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Among the countries that I’ve visited in Europe, Spain has the most character. One place can be so cosmopolitan and the next, old-fashioned and quaint.:) Read on to find out more . . .
Barcelona
Sagrada Familia is a marvel of a design. No wonder, Antoni Gaudi is probably the most celebrated modernist whose innovative work defied design rulebooks as he mirrored curves and mixed nature, astonomy and religion. He began work for Sagrada Familia in 1882 and spent over 40 years of his life working on it until his accidental death in 1926 (when he was ran over by a train). Two other architects have continued his work since then and the church is expected to be completed in 20 to 30 years’ time.
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Another must-see for Gaudi fans is Park Guell – Gaudi’s 1st major architectural project. He was commissioned by Count Guell to build a garden village but when it was completed, no one wanted to live in it (because it was up a hill and was considered far from the city). But looking back, it’s also a good thing that no one opted to live there because otherwise, it wouldn’t be open to the public now:)
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Still at Park Guell, these are Hansel & Gretel inspired houses. No kidding, Gaudi was indeed inspired by the story. I think they were supposed to be the guard and caretaker houses of the village but now, they are used as the information office and souvenir shop respectively.
Las Rambla. It’s the shopping district of Barcelona. We only had 1 hour to go around so I just bought some pasalubong at Zara and then decided to watch a band playing blues just outside Il Cortes Ingles (Spain’s version of SM).
Montserrat
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Breathtaking landscape. Monasteries and churches are perched atop the mountain against beautiful rock formations. The monastery is 750m above sea level and the topmost peak is approximately 1,027m above sea level.
The church houses the black Madonna, Catalonia’s patroness.
Zaragoza
On our way to Madrid, we stopped over at the Basilica of Nuestra Senor del Pilar (Spain’s patroness). This church is also Spain’s biggest basilica.
Madrid
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Among the cities we visited, Madrid is the least that I was able to explore because we had the city tour on the evening we arrived (and aboard the bus!). If we didn’t have dinner and spent the night there, I couldn’t even say that I’ve set foot in Madrid! Haha…
BTW, while in Madrid, don’t miss to get a sip of Sangria:)
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Salamanca a small village with well-preserved architecture. I like visiting quaint villages – it’s like going back in time:) Best buys at the Salamanca market are silver accessories.
Loyola
We visited the Sanctuary of Loyola. Built around the 17th and 18th centuries next to the Holy Home .JPG)
of St. Ignatius of Loyola, it was designed by Fontana (a disciple of Bernini) and patterned to looked like a mini-Vatican.
Here's the room of St. Ignatius – now the Chapel of Conversion. This is where St. Ignatius went through surgery and was near death. He also spent time reading his religious books here which greatly influenced his conversion.
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