The Genius of Gaudi - The Sagrada Familia

It would be hard to go to Barcelona and not get absolutely immersed in the sheer brilliance of Antoni Gaudi.

Neither of us really knows all that much about architecture…but gee whiz we were impressed!

The first stop of the tour de force of Gaudi’s work was the Sagrada Familia. Gaudi began working on the project in 1883…129 years later, they’re still going, and they estimate that it won’t be finished until somewhere in the next 30 to 80 years…a few less siestas and a bit more hard work probably wouldn’t go astray!!

Having been fortunate to see some of the best cathedrals that Europe has to offer on the course of our campervanning adventure, we can comfortably say that the Sagrada Familia is up there with the most breathtaking. We were particularly fortunate to be there after they had just finished the interior, so we saw it in its most resplendent scaffold-free glory. Gaudi intended the interior to look like a forest, with the inclined columns looking like branching trees. We think he succeeded! It was truly fascinating looking around some of the smallest details and seeing how he had drawn so much of his architectural influence from nature.

The exterior was equally amazing. The columns looked like giant beehives with flowers on top, and the rear façade resembled something from a Star Wars movie. Gaudi…what a genius!

Sun-drenched Barcelona

Rather than hanging around in London for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations we decided to make the most of the four-day long weekend and head to Barcelona.

It was a great decision.

We had an absolutely amazing time – Barcelona is a cracking city.

Firstly – the vitamin D. After being in London for the better part of 6 months we were in desperate need of a hit…and Barca delivered!!

Secondly – the food. We spent a fair bit of time sitting in the glorious Spanish sun with a range of simple, yet delicious tapas….so so tasty…and so so relaxing! We were also mightily impressed with the quality of the gelato. One shop in particular served the ice cream to look like a rose. To make sure it wasn’t a fluke, we went back there several times!

Thirdly – the art and culture. Barca is bursting with the stuff, with Gaudi, Picasso and Dali all having spent significant creative periods there. The city is literally bursting with colour and life.

After sitting down to enjoy a dinner of tapas and sangria one evening, we heard the rhythmic pounding of some Latino drum beats. Intrigued, we followed the noise and came across a troupe of about 20 drummers snaking their way through the narrow back streets of the Old Town. We followed them as they made their way through the narrow streets – it was a bit like Pied Piper as more and more people started tagging along. We finished up in a small square hidden away in the middle of the Old Town with five other groups of drummers all descending on the square from different directions at the same time. It was an incredible – and very loud – cultural experience. We ditched our original plans for the night, instead spending the rest of the evening grooving along to this local drumming festival and the funky Spanish beats. It was a wonderful experience. 

Van Gogh...genius or fraud?

While in Holland again, we took the opportunity to spend some more time in Amsterdam, and explore the neighbouring fishing villages for Volendam and Edam.

Our plan was to be as Dutch as possible and cycle from Volendam to Edam (famous for it’s cheese), but sadly we there on a Sunday and the bike hire shops were closed. Not to be deterred, we enjoyed the (rare) Dutch sunshine and walked instead. It was quite lovely – soaking up the spring atmosphere with lots of ducklings paddling in the canals.

From there, we made our way back to Amsterdam. We’ve pretty much gone a full circle from actively disliking it to actually really loving it. Ignoring the drugs and the red light district, the city is stunningly beautiful, has a great atmosphere and some of the most unique and breathtaking architecture in Europe. We took the opportunity to do a ‘free’ walking tour and it was quite interesting learning a bit more about it’s history, seedy underside and culture.

We were also lucky to have the opportunity to visit the Van Gogh museum. It was pretty fascinating – he certainly liked to experiment. It’s interesting to compare musicians with artists. With a musician, they can sit in their bedroom and practice different styles and genres and nobody hears their mistakes or their random experimentations - people only ever hear the perfect, polished finished product. With artists though, all of the experimenting is captured forever. Van Gogh seems to have a few classic paintings that he got famous for (after he died), but the vast majority of the rest of his work was quite random…and dare we say it…fairly average. Upon reflection, perhaps this can be explained by how he got into art in the first place. Apparently he was in his late-twenties, lost his job, and then just decided to be come an artist….having never painted before. Go figure. 

Back in Holland for the Tulip Festival

We made another trip to Holland. Again, it was sensational to be able to spend some more quality time with Oma.

We made a point of lining our trip up to coincide with the Dutch Tulip Festival. It was thoroughly worthwhile. We spent a day strolling through the gorgeous gardens of Keukenhof and tried to make the most of the macro lens.

The festival was just beginning to come to an end so missed the opportunity of seeing the fields in full bloom and getting the clichéd ‘field of tulips with a windmill in the background’ shot, but that took nothing away from the gardens in Keukenhof. The colours were vibrant, the landscaping and design of the gardens was beautiful, and there was quite an amazing range of unique flowers. All in all, it was a wonderful experience and well worth making the effort to line our trip up.