Palau Güell

I had lunch with an old friend from New York who now lives in Barcelona – I LOVE reconnecting with friends. It makes my trip less touristic and more personable. It’s closer to being part of life.

Barcelona's opera house, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, was founded in 1847 by the bourgeoisie of the city and has remained a world-renowned art and cultural center, as well as one of the symbols of the city. The theater burnt many times, last fire being in 1994, but it is elegant, it welcomes the most famous opera singers in the world, and it is U-shaped, so it has perfect acoustics. I wish I could attend a concert, but we were lucky to hear 15 min of the rehearsal of “Tristan e Isolde” while visiting.

 

Mirror room in the Teatre Liceu

To end our trip on an artistic note, we went after 6PM to visit the Picasso Museum, which houses one of the most extensive Picasso collections of artworks (4,251 works), some donated by the artist himself. The museum is housed in a conglomerate of five adjoining medieval palaces in the La Ribera district – and I found them each fascinating, same as the idea of expanding the museum in such a place. The reason is that the museum opened in 1963 and it grew in time, becoming the first museum dedicated to Picasso's work and the only one created during the artist's life!

Adéu, Barcelona!