Girona

When the Peck parents were here, we visited the town of Girona, which is about an hour and a half northeast of Barcelona by train.  Girona has a long history, dating back before Roman times, and still has a Roman wall surrounding the old part of the city.  It was incorporated into the countship of Barcelona in 878 by Wilfred the Hairy!  The twisting city streets have a lot of atmosphere, and there is some wonderful scenery amongst the ancient architecture.

Girona's beautiful surroundings encouraged Tabitha to take some artistic pictures.  Enjoy.

Looking along part of the Roman wall

A view from the roof of the Roman baths

Gaudi Houses

(A continuation of the Peck parents visit to Barcelona in March)

We weren't kidding when we said that the Peck parents were wearing us out!  They are really enjoying Gaudi's work and there is a lot of beautiful Gaudi architecture in Barcelona.  Next they went to two of the most interesting and gorgeous apartment buildings, La Casa Milá and La Casa Batlló.

La Casa Milá is commonly known as La Pedrera.  Pedrera is Catalán for quarry, and the locals at the time of its construction were not too fond of it, thinking that it looked like a bunch of rocks thrown together.  However it is now widely recognized as one of Gaudi's major works.  It is a large apartment building, and there are still people that live in some of the apartments (although probably not for much longer due to a change in the law).

The Peck parents pondering the possibility of perusing
La Pedrera...

La Pedrera from street level.
Note the interesting figures on the roof...

Inside the entryway.

The organic forms of the columns are a hallmark of Gaudi.

A nifty Gaudi-designed chair.

The attic is constructed of a series of parabolic archways.

On the roof.  Pretty much the coolest vents ever.

Tabitha enjoying the view from the roof.

Looking through one of the archways gives 
a great view of Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia.

Two jerks blocking the great view...

The Peck parents enjoying the roof.

La Casa Batlló is found a short trip down Passeig de Gràcia from La Pedrera.  It was transformed by Gaudi from a normal apartment building into an homage to St. George (Sant Jordi, the patron saint of Catalonia).  The interior is even more impressive than the striking exterior, however Tabitha and Dave had already seen it, and it is not particularly cheap to visit, so the Peck parents explored it by themselves...  This is a must see for anyone visiting Barcelona.

A teaser image of La Casa Batlló (to the right of the tree).