Barcelona Beckons: Gaudí and Casa Vicens
If you haven’t figured it out yet, we’re pretty big Gaudi fans. So when we learned that the city of Barcelona has recently opened a new Gaudi building to the public, we knew we’d need to add this to our itinerary: Casa Vicens.
Barcelona Day 2: Casa Vicens
Despite having ten weeks in Spain, for reasons that seemed to make sense at the time we only allowed for a few short days in Barcelona (!)
Day Two we had that feeling of panic when you realize that you’ve only got one day left in a city and there’s still so much you haven’t seen! So we ended up tackling three museums which was as exhausting as it sounds. While the Banksy exhibition was cool and the Museum of Contemporary Art was… interesting, the high point of the day for us was definitely Casa Vicens.
Casa Vicens was Gaudi’s first commissioned work in the early 1880’s, the summer home of a wealthy family. The influence of Islamic architecture and Gaudi’s passion for incorporating nature are on full display, and many of the elements he used here can be seen in both the Sagrada and his other major works. The audio guide is very good, and amongst many interesting factoids taught us that the octagonal city blocks that give Barcelona its amazing spacious feel were introduced in the 19th century when the original city walls were brought down to allow the city to grow.
Just look at that ceiling — Gaudi’s carved ivy rising up through the rafters, a theme which continues on the second floor.
These pictures really don’t do it justice – it was quite remarkable.
Getting There
Here is the official site for Casa Vicens. We didn’t prebook tickets – we just rocked up on the day and it was fine. Try to remember to bring your smartphone and earbuds, and you can listen to the excellent free audio tour onsite! (This goes for most attractions in Italy!)
We were staying in Gracie, so took the Metro from there (about 20 mins). Casa Vicens is an easy 4 minute walk from the Fontana stop on Line 3.
Finally, Some Foodie Stuff!
Although we haven’t mentioned it yet, believe me when I tell you that we also made sure we experienced Barcelona’s restaurant scene. Michelle had done quite a bit of research down the rabbit hole that is travel blogging to find a stack of cafes, wine and tapas bars to help us get into the Spanish vibe. One of our favourites was Pepe Bar a Vins, which specialises in natural wines and has some excellent non-traditional tapas (for when you’ve had your fill of patatas bravas!)
We also discovered that GIANT spring onions were in season. Calcots served with romesco sauce (nuts and red bell peppers / capsicum) are amazeballs. And like all good things in Spain, they even have an entire festival dedicated to them. Sadly, we missed the festival but were still able to try them at our local tapas bodega in Gracia.
Spanish For Dummies
As far as ordering and communicating with the locals, luckily we’ve been studying Spanish for the last 6 months so that when we arrived, we were able to walk confidently into a restaurant and… stare blankly, dumbstruck at the server as soon as they asked the first question… We may have overlooked the fact that people speak Catalan here and not Spanish (whoops). It’s been a while since we’ve been in a country where we have so little a grasp of the language, but a few days in and we’re starting to get into the swing of things. We can at least get as far as ordering before they realise we have no idea. (If you have even rudimentary Spanish, give it a crack, as most/all locals understand Spanish, even if they don’t necessarily like to speak it :-)).
So three days and three nights later, we say Adios to Barcelona, pick up our rental car and start making our way down the coast. Next stop is Sitges, a small seaside town South of Barcelona.
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