barcelona: casa batllo

I've got a few Barcelona posts coming up now, from when I visited in the summer, and to be honest they're mostly fangirling about Antoni Gaudí. First and most importantly about Casa Batlló - my one true love and long-time obsession. Seeing Casa Batlló and other Gaudí masterpieces was basically the sole reason for me to want to visit Barcelona. Which is why I immediately bought the tickets when I saw how cheap they were and when the city basically was on my way travelling from Portugal to Finland.

I don't claim to know a lot about architecture but I'm still always appreciative of it and - quite predictably - Gaudí is my favourite architect. I must've been around the age of 13 when I became obsessed with Casa Batlló and started getting really into Gaudí. In case you didn't know, Antoni Gaudí was a Spanish architect who lived in 1852-1926 and who with his unique style can be seen as the main Catalan Modernist. Casa Batlló (1904) is one of his most celebrated and well-known designs, and genuinely the most beautiful modernist/art nouveau building ever. I remember having a piece written on Gaudí in my English book in high school about how he died (by getting run over by a tram) and how at first he wasn't even really helped as people thought he was homeless based on his shabby appearance, and that was the saddest thing I'd read. It's still really heartbreaking.

Having already been in love with the building without ever seeing it in real life, I cannot even begin to describe how amazing it was to finally visit it. I was staying quite near by in a hostel, so I could walk past Casa Batlló at least twice a day, seeing it in different lighting, always appreciating. I have so many more pictures of the whole building, its details, everything, but none of them truly make it full justice. It is stunning. The dragon-like features, the colours, no straight lines, the stained glass, the attention to detail, the sheer uniqueness of every little bit that has gone into making the casa what it is. All of it left me swooning. Did you know Gaudí designed even all of the doorknobs so they'd perfectly fit his hand ergonomically? That's cool. I would've been happy just visiting, but in addition to that the audio tour was really enjoyable; sharing lots of information and having some interesting AR elements to it. (Also, the gift shop. Do I need a replica Gaudí chair? No. Do I still want it? Absolutely. As I want all the Casa Batlló things.)

So I obviously had an absolutely wonderful time, and would recommend going. If you don't want to spend all the money to go inside, seeing Casa Batlló at least from the outside is a must in my opinion. Let me know your Gaudí favourites, whether or not you've been to Casa Batlló. I could talk about it all day long (clearly). The dream still is to live in Casa Batlló one day, right?