yk's Trip Report: Barcelona Modernisme + Montserrat daytrip - Nov 09

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Nov 19th, 2009, 02:20 PM

#21

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Again, thanks for all your kind comments. I know I get overly verbose with my TRs, but I hope it benefits others in the future; plus I enjoy reliving my trip!

JulieVikmanis -
I'd always though the Mies Van der Rohe pavilion was primarily something to see for the exterior.

You're right about that, as one can see quite a bit from the outside; but it's impossible to see several of the walls inside the building or in the back unless you enter.

Nov 19th, 2009, 03:02 PM

#22

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Day 3 - Liceu, Palau Güell, Boqueria, CaixaForum
Part I

Before the trip, I was ambivalent about taking a guided tour of Gran Teatre del Liceu, but I ended up going. This turns out to be one of the *highlight* of my trip!

http://www.liceubarcelona.cat/cms/in...mid=44&lang=en

Okay, before I talk about the tour... N wasn't interested so she went to visit the Cathedral instead. On my way to Liceu, I made a detour to Plaça Reial to see the lampposts by Gaudi - his first public commission. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4790.jpg

Liceu is the main opera house in Barcelona; burnt down in 1994 and reopened in 1999. The fire destroyed the stage and the main auditorium, but left the entrance foyer and the private club - Cercle del Liceu - intact.

English tour is offered once a day at 10am; lasts 70 minutes and costs €8,70. You canNOT prebook a tour in advance.

On the tour, we learned about the interesting pasts/history of Liceu. The horseshoe-shaped auditorium is beautiful, and feels very intimate (no photos allowed). I was very surprised to learn that Liceu is the largest horseshoe-shaped opera house in Europe, and is the second largest opera house in Europe (after Paris Bastille). It seats 2300.

With the rebuilding, they were able to extend the size of the stage and bring in modern technology. Each seat (except seats in the front rows of each level) has its own LED surtitle screen, with choice of Catalan, Spanish, or English. In many of the boxes, the view of the stage is very limited; so there are small TV screens in each box that shows the action on stage.

We then went to the main entrance foyer and the Room of Mirrors, both of which are original from 1847. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4794.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4795.jpg

The best part of the tour (apart from the auditorium), is a visit to the private club, Cercle del Liceu. It was started by the original owners of the theatre, as a place for the bourgeoisie to meet, talk business, relax etc. To this day, it remains a somewhat private club. Potential members have to be either from a famous family, or be invited to join by 4 existing members. So no chance for me to be a member

. Initial entry fee is a few thousand euro; membership fee is 1000 euro per year.

Since it's still a private club today, even if you have tickets to a performance at the Liceu, you cannot visit the club. Therefore, this guided tour is quite unique.

We visited 4 rooms of the club on the main floor (no photos allowed here). The first 2 rooms are of fairly typical 19th century style, with several paintings by Ramon Casas. The 3rd room is of Modernisme style, and the 4th room is a gem. All the walls are covered by paintings by Ramon Casas (12 total). They were specially commissioned for this space. Each painting depicts a scene related to music. The room is quite dark, with spotlights shining on the canvas, making the paintings glow in the dark.

Overall, I really enjoyed this tour. If you are an opera fan and/or Ramon Casas fan, don't miss this.

N met up with me after the tour and we went to Palau Güell. This turns out to be a HUGE disappointment.
http://www.palauguell.cat/fitxa.php?...&idm=12&idsm=0

When I was in Barcelona last year, Palau Güell wasn't open for visit. It's undergoing restoration which will finish in 2011. Currently it is open partially and is free entry. Well, what is open is really just the basement with not much to see. There is a short video which shows the rest of the house.

Palau Güell entrance http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4799.jpg
Close-ups of wrought iron work
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4800.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4797.jpg
Basement http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4804.jpg

Day 3 To be continued...

Nov 19th, 2009, 06:53 PM

#23

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Continued:
Day 3 - Liceu, Palau Güell, Boqueria, CaixaForum
Part II

After Palau Güell, we walked up La Rambla towards Boqueria. Armed with my new Ruta del Modernisme guidebook, we looked for Hotel Espanya (Sant Pau, 9-11), hoping to check out the restaurant: http://www.hotelespanya.com/eng/restaurantes.htm (click on the photo thumbnails)
However, the entire hotel is under restoration currently.

