España...more Gaudi

Casa Batlló

Yesterday we showed you Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, today another of Gaudi's great works, Casa Batlló.

(Again, the details in his works are so amazing, click on the photos to enlarge them and hit your back arrow to return to the blog.)

The outside front of Casa Batlló

From the outside, Casa Batlló looks like it has been made from skulls and bones. The "Skulls" are in fact balconies and the "bones" are supporting pillars. Gaudi used colours and shapes found in marine life as inspiration for his creativity in this building. The colors chosen for the facade are those found in natural coral.

Casa Batlló is one of the two great buildings designed by Antoni Gaudi on Passeig de Gracia, the other being La Pedrer, which we saw from the outside only. The photo below is thrown in just for fun, we have no others, but you an look it up online.

 La Pedrer

Casa Batlló was designed by Gaudi for Josep Batlló, a wealthy aristocrat, as an upmarket home. Señor Batlló lived in the lower two floors with his family and the upper floors were rented out as apartments.
This building is a stunning and original work. It's another example of the attention to detail Gaudi spent on his designs, thinking about such things as varying window size depending on how high the window was from the top of the building. In this way he could ensure uniform lighting conditions in each room of the house.

 The staircase in the entry from the street. I think made to resemble the spine of a dinosaur.

A little parlor with two seats on either side of the fireplace. This was the spot for courting. A grandmother, aunt, or other would sit on one end while a boy and girl met for a date on the other.

Inside one of the rooms looking out the picture windows. 

The same room with the picture windows, but looking another direction. How about those doors? Hey, who's the cute guy in the bottom right corner?

The dining room, the doors lead out to a terrace. Why would he put these two very cool pillars right in front of the doors? He work leads one to ask questions like that a lot. Was it structurally necessary, or just for fun?

A view from a hallway to the stairwell. Look at his amazing use of light and of lines. 

Hallway

The rooftop. The funny shaped tiled structures are the chimneys.

Chimneys up closer.

Part of the roof's design.

He thought of everything and nature was his inspiration. This is a lightwell, kinda like a stairwell with no stairs. It is an area for letting light into the house. As you climb the stairs, he placed glass that allows one to look into the lightwell, but he designed the glass to make it look as if, and make you feel as if you are underwater. We took this picture looking through the glass. Below is the same stairwell looking directly with no glass.

He also designed furniture for the houses. A two person chair, but I think it's a fight chair because the two people seated are facing partially opposite directions. Look at the paint, the iridescent design is done with paint. It strikingly beautiful in person. Very subtle. 

Sitting and looking out another window.

Finally, another look at the front. We had to take it at this angle in order to get the cross at the top.

This only touches the surface of this great work. The terrace, the alter room, and many more incredible spaces. He designed an amazing park, which we did not get to visit, Park Guell. It is worth looking up.

Tomorrow, more Spain.

España! A beautiful contradiction of old and new.

To us, one of the most striking things about Spain is the contrast of old and new. Ancient statues and buildings and architecture intermingled with contemporary art and buildings. The crosses on the buildings alongside the 100 ft. billboards. Very contemporary fashion alongside the nun in full habit crossing the street. Tapas, Catalunyan black rice, Paella, and tomato bread alongside Starbucks, MacDonalds, and Subway. Traditional Tempranillo, the grape of all traditional wines alongside newly introduced Spanish Pinot Noir, Cabs, and Merlots.

Our apartment is a traditional old 6-story apartment building built in the late 1800s. It is beautiful and old on the outside and contemporary on the inside.

Beautiful and old on the outside, contemporary on the inside.

The old double-decker bus, a must do.

Except for Switzerland, where our friend Chris showed us around, the first thing we do at our new destination is ride a double-decker bus around the city for a day or two, to decide what we must see. These buses allow people to get on and off at museums and other sites along the way. We got separated here for a couple of stops in order to sit on top, which is the only place to be.

The most striking thing about Spain...The Architecture

The church below, the Sagrada Familia, is an absolutely amazing structure built by a man named Antoni Gaudi. He dedicated his life to it once he started, but was unable to finish it after being hit by a tram and killed in 1926. The work on this amazing building is still in process and Ken and I agree that once it is finished, it should be deemed one of the Wonders of the World. Gaudi was a deeply religious man and the building is a moving portrayal of his heart and soul. In addition, this man was a genius.

(Be sure to click on these to see the amazing details, then you can click again on the photo to get even closer and see the very up close details. Just hit the back arrow to return to the blog.)

