Casa Batllo, Barcelona

While we were in Barcelona, we visited Casa Batllo, which is a apartment block which was designed by Antoni Gaudi. It was built in the 1870's as a home for middle class families and situated in one of the more affluent areas in Barcelona but four decades after its construction, it was placed in the hands if the famous architect and remodelled to become one of the most famous buildings in all of Barcelona. It was fairly expensive to do the tour, but certainly worth it. Jane, a girl that I met in the hostel was very interested in seeing the building and joined Ole and I. The rooftop is particularly interesting, the view from up there is a spectacle. Much of the facade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles and some intricate iron work which makes the Casa Batllo such an interesting and popular attraction for tourists. The entire bottom floor of the apartment block has no straight lines in it, meaning the staircase, the roof and walls were all curved, and the paint and lead lighting are designed to give the effect of being underwater which is very impressive. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and probably would have to be one of the most interesting buildings i have ever been in. Our Hostel; after having some doubts about its cleanliness turned out to be not a bad hostel after all, thanks mostly to the people we met there. Sleeping in such a large city and so close to one of the popular night life districts is difficult as there are cars and trucks zooming past at all hours and people often wandering the streets. That coupled with the fact it was often too warm in the rooms and we had no control over the air-conditioning was a bit of a down side too, but as i said, it was a really friendly atmosphere and the staff were very helpful.

In the evening, a group of us went down to the Magic Fountain to watch a show, which was really cool, thousands people head down there to watch the water display and have dinner, drinks and a good chill out by the fountain, which was exactly what i needed after such a long day of wandering the city. Off to Nice, France tomorrow. The train ride is around about 12 hours. Fun!