Along La Rambla, we saw Casa Doctor Genove (Rambla 77) http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4806.jpg and the famous Escriba which used to be Antigua Casa Figueras (Rambla 83) http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4809.jpg

Boqueria wasn't too crowded during this Thursday lunch hour; but getting a seat at Pinotxo is still impossible. After circling around all the stalls with our mouths watering, we decided that we will pick up some ingredients to take back to the apartment and make lunch. N isn't thrilled at the idea of cooking in the apartment, so we bought ready-to-eat foods.

In the end, we got: jamón serrano, soft manchego cheese, 2 types of Spanish olives, whole wheat baguette, arugula, and tomatoes. All these cost about €8 and we had leftover!

It is currently mushroom season, so many of the stalls have heaps of fresh mushrooms: http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4810.jpg

By the time we finished lunch at the apartment, it was quite late. And I was tired too - from both food coma and from jetlag. Therefore, instead of going to a major sight, I decided to head back to Plaça Espanya to visit CaixaForum. N went to MNAC instead.

http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/nuestro...celona_en.html

CaixaForum (free) has revolving exhibits. What interests me more actually, is the building itself. It was a textile factory designed by Puig i Cadafalch for owner Casimir Casaramona. The factory opened in 1913 and was the first factory in Barcelona to have electricity. The buildings are made of brick, with some ceramic tiles and wrought iron decoration. Inside, there is a small exhibition area focused on this modernisme building.
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4815.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4818.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4819.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4824.jpg

Since the bank la Caixa took over and rehabbed the building, a new entrance and underground new visitors center are added. In the new foyer, there is a wall drawing by Sol LeWitt http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4821.jpg

One can climb up to the building's roof terrace for a better view of the former factory; plus it has a good view of MNAC.
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4831.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4833.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4835.jpg

One of the current exhibition is on Islamic art from the Aga Khan Museum collections. Many of the works (ceramics, illuminated manuscripts etc) are very intricate.

There is also a permanent installation of a work by Joseph Beuys: http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/nuestro...hbeuys_en.html
A bit odd - a room lined with lead with a lightbulb plus 2 silver rings hanging from the ceiling.

For dinner, we wandered around our apt neighborhood and stumbled upon a very local tapas bar called El Tropezón (corner of C/Regomir and C/ d'En Cignas). It's very no frills but we like the fact that it's frequented by locals only. Prices are a lot lower than the more touristy tapas bars - and we ordered way too much tonight. El Tropezón is famous for its La Bomba (The Bomb?). It's a bit like arancini; except that the filling is potatoes and the size is bigger.

We shared a la bomba, a spinach empanada, braised eggplant with tomato sauce, Tortilla Española, fried calamari, and cod fritters. The last 3 dishes are especially huge in size; there must be at least 20 cod fritter balls and 2 dozen calamari. Dinner was €28 and we took most of Tortilla Española home.

Nov 19th, 2009, 07:33 PM

#24

Apres_Londee

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Everything looks so beautiful, I love the photos.

Nov 20th, 2009, 07:44 AM

#25

111op

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Welcome back. Did you enjoy the Teshigahara documentary? I saw it at the Film Forum when it was revived there recently. I think the score is by Takemitsu. You should check out "Woman in the Dunes" next.

I'd be interested in seeing the Pavilion again. Now older and wiser, having seen the Johnson Glass House and Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye, I wonder what my reaction to the Pavilion would be. What did your tour say about the furniture? Wonder what the story about that is -- how much of it actually designed for the Pavilion, etc. So much of it is still ubiquitous these days.

If memory serves, there are interesting photos by Jeff Wall with the Pavilion as backdrop. I think there could be some famous photos by Thomas Ruff too. Speaking of photos, there are some by Eikoh Hosoe on Park Guell. There's a lot that inspires in Barcelona.

Nov 20th, 2009, 08:38 AM

#26

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"You should check out "Woman in the Dunes" next."

Unrelated to Barcelona...."Woman in the Dunes" (1964) is an absolute masterpiece , a must for film lover.

Nov 20th, 2009, 10:42 AM

#27

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Thank you so much for your trip report. It sounds like there will be some good vegetarian tapas too! I can't wait to see Barcelona, we leave in June!

Nov 20th, 2009, 01:21 PM

#28

Ifnotnow_when

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Enjoying your trip report and looking forward to more. We hope to visit Barcelona next year.

Nov 20th, 2009, 01:41 PM

#29

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111op - yes, the Teshigahara film was lovely. I got the 2 DVD set: first disc is the film and second disc is an assortment of other related short films/documentary. One of the documentary is a BBC production made/hosted by Robert Hughes, who is also the author of the book Barcelona I'm trying to finish. It was a nice combo.