The church as it stands today. A work in progress. (BTW, we did not take this pic, we could never get a full shot. We got it from the Internet.)

What the finished product will look like. The center structure has not even begun to be built. The architects are using old drawings and notes of Gaudi's to complete the church as he desired. This is a photo of a large drawing hanging in the church.

The sculptures the surround the entrance tell the story of the crucifixion of Christ, while the back of the church tells the story of his birth and childhood. 

A stone portrayal of "The Last Supper." The translation of the lettering in the stone is Jesus words to Judas, What you do, do it quickly. 

Portraying Peters shame after denying Christ three times.

After being beaten, Jesus is presented to the people wearing a crown of thorns. The governor is shown in great distress about the difficult decision he is going to have to make. 

The kiss of Judas to let the soldiers which is Jesus.

A portrayal of the loneliness of Jesus. The three stairs represent the three days between the crucifixion and the resurrection. The knot in the rope symbolizes the torture he suffered. The cane represents his psychological torture and that is just the beginning of the symbolism on this one piece. Every inch of this great building of Gaudi has tiny details that are representative of some part of the story of Christ. The detail is amazing.

Pilot washing his hands and his wife solemnly walking away after she asked him not to convict an innocent man.

Doors. Below is just a one foot piece of a 15 foot door, filled with letters infused with meaning.

Inside, some of the stained glass. 

Looking down one of the towers. We rode to the top, then walked down the winding staircases.

The columns and ceiling inside the main chapel. This is extraordinarily beautiful. Gaudi wanted people to feel as if they were sitting in a forest when they were seated in the sanctuary. He designed the support
columns in the shape of trees and the ceiling to represent the flowers he saw growing in the area. Gaudi was struck with polio as a young boy and therefore had lots of time to think and be close to nature. The inspiration of all is work comes from nature. He was a master of lighting as well as a master of acoustics. This church was designed with nearly perfect acoustics.

A wall on one of the sides of the church. Picture taken from a stairwell in a tower. 

The back side of the church, the birth and childhood of Christ depicted. You could spend days looking at every inch of this wall and still find something new, a part of the story.

The nativity.

Jesus as a young boy teaching (center). Left Mary telling Elizabeth about the upcoming birth. More...

This building is so amazing that the first time you see it in person, it will bring you to tears. It is magnificent and moving. We cannot even touch the surface with these pictures and explanations. These statues and designs are only a drop-in-the-bucket of the hundreds and hundreds. Every detail in every inch of this work is intentional and symbolic. And every inch includes include a dove, a flower, a curve, a color...something with meaning.

Tomorrow, more work by Gaudi and other Barcelona architecture. 

Montepulciano, in the heart of Tuscan Hill County

The Tuscan Hill Country

What can we say except that the Tuscan Hill country is breathtakingly beautiful. We first thought it looked like home in California. The the deeper in we drove, we realized that yes, it looks like Napa, but times ten.

(Remember to click on the pics to enlarge them, then hit your back arrow to get back to the blog.)

Right now red poppies everywhere. In July come the sunflowers.

Driving through just about any town, look up, and what do you see...why a castle of course.

A walled-in town at the top of a hill. They are everywhere.

 

Looking out over the valley from a street of the Montepulciano, the hill town where we stayed for a week. 

Montepulciano---a hill town whose roots date back to as early as 400 BC. Today, it is a thriving town, mostly inhabited by elderly Italians, tourists, and a few families.

At the very top of this hill is the entire town of Montepulciano. 15,000 residents.

 Boy did we pack right. Not only is the city at the top of the hill, the parking up there is only for residents and workers. Looking down over the stairs we had to carry our luggage up and down. 70 stairs to be exact.

Our cute little apartment...hanging out the window like a little old Italian lady. 

We went exploring the dark, scary section under our apartment. Look what Ken found hiding!

 

A sample of the entrances to this medieval city. One can just imagine the Knight's riding up after a long, dusty ride bringing news and orders to the nobelmen and preists. 

 One can envision the tangled web of streets and alleyways that weave through this hill. Looking down over a typical street every bit as winding as the famous Lombard St. in San Francisco.

 

A typical alleyway.

 

Don't think for a minute that these winding climbs even slow down the old folks. This very cute old guy, with his pants pulled up over his ribs takes a we'll earned break at the very top of the hill, the main plaza.  

And he ain't got nothin on her. She was carrying groceries and scaled this hill in break-wind speed. 

 

 And yes! Can you believe they drive through these tiny streets? And you'd better get out the way, because they are not driving slow not big on slowing down. 

