By Corey Sandler
We have arrived in the glorious city of Barcelona, a place that is in love with art of all forms.
We docked at the World Trade Center near the base of Las Ramblas.
The Silver Spirit, one week out of the shipyard where she was extended by 15 meters or 49 feet, is the newest work of art in town.
On this visit, I made a pilgrimage to the newest old showpiece in town: the rejuvenated and restored Casa Vicens, the first major building designed by Antoni Gaudi. Work began in 1883 and was completed in 1888, and for nearly all of past 130 years or so, it has been a private residence.
Five years ago it was purchased by MoraBank of Andorra, and just a few months ago it was opened to the public. Casa Vicens is not as phantasmagorical as Casa Pedrera or Palau Guell or as spiritually uplifting as La Sagrada Family. But it offers an amazing view of the developing skills of Gaudi; he was all of 30 years old when he received the commission.
Casa Vicens was built alongside a cloister that had a wall of ivy, and Gaudi continued that theme within the home. Here is some of what we saw:
CASA VICENS
All photos by Corey Sandler. All rights reserved.
To those guests who are leaving us here, I wish you safe travels, buen viaje, until we meet again.
And for those joining us here, bienvenido. Welcome aboard.
We’re going down and around, from Barcelona to the equally differently wondrous city of Valencia and then out into the middle of the Mediterranean to the island of Ibiza.
From there, back to the mainland to call at Cartagena and Malaga before politely leaving Spain for two days to visit the British exclave of Gibraltar. From there we cross over to Africa for a call at Casablanca.
Then back to Spain for Cadiz before heading north to Lisbon.
Here’s our plan:
All photos and text Copyright 2018 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.
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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.
SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS