Barcelona Day Three

London

Park in London

Barcelona Day Three- Saturday, April 3^rd 2010

Today we slept in for a little, which is always good. We got on the metro first thing and headed out to Montjuic Hill, which required a special metro that went uphill- which was kinda cool. We stopped by the Jardi de les Escultures and the Jardin de Laribol- which are an arrangement of outdoor, public spaces, with a waterfall feature and a small pond, statues and plants. It was all overlooking an amazing view of the city. The first place we stopped at was the Museu Olimpic I de l’Esport de Barcelona- which was an Olympic museum, mostly dedicated to the Barcelona Olympics that took place in 1992. This was by far my most favorite part of Barcelona thus far, possibly all of spring break. I found the track and field section to be very interesting- but some of my favorite displays were the Olympic torches from every season, and the hands-on training room. I found out I could jump a vertical height of 52 inches and I also found out how tall a bicycle seat had to be for my height and cycling style- it was really cool.

Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys

The Olympic Stadium in Barcelona was originally built in 1927 for the 1929 International Exposition in the city. It was renovated in 1989 to be the main stadium for the 1992 Summer Olympics. The stadium has a capacity of 55,926 people (70,000 during the Olympics) and is located in the Anella Olimpica in Montjuic, a large hill to the southwest of the city which overlooks the harbor. It was quite a sight from the stadium. It overlooked the city, and again, the public space was awesome. I spent some time relaxing there, just trying to take everything in. It was quite overwhelming for me… mostly because I am obsessed with the Summer Olympics, and being that I was at an Olympic stadium… I was loving it. In fact, my ultimate goal oneday as a designer is to design an Olympic stadium. Once I’ve done that, my life would be complete.

Just outside of the Olympic stadium is the public space I was talking about… the Palau Sant Jordi, the Torre Telefonica, and the Olimpic Placa. The Torre Telefonica is a telecommunication tower in the Montjuic neighborhood of Barcelona. Designed by Santiago Calatrava, construction on the tower began in 1989 and was completed in 1992. The white tower was built for Telefonica to transmit television coverage of the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona. It is 143m tall and is located in the Olympic park.

Barcelona Pavilion

The Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, is an important building in the history of modern architecture. I mean very important. I mean… in history of Architecture III Prof. Strand drilled this Pavailion and concept into our brains forever. If you ever want to be an architect, you have to know about the Barcelona Pavilion. Known for its simple form and extravagant materials, such as marble and travertine. The design was predicted on an absolute distinction between structure and enclosure-a regular grid of cruciform steel columns interspersed by freely spaced planes. The entire building rests on a plinth of travertine. The whole concept was to blur the inside with the outside. He did this in a number of ways- by projecting the floor slabs out over a pool. Every single aspect of the building is important- from the extraordinary materials to the simple design and concept- it can all be relayed into modern architecture.

After we left the Barcelona Pavilion we went to Las Ramblas where we watched a pillow fight. That’s right, a pillow fight! We heard about it through the grapevine so we made sure to check it out. Right in the middle of the plaza we witnessed the first annual Barcelona Pillow Fight! And we saw the whole thing! At first, only a couple people showed up- mostly young people, with pillows just kind of standing around waiting for something to happen. Then, eventually more and more people started showing up and all of a sudden someone blew off a horn and the braw began. It lasted a good 20 minutes and it good pretty intense! Feathers were flying everywhere and people were yelling and screaming and having nothing but a good time! I only wish I would have brought a pillow so I could’ve joined in on the fun! I thought about using the hostels pillow… but then I quickly realized it would have ripped open and it probably wasn’t a good idea to ruin a pillow from the best hostel in all of Barcelona.

Parc Ciutadella

The last place we stopped today was Parc Ciutadella. The park is the most central park in all of Barcelona, and one of the first ones considered only for public delectation. After its establishment during the mid 19^th century, it was for decades the only green area in the city, and hitherto of the most popular. It is located at the northeastern edge of the old town, and hosts within its 70 acres the city’s substantial zoo, the Parliament of Catalonia, a lake, some museums, and a fountain of considerable size designed by Gaudi. It is characterized by being a very busy place, crowded with tourists, and locals, who are usually going for a walk or partaking in sporting events or running. I spent my little time in this park walking around and sipping on a slushy I bought for 2 euros. Haha!

We went back to the hostel, and again stayed in and talked to the travelers who stayed their. There was a group of American students who were studying in London- who happened to be on Spring Break just like us. They got really drunk in the kitchen and danced. They embarrassed themselves pretty bad. Typical Americans.