On day two of our trip we decided to visit (as planned) La Catedral del Mar, La Pedrera and of course eat Paella.
It was raining cats and dogs outside, so we got a taxi (We didn’t have an umbrella), but it was useless, the taxi driver left us in the Gothic neighbourhood so we had to walk for 5 minutes in the rain, lovely, actually, it was funny, we got inside the Cathedral all wet and shivering like chickens.
THE BEAUTY OF THE CATHEDRAL WAS WORTH IT!
One of the oldest cathedrals in Barcelona, It was built between 1329 and 1383.
Seen from the outside, the building has a solid and robust appearance, which does not convey what we will find inside. The predominance of horizontal lines and wall sections without large openings or decorations is absolute. Horizontality is continually emphasized, marking it with mouldings, cornices and flat surfaces, as if to avoid an excessive sensation of height (despite being, in reality, a fairly tall building). Overall, the building forms a compact block, without wall sections at different depths (only those corresponding to the naves) typical of European Gothic. This allows the lighting to always be very flat, away from the play of light and shadows that can occur in other churches.
Internally it is a building with three naves, with an ambulatory and without a transept. The naves are made up of four sections and the presbytery consists of half a section and a seven-sided polygon, all covered with a ribbed vault and crowned with magnificent vault keys. The central nave is illuminated by open oculi between the galleries of the central nave and the sides.
Its three façades, the main one located in Plaza de Santa María, another on Calle de Santa María and that on Paseo del Born, show the essence of Catalan Gothic: octagonal towers, an abundance of bare surfaces and solid buttresses.
It is worth highlighting the austerity achieved, once again, by the smooth walls; by the clean octagonal columns, since the ribs end at the level of the capitals instead of reaching the ground; due to the fact that the arches of the side naves and those of the central nave start from the same elevation (the line of imposts, in the capitals) which give a greater impression of equality of the naves, etc.
It is the most emblematic and refined example of Catalan Gothic.
While admiring the insides, there was a misa in different languages, apparently.
We visited the closest caganer shop in front of the Cathedral, Isaac disguised, I found it funny, I mean it’s part of their culture.
An enlightenment in the next picture of what a Caganer is:
Anyway, after this, we got umbrellas and went to the closest restaurant to have lunch. Which was very delicious! We visited the Gothic neighbourhood around before getting to Casa Milà.
The visit to La Pedrera was audio-guided, so it was really nice to have an explanation with QR codes for every part of the house, which was actually quite quick.
La Pedrera is one of the famous Gaudi’s houses, probably the most famous of his. It was made on behalf of Pere Milà and Roser Segimon. The name of the building, “Casa Milà”, is due to the fact, it was the new residence of the Milà family. The couple occupied the main floor and rented the rest of the homes.
Known as “La Pedrera” for its exterior appearance, similar to an open-air quarry, it presents shapes extracted from nature.
It was Gaudí’s last civil work and marked a break with the patterns of his time. La Pedrera represented for Gaudí the most evolved reflection on a building on a corner of the Eixample of Barcelona. It consists of two housing blocks, with independent entrances, organized around two large interconnected patios with ramps to access the garage with vehicles.
I think my favourite part was the forge, the complex and expressive iron bars of the 32 balconies of La Pedrera were made with scrap scrap, combining plates, bars, and chains, in an unusual but truly effective accumulation, as a complement to the architecture and as an ornamental contribution. Plus all the architectonic work of Gaudis was based on nature’s inspiration, every column, every decoration, that’s the reason why it’s not completely straight as a building, I consider that’s an amazing job in terms of physics.
Day two ended well, don’t you think? As I mentioned we were close to literally everything, so we had a lovely dinner close to the hotel, and then rested for the next day, ready to visit La Rambla, Casa Batlló, the Barcelona Cathedral and more!
Btw, you can now purchase my itinerary of 7 days in Barcelona clicking on this link 🔗
See you in the next post!
Dancing Giglio 
I’m so Happy for your and ready this article Is how I was there with you.
Memorabile phrase
“I Stuck my husband’s hotspot” ahaha
“Carnal way…don’t think badly” 👀😂
“As God as commanded” eat paella and drink sangria It must be the eleventh comandamento😉😜
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We need to specify every emotion my dearest friend!
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Sure, and the emotions that you describe are so true, and funny sometimes
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