It was cold. We opened the windows to let in some fresh air, but we had to close it shortly after because it was getting colder by the minute and it's only in the afternoon. We rested for a bit, made use of the toilet which was conveniently right next to our room, and prepared ourselves for the tour ahead.

We went to search for Halal restaurants along Passeig de Gracia before proceeding to anything else. Honestly, we haven't eaten anything for the past 24 hours, not even snacks. It was up to the point where we weren't hungry anymore, but of course we knew our stomach still needs the food regardless. It was a tough job trying to search for Halal food around Barcelona. No kidding. And it was also because my friend was too used to searching for vegetarian restaurants with her iPad that we didn't wholeheartedly search for Halal notices. (I was really annoyed because of this actually, but no matter.. -_-'') We also had a little argument about what kinds of food to go for. I wanted something light because I know my stomach is really really very empty and I don't want to upset it by suddenly eating a whole load. However, she wanted something very heavy because she wants to compensate for all the missed meals her stomach had to suffer. We found a small diner which served all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet which costed about 10euros at the end of one of the block. I refused it, but she insisted. I told her that she can eat it and I will accompany her, and I will find myself some bread later. But she told me she's not going to eat it if I wasn't eating it, though still insisting that she wants to eat a 'proper' meal such as this one continuously. I had no choice but to give in. =_= Well, the buffet wasn't all that bad. They had salmon salad, seafood stuff, vegetable porridge, potatoes, spaghetti with tomato sauce etc. My stomach felt weird and I had to eat so very slowly but I did manage to finish two regular plates for the sake of the 10euros that I've spent for this. My friend ate quite a lot though, mostly because vegetarian stuff is really her thing. While we ate, I remembered a nun asked me where I was from when I passed her. She guessed that I'm from the Phillipines. Well, I told her I'm not. (Do I really look like one?)


Not only the architecture, but the architect themselves are very popular too! And Barcelona's most favourited and respected architect is the infamous Antoni Gaudi. This man is by far the most brilliant architect I had the pleasure of knowing about! He has architectured so many structures all around Barcelona and all of them are consistently so very beautiful and breathtaking. And my mission of coming to Barcelona was to stalk these popular structures and make sure that I were to see them with my own two eyes. :D At the top of my list was Casa Batllo.



Luckily, my friend agreed to my mission. So when we found the Block of Discord and saw the infamous Casa Batllo, I immediately told her that I'm going in for the tour. She hesitated for a while, but didn't protest. We went in line and bought the entry tickets at 14.55euros (student price. normal price is 18euros) each. Of course we had to show our student ID. There wasn't that many people around us, but I will have to tell you that people will just keep on arriving and the flow doesn't stop.

We went through the entrance after passing some cute security guys who checked our tickets ;p and was welcomed by a lady inside. She gave us our audios (self-guided tour). She told us to press the room number we were in to hear the elaboration and story about the said room. You can find the room numbers on the walls. The first room came almost immediately, so we pressed number one followed by the green button, just like if you're calling a person on speed-dial. xD


There wasn't anything much in Room 1. The female voice explained about the vase and the stairs. I paid less attention to the vase because I was more interested in the design of the stairs. It was said that Gaudi took a dragon's tail as inspiration for the stairs. Well actually, the whole of Casa Battlo was inspired by a dragon! Aside from other things of course. (e.g.: sea water)

We made our way upstairs, and I was instantly awed when I looked up because the ceiling had no straight lines or corners at all! I mean, from the walls, the surface flowed to the ceiling like a wave. It looked as if the house (yes, this structure is meant to be a house) was molded by clay or something. Up above from here, there was a small window meant to allow the flow of sunlight onto the first landing.


The first functional room on the first floor was a foyer (I think). There was a fireplace and a beautiful chandelier inside this room. Referring back to the idea of a dragon, this fireplace represents the dragon's lungs and the chimney will somehow become the nose. haha. There are seats on the left and right of the fireplace. During cold nights (or day) family members will gather here sitting on the benches together while sharing hot chocolates and stories to pass the time. :) Isn't that sweet...

Proceeding to the next room, it was a mini chapel. I don't have a picture of the chapel because there was nothing else in there aside from a large side table with a cross on top and a huge crystal chandelier above our heads. This room is smaller than the foyer.


The next room will be the living room. What caught my attention the most in the living room was this 'chandelier'. I don't know what to call it actually. It doesn't dangle down from the ceiling like a normal chandelier, but it's much too fancy to be called a lamp. But whatever it is, I think it's my most favourite creation in all of Casa Batllo. I have no clear idea of how to interpret this design. I mean, it could be anything! It's like a swirl, and there's light coming from the middle. My easiest (and most unintellect guess) is that it could be an eye. A dragon's eye perhaps? But what does a dragon's eye has got to do inside the dragon? LOL. Besides, where could the other eye be? :p So maybe it's not an eye, but an opening to another dimension? Okay, now that's totally out of the world. But still, who knows? ;) And from this living room, we could also see Passeig de Gracia through the huge windows.


We made our way through to find the next room. We had to walk through the hall and came across a few random structures. While walking through here, the audio guide told us about how Gaudi insisted on designing every single thing needed for Casa Batllo. And when he means every single thing, he literally meant every single thing. No kidding. From the furniture to the smallest things! He was seriously so very particular even of the materials used, and also took into account the external factors involved etc. It was just incredible! :D




Oh, and I almost forgot one more interesting item located in the living room area. It's this huge door connecting the mini chapel to the living room, which can be folded and unfolded. (The front door of my Gram's house can also be folded like this, just that Gaudi's foldable doors are much much prettier) so yeah, that small room behind there is the mini chapel. Well, I told you there's nothing interesting to snap in there... :p



TBC.
-yet another cliffhanger xD

p/s: I'm seriously trying my best to recall the events during my Eurotrip. It's been 3 months now... -_- I should've done this sooner when the memories and my own thoughts are still fresh in my mind. But nevermind. I bet you enjoyed the pictures anyways ;)

p.p/s: And today, I will share another one of my song addictions, but it's not a Kpop song. I've admired Dima Bilan since the first time I heard him sing 'Believe', which was recommended by my sister's Russian Language teacher. This one that I'm promoting, has got to be my most favourite song from Dima, and I can't wait for him to come up with another song similar to this and better :p I love the video, I love its visuals, the colour and every aspect present with the song itself along with Dima's vocal. Enjoy!! ^^

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