more Barcelona

Saw many new things today, and I find I am learning my way around Barcelona.  One very nice feature here for pedestrians is the the corners are beveled off most of the buildings in the post-1800 sections of town.  It makes it much safer to cross the streets.  Another thing I haven't mentioned.  It's hot here!  And humid! The subways are a steam bath.

I started the day out right with my breakfast buffet, pictured below.

I then took the subway and made it in time for 10:30 AM mass at Sagrada Familia crypt, shown below.  

The lines for tourists were very long, so it was nice to buck the lines and head downstairs.  Nice old priest who liked to conduct the singers.  The organist, God bless her, was doing her best, but I think I could have stepped in for a couple numbers.  The curious prelude, repeated after benediction, was a halting version of the Largo from Handel's Xerxes.  What the Persian emperor has to do with Sunday Mass remains to be seen.  The entrance itself was an organ version of the Negro Spiritual "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen."  The communion song was one of my favorites, Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus, which however mangled, is lovely.

I walked around the crypt afterwards.  Here is the tomb of Gaudi.

I then took a half hour walk to the Museu Picasso, in the very old La Ribera district.  Jim Stewart's museum discount card was not hitting home much today, unlike yesterday, and I had to pay full fare at many places.  And one could not take photos inside.  So here is the outside, followed by a scene from the basement.

The museum focuses on much of Picasso's early work.  The man could paint, and he changed styles quite a few times.  It was very nice.  But it was way too crowded.  I had to wait about half an hour to buy a ticket, and then stumble over many people inside.  I guess Barcelona tourists favor art over history, taking into account yesterday's short queues.

I had a very nice lunch shortly after at a Tapas place.  Here is the tasty ensalada.

Some sort of lasagna followed, and the meal was completed by a nicely sliced apple.  

I then walked to the nearby Esglesia de Santa Maria del Mar.  This was a Gothic stunner.  It was the old tymie sailors' church, and it puts on no frills.  What frills were there were burned out in the 1936-39 civil war.    Started in 1329, finished in 1383, it doesn't have flying buttresses.  It is also very wide, and its columns are beautiful.  Some are seen below.

Here is a modern stained glass window and crucifix.

I then took a short walk to the Palau de la Musica Catalana.  This confection is said to be the pinnacle of the so-called "Modernista" style which is spread all over Barcelona.  It's frilly and has lots of brick and ceramic.  Here is the coffee shop, where I had Cafe Americano in 19th century dandy glory.

This is the main concert hall for Barcelona, and many big-wigs have played here over the past hundred or so years.  I took a lot more pictures of this place, but the lighting was bad, so I grabbed a few off the web and posted them below.  Here is some of the outside, followed by a fish-eye of the interior, and the Tiffany-like glass over the concert hall.

I next toured what for me was the highlight of the day, the Palau Guell.  The mansion was built for the industrialist Guell by Gaudi, and he really went over the top.  It is magnificent.  It is full of parabolas.  And iron work.  And brickwork.  And woodwork.  It's all very original.  Here's some parabolas.

Here's some woodwork.

Here's a nice dining room.

Here's me concentrating on getting the ceiling into the shot.

Here's the stunning main hall, which has many parabolas.  And a chapel.  And an organ which was playing.

Here' s nice bit of art above the fireplace.

Here's some grillwork.

Here's Gaudi's version of Vermeer.

Here's the john.

Here's the roof.

I took nourishment in La Ribera afterwards.  Here is the street scene in a placa. 

Here's my medallions of goat.

  To home and to bed.