Which leads us to the cars...

Not all cars in Europe are as small as these, but Carol is obsessed with the tiny ones and can't stop taking their pictures. Overall, Europe is set up for small cars. The parking spaces are small, the streets are narrow, and there is a conscience of environmental impact (not to mention the high cost of gas). Many, many people bike and motorbike around also.

Cute!!!

 

 

 They are like grown-up Hot Wheels.

 

 The Churches

There are at least 4 beautiful churches in this tiny town. Following is San Biagio.

This beautiful church sits lower on the hill, just outside the walls of the city.

 

 

Now on to our favorite part of Italy, the food and the wine. 

We both agree that we are ruined for life. Pasta will never be the same again. We have been unable to find good pizza and learned it is not traditional for this region (Rome and Naples). This region is famous for it's pastas. We took a cooking class in making homemade pasta and hope we can at least come close to the Italians when we cook some for you. 

 

Traditional Tuscan "Pici." 

This looks like spaghetti, but the noodles are much thicker and hand rolled. This is the traditional food of the poor people as it has only flour and water. The story told is that back in the day, the rich people took all the eggs, and the poor had only flour and water for pasta. Today, it is one of the most ordered items in Montepulciano, even in the nicest restaurants.

 Hand rolled homemade lasagne with homemade tomato sauce.

 

 The most unusual and best eggplant parmigiana ever. No breading, just veggies and cheese, healthy.

Cooking Class: Homemade Pasta and sauce.

 

 Ken hand rolling Pici.

 

Carol likely bossing the owners around. hahaha

In this little restaurant, the owner kept going around to the tables and loudly singing Italian arias along with Pavarotti on the bigscreen TV in the corner. I am going to try to post the video. It's a crackup, but not sure we can on this site. Check the side bar later.

The waitress refused to bring our check. When we asked her for it she told us to sit back, relax, and enjoy the evening. Then she ignored Ken every time he tried to make eye contact. LOL it was a crackup.

This is also where we had one of the best soups either of us has ever tried (there is not a bad soup in Italy). Spinach, Ricotta soup.

And then there is the cheese and salami. Beautiful little cheese and ham shops in every town. 

Lots of local cheeses. The one below is cured in ashes. It is a mild Pecorino, sheep's milk. Delicious.

You can find all kinds of great salami and pruscitto (ham), but these are made from Boars' meat.

Finally, the Wine

The Italian wines are beautiful. You can go to just about any restaurant, order a carafe of "house wine" for just a few bucks, and know it will great. We think it's probably accurate to say there are not to many places in the world which can make this claim.

At this crazy restaurant, they give you only one glass and you must use it for both your wine and your water. Plus this eccentric owner kicked us out for sitting to long when others were waiting to come in. LOL

We got in our car and spent several days just driving around the wine country. It's nothing like Napa. There are very few tasting rooms and they don't really care if you visit or not. It's not the big business we have in California. They don't charge for tasting and they really don't try to sell you wine. They market in other ways.

The three wineries we did get to visit: Casanova Di Neri, El Greppo, and Icaro.  They couldn't be more different.

Casanova Di Neri: Out in the hills in Montpalcino. No one mans their tasting room. When we got there, we went into the office and asked it they had a tasting room. They manager said, no problem, follow me and I'll let you taste some wines. Their 2006 was named number one in the world by wine spectator. Regardless, they told us they would open anything we wanted and let us have a taste. They did not have any of the 2006 left, bet we tried other things. .

El Greppo, This tiny winery, set in a barn on the above breathtakingly beautiful property, taught us about some of the local wines we had not heard of. Vin Santo is made at Easter, therefore it's name (Santo=holy). It is a sweeter, dessert wine. Grappa is a hard liquor made from the spent grape skins. It was also very good even though we had only the tiniest taste (42% alc.).

Icaro is more of a commercial winery, very contemporary style. This winery owner is a lover of art and always has a show going on. The following art pieces are made entirely from bubble gum.

Gum wine branches set over a painting.

 

  A bubble gum girl. She smells like gum.

The healing waters of Bagno Vignone

Our waiter told us we had to visit this remote, tiny town on a hill. 

 

Soaking our feet with the locals in the natural hot springs. They knew enough to bring pillows to sit on. We are hoping the water does magic for Ken's feet!

The hot spring bathing pool.

Finally, one of Carol's favorite parts of this area and her other obsession....the Laundry. 

It's everywhere. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 There is so much more to show. We will add more as time goes on.