July 21 (day 23)

Barcelona is Spain's second-largest city and a major industrial and commercial centre. On my arrival to this beautiful city yesterday, I was pleased to see its familiar streets and modern buildings. Its hard to explain, but Barcelona has this special charm that the other cities lack. It has a more artsy and modern feeling.

Soon after we dropped off our stuff at the apartment were going to be staying at located on Carrer de Sarria, just a few blocks away from La Sagrada Familia. We then went to the Picasso Museum. Last time I came to Barcelona six years ago, the Picasso Museum was closed. I was so excited to finally get to see it. It is located on Carrer Montcada, a street known for its elegant medieval structures. Two buildings were converted into the Picasso Museum, home to one of the most complete collections of works from his youth and formative years as an artist. It includes a number of childhood portraits and paintings, as well as engravings, drawings, and art from his Blue and Rose Periods.

The walk back home I remember being dead tired due to lack of sleep. The previous nights I had barely slept for my host brothers and sister wanted to hang out as much as they could with me before I left. I had my eyes closed through the whole walk while Ramon and Cesar directed me back to the apartment.

This morning we visited the Barcelona Pavillion designed by Mies Van der Rohe. The building was done for the Universal Exhibition in 1929 that took place in Barcelona and was used for the official opening of the German section of the exhibition. It was supposed to be a representation of the most modern side of German architecture. The building is the best example of Rationalism in architecture. In opposition to the natural forms of Gaudí and the old styles like gothic and neoclassical, Van der Rohe wanted to design something based on a mathematical style (against the organic),based on the approach "less is more". I liked how the eight metallic supporting pillars not hidden but rather formed an exterior skeleton.

After we visited the MNAC (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya). It is situated on the side of the hill called Montjuic, where we all took great pictures of the city. Then we explored the museum's massive collection of roman, gothic, renaissance, baroque, and modern art.

From there we wen to the Fundació Joan Miró, which is the museum of Miró. I had previously visited this museum, but I had forgotten big chunks of it. It was a nice refresher. I really enjoy Miró's work. His use of simple and abstract shapes are very pleasing to the eye.