Home -> Europe -> Spain -> Travelogue 2001 -> Wednesday 13 June

Barcelona, the works of Gaudi

What a night! Our convenient double air bed goes flat all the time and on the beach there is a group of youths having a party. We don't mind people having fun but this troop has been very noisy. We can't find the repair set for the air bed so Teije goes to the camping shop where he has seen a double air bed, normally used for going into the sea. When he returns to the tent with it, Elisabeth just has found the repair set. Well, at least we have a backup bed now, in case it goes flat again.

Because of all the traffic we have seen around Barcelona yesterday, we decide to go there by bus. There is a bus stop right before the campsite and the bus brings us to the heart of the city. We buy a dayticket so we can travel unlimitedly with bus and metro. The most important thing we have come to Barcelona for, is the Sagrada Familia. When we get out of the metro station we don't see anything at first. But then we look back, over our shoulders...

With awe we look at this still unfinished masterpiece. We have seen it many times on television, but that cannot be compared with the experience of standing before it. Our admiration of Gaudi and what he has achieved only grows as we stand before this building. At that moment we decide to make a special citytrip to Barcelona someday, which we did in November later that year (we didn't know by then).

Much more pictures of the city can be found in that travelogue and we made a special information page on Barcelona. We also made a Gaudi-special since the monuments designed by this architect were the reason for us to visit Barcelona in the first place. 2002 is Gaudi-year in Barcelona. To read more on Barcelona, Gaudi and that travel account, go to the Barcelona-page.

After our visit to the Sagrada Familia and a long walk through the centre of the city (the Arc del Triomf to the left) we walk towards Parc Güell, another masterpiece designed by Gaudi.

It is quite a climb to the park, but fortunately there are escalators, just in the open air. But the walk is very rewarding: the view from the park over the city is marvellous. Why doesn't Holland have such splendid buildings, sceneries, parks, etcetera???

Gaudi created this park in harmony with nature, it is almost a unity. No beauty committee could have any criticism about a park like this. Maybe we should hire a foreign architect to fit Holland up a bit (with mountains and so)...

You will have noticed: we are not very enthousiastic about the Netherlands. Our social security system is very good, the wages are fine, but to us Holland belongs to the top-10 of most boring countries in the world when one only looks at architecture and nature!

Houses like these will never be made in Holland since there are so many building regulations! Regulations in general, that is what we are good in, unfortunately.
(We got a lot of criticism from people about these judgements: yes, there are some nice towns and buildings in Holland, but we stick to our personal opinion!)

More pictures of Barcelona and the buildings of Gaudi can be found on the other pages dedicated to Barcelona.
Despite our metro day ticket, we have covered quite some distance walking and we are glad to have a rest and lie down on the beach at the end of the day.

That is to say: Elisabeth appropriates the totally empty beach. Teije stays near the tent behind the fence; he complains it is too windy on the beach (and rightly so, I think, because I write this piece).

Travel through Europe and Africa

with Elisabeth and Teije