The beautiful Barcelona is home for fanciful masterpieces of Antonio Gaudi. I thought I’d had pretty good grasp on the architectures of Gaudi’s but I didn’t anticipate the subtle interior design when I get into some of his buildings.
This is the Casa Batlló. I was surprised by every turn when I was inside, and it was always inspirational. I wonder whether you have ever played Myst? This place reminded me of Myst–except Gaudi had come up with the ideas so long ago–in 1877! And those designs were not only for beauty but large sums of functionality built-in too. Simply moving cool air from room to room is stylish and unexpected.
Of all of Gaudi’s masterworks, this is definitely the most impressive. It’s a shame he never got to see it before he died. The guy is an absolute genius. To be able to design all of this on paper is just well beyond my scope of creativity. It would be hard enough just doing it with today’s computers and architecture/design programs.
I did get some special access here to be able to go up to the balcony where the Pope gets to chill when he comes for services. The photos up there were also quite spectacular. I could have spent all day in here.
I think that it’s likely that when most people think of Ibiza they think of drinking, dancing and generally craziness. What they maybe don’t realise is that the island has some fantastically character filled coastline. Here’s a little chunk of it at sunset.
Man, it’s been so long since I was outside NZ it almost feels like the rest of the world may no longer exist. Not sure when I’ll be able to do a trip like the Camino in Spain again, it’s certainly a complex undertaking at the best of times! One thing I didn’t expect on that trip when preparing was such extreme mist in the mornings… I’d imagined quite dry conditions overall but that definitely wasn’t the case.
It’s not often that people pair churches with amusement parks. Maybe that is the way forward for religion though given numbers are dropping all over the place. Lure in the kids…
Speaking of Tibidabo it reminds me of Friends, which reminds me of my Russian friend Olya who learned a lot of her English (and cultural knowledge of America) from watching Friends back when she lived in Russia.
Daily Photo – The Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, Spain
Gaudi’s masterpiece here in Barcelona is probably the most stunning religious structure I’ve ever been inside. I was lucky and I was given special access to a few areas only the Pope gets to visit. He has like is own “Papal Balcony” where he can kind of lord over the congregation. I suppose if you’re the Pope, you just get anything you want. You’re like, hey, I want my own balcony, and then the church just kinda does it for you. This cathedral broke ground way back in 1882 and they are still working on it. It’s probably taking them a while to complete this amazing behemoth because the Spanish have four-hour lunches.
From the Worship collection on Foundation.
I’m fairly sure I captured this when over in Europe for my walk along the Camino with Kevin Kelly and the rest of the gang… couldn’t tell you where I took it from though. I do love how all these old European cities are carved into the land. 🙂
Right at the end of this 40km hike, we ended up here where all the pilgrims do. After having a big farewell dinner, we all went and had some more drinks, Then I headed out to take photos through the night till I was exhausted. I was already pretty tired just from the hike, but I used all the power I had left for one last sesh of photos.
Hey awesome blog reader… you’ll probably be aware that I’ve been delving into the world of NFTs in the past few months. So far, it’s been both a success and an interesting adventure. That continues today with my 2nd drop on OpenSea. This set of NFTs is based around 50 of my favorite cities spanning all seven continents. There are a wide range of configurations (and prices) available and I’d love it if you’d check them out. If you thought an NFT mixed with physical art was odd last time then how about several NFTs, wrapped in an NFT… mixed with some Aave tokens which should appreciate over time??!
The first drop on OpenSea did better than expected and broke $100,000USD in the first three days. This second one already has a lot of interest as more and more collectors are getting into the NFT world. Jump on in! I’ll make a detailed video soon that talks more about what I’ve learned, mistakes I’ve made, some new ideas, and other interesting stuff from this wild wild west of cryptofun.
Also, if you’re an NFT curious artist, be sure to sign up for Passport where I’ve been sharing videos about my NFT experience so far. If you’re thinking about listing your own, you may find those helpful. Speaking of your own NFTs, I’m now starting to invest back into other projects so if you launch something cool tag me on Twitter and I’ll be sure to take a look. 🙂