The only furniture inside the Mies van der Rohe pavilion, is... you guess it... the Barcelona chairs. Otherwise, it's just a black carpet and a red curtain drape. The combination of the black carpet, red drape, plus the yellow oynx wall = color of Germany flag.

[BTW, I sat in one of the Barcelona chairs for about 5 minutes while waiting for my English tour - and then the guard saw me and told me I couldn't sit in it. Later I saw a small sign asking visitors not to sit in those chairs. Ooops.

]

Mies van der Rohe also planned the lights within the frosted glass wall, seen in this photo: http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4784.jpg
The outdoor lights behind the bench are modern addition - Mies van der Rohe did not put lights there.

Nov 21st, 2009, 05:36 AM

#30

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Day 4 - In the footsteps of Modernisme
Part I

Today is my BIG Modernisme day. I covered A LOT of ground: I walked between 7-8 miles at least. Instead of giving you a turn-by-turn boring account of where I went, I'll do a brief account of my "route", then list the buildings I visited with links to photos.

I walked almost non-stop from 10am-6pm except for lunch. Majority of the sites I stopped at were exterior visits only. I went to the big 3: Sagrada Familia, Casa Milà, Casa Batlló; but I didn't pay admission to enter to any of them, because I did just that last year. Instead, I gave the discount vouchers of the Big 3 from the Ruta del Modernisme guidebook to N, who went to these places today as well.

In addition, I took 2 guided tours which I will describe first.

Route
I started at Hospital de Sant Pau, down to Sagrada Familia, due West to the few blocks (Valencia/Mallorca) just E of Passeig de Gracia, then up along Ave Diagonal to Rambla Catalunya. After lunch, I went south along Passeig de Gracia until I arrived at Plaça Catalunya. At Plaça Catalunya, I joined the walking tour which took me via Palau de la Musica Catalana all the way back to Diagonal metro stop; then I walked back to the apartment.

Tours
Tour #1 - Hospital de Sant Pau

http://www.santpau.es/patr_visites.asp
English tour @ 10:15am & 12:15pm daily. Fee: €4,50; 50% off with RdM voucher

I was the only person who showed up for the 10:15am tour. The guide was EXCELLENT - very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. I actually did visit Hospital de Sant Pau last year but I didn't take a tour. I love this place so much that I just HAVE to revisit again.

The architect for Hospital de Sant Pau was Domènech i Montaner. He also designed Palau de la Musica Catalana. These 2 buildings together are designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The hospital was known as Holy Cross hospital; the name Saint Paul was added when the current "new" complex was begun in 1905. The hospital benefactor was a man named Pau Gil - he donated $$$$$ for the building of the new hospital, so the "Saint Paul" part was added to the hospital's name.
You can see the main building and a sculpture of Pau Gil in the foreground: http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4870.jpg
Close-up of the hospital crest (L is Holy Cross; R is flag of Catalonia) http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4871.jpg

Apart from having the hospital named after him (or the saint that bore the same name), there's dedication to Pau Gil everywhere you look. There are 4 main symbols used among the decorations:
a cross (for Holy Cross)
vertical stripes (for Catalonian flag)
G (for Gil)
P (for Pau)
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4869.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4855.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4852.jpg

The big entry building is the administrative building. The entrance atrium is decorated with ceramic tiles and flowery sculpture elements http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4867.jpg

On the guided tour, I was allowed to visit the conference room on the first floor (US 2nd) of the admin building. It is not open to the public otherwise. From the conference room, one gets a nice view of the hospital complex, esp the surgery pavilion http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4843.jpg

Decoration inside the conference room is similar to the Palau de la Musica, but less over-the-top: http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4844.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4847.jpg

The rest of the hospital campus is made up of individual pavilions, each for a different type of illnesses. The campus is also divided into men & women pavilions; they are mirror image of one another. While the pavilions are separate (to avoid transmission of diseases), they are linked by passageways underground.
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4851.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4852.jpg

The hospital complex ceased to function as a real hospital this year. A brand new hospital was built in 2003 and the services have been gradually moved to the new hospital - located just behind this campus. The buildings are all undergoing restoration at this time, expected to complete in 2018. The future use of the buildings in unclear at this time; but it'll be dedicated to culture.

IMHO, the Hospital de Sant Pau is a must-see sight in Barcelona.

Day 4 To be continued...

Nov 21st, 2009, 06:28 AM

#31

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Day 4 - In the footsteps of Modernisme
Part II

Tour #2 - Modernisme Walk

http://bcnshop.barcelonaturisme.com/...wjmBy4iHT-xzYQ

Okay, I'm jumping ahead with this Day 4. I took the Hospital de Sant Pau at the beginning of the day (10:15am), and took this walking tour at the end of the day (4-6pm). I have visited most of the stops on this tour earlier in the day between 12-4; but I wanted some in-depth information on Modernisme.

This tour is only offered twice a week (Fri/Sat) in late afternoon. Here is the route: http://bcnshop.barcelonaturisme.com/...Modernisme.pdf

Cost is €12; €9,60 with voucher from RdM

Overall, I'd say it's a decent intro tour to Modernisme; but I was disappointed because it's not as in-depth as I'd like.

~ I learned some background history of Barcelona
~ There are a few places covered on this tour that I didn't know about
~ The guide uses a microphone/earphones system so there's no trouble hearing her at all

~ Dusk/Sunset is around the half-way point of this tour, so it's difficult to photograph many places due to low light
~ Our guide/tour moved fairly slowly, so we actually did not visit all the spots listed on the map

It's important to keep in mind that this tour only visits the exterior of the buildings. One really needs another additional day (or 2) to visit the interior of many of them.

Day 4 To be continued...

Nov 21st, 2009, 11:38 AM

#32

SashieZ

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YK - this is great. I wish you went before me!

Nov 21st, 2009, 11:15 PM

#33

Nikki

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I'm enjoying your report. Sounds like you had a great trip. Weren't you thinking of staying home because you had concert tickets? Good call.

Nov 22nd, 2009, 05:16 AM

#34

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Hi Nikki, I'm still sad about missing the concert (Berlin Phil/Simon Rattle playing Brahms No.3 & 4). He said it was the best concert he's ever attended.

Nov 22nd, 2009, 05:37 AM

#35

111op

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Who said so (who's the "he")?

NYT reviewers were favorable for the Carnegie Hall run. I went to the Schoenberg "Chamber Symphony" and "Erwartung" and Symphony no. 2 coupling. I liked the concert, but there were no encores. No. 2 is also my favorite Brahms symphony. I've been listening to the Abbado recording this weekend.

Anyway, I don't really follow recommendations of the Brahms cycle, but you can buy a CD of Carlos Kleiber's recording of Symphony no. 4 (throw in the famous recording of Beethoven 5 & 7 if you don't have it). It will give you a cheap fix.

You can continue your Spain theme with Luis Bunuel's "Las Hurdes" if you haven't seen it yet:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023037/

I thought the music was Brahms's Symphony no. 3, but imdb claims no. 4. I haven't seen this in years.

What I regret missing from reading reviews is Haitink's Mahler 9 a few weeks ago. The reviewer likened it to Karajan's valedictory and highly praised performances of the piece in the 80s.

Nov 22nd, 2009, 05:41 AM

#36

111op

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So far I haven't found anything on the internet that says Brahms no. 3 was used in "Las Hurdes," but as an illustration that you can't believe everything on the internet, this link claims the use of Brahms's Symphony *no. 5* in "Las Hurdes"....

http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/co...cumentary.html

Funny.

Nov 22nd, 2009, 05:46 AM

#37

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Who said so (who's the "he")? 

Ooops, I didn't proof read. "He" is my husband. I had bought tickets for the concert before the trip was planned. My cousin took my seat.

Obviously, my husband is no music critic. After I got back from the trip, he kept insisting that he heard Brahms No. 3 & 5 at the concert

. I told him that there is no Symphony No. 5, but he didn't believe me until we looked it up in his concert programme booklet.

I have a CD of No. 4 with BPO/Karajan. I can listen to it over and over again.

Nov 22nd, 2009, 05:53 AM

#38

111op

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That's funny.

Amazon likes the Walter Brahms no. 2 and 3, which I have also.

I think that I may still have the 1980s Karajan/BPO no. 2 on tape (there are at least two Karajan/BPO cycles, if I remember correctly).

Nov 22nd, 2009, 08:04 AM

#39

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Nov 22nd, 2009, 09:23 AM

#40

danon

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thanks for the wonderful pics.
We once walked by a beautiful building, like the ones you photographed, it was a residence with a concierge - he let us take a look inside...
One can only envy someone actually living in such splendid works of art.

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