10 days later... I am finally home. What a whirlwind. This semester has not disappointed in terms of my travel plans. I have been to more countries than I ever imagined during my first month here in Luxembourg. I am so blessed to be in this position where I get to see these places with friends, new and old. This past week brought me to 3 different countries: Nice, France for my sprint Study Tour and two personal trips to Monte Carlo, Monaco and Barcelona, Spain. Spending time in these beautiful countries led me to admire all the different types of art and architecture.
Nice was a beautiful beach town filled with so much art history. On a more modern note, I thought "The Seven Statues of The Massena Square" were a cool touch to this public area. Each night, the men light up and flash different colors that can be seen throughout Nice's geographic center. The lighting of the statues reminded me of a toy that I used to play with when I was younger, bringing back feelings of good memories. It was created by Spanish artist, Jaume Plensa, who specialized in monumental art. Each man represents the 7 continents and the communication they share in today's society. The seamless change of the colors shows how smoothly the dialogue between the continents should operate today.
During our time off in Nice, a group of people and I got the chance to climb to the top of this mountain to Cascade du Casteu where we got this beautiful shot of Nice . On our way down from our mountain adventure, I came across this statue on the side of this building that caught my attention. It reminded me of sculptures and paintings seen in class. It had no name but upon closer inspection, I presumed it to be the Virgin Mary holding Jesus Christ. I believe it was sculpted out of stone and created directly in the building. It made me think of all the Renaissance studies we did in class and it was really cool to implement that knowledge into my real life. I thought it was interesting to find this beautiful structure in such a secluded area. It makes finding it that much more special.
This next sculpture can be found at the Picasso Museum located in Antibes, France. It initially grabbed my attention because of the guitars that made up the structure. Music has been in my life for as long as I can remember and am striving for it to be involved in my future career, so I made a strong connection with this piece. It is made up of different guitars that have gotten faded and rusted over time from being outdoors. Some guitars are completely intact while others have the tops of the guitar taken off to help create depth and make the piece look different. The use of this unique material caused it to be very different than the rest of the artwork through out the museum, and it was one of the few sculptures as well from what I can remember.
Another museum we got to visit in Nice was Musée Matisse. His artworks have been housed here in 1963 in the Hotel Regina (pictured here) where he resided for a period of time in his life. The outer facade is a dark red color with turquoise shutters that are the same on every side. What was interesting to me was that the pillars underneath the windows aren't actually real, but painted/glued onto the side. From our guided tour of Old Nice, I believe I remember that this was a tactic to help preserve the look of the buildings. The different moldings on the windows create an visually pleasing affect. The moldings on the top row of windows remind me of the ones in my Queen Victorian house built in 1884 back home.
After my study tour, we stayed in the Nice area and got the opportunity to go to Monte Carlo for the night and grab dinner. Here are some pictures from our excursion to Monaco!
Halfway through the week, we headed to our final destination.... BARCELONA, SPAIN!! I have been wanting to go to Spain since I was a kid and it was so cool to experience it with my friends. It was my first time this trip that I was able to use my Spanish as well. I was a bit rusty at first but it slowly came back. Along with the endless beaches, restaurants, and shopping, Barcelona is full of beautiful art and architecture.
One of the most famous structures in Barcelona right now is La Sagrada Familia. Its construction began on March 19th, 1882 and estimated to be completed sometime between 2026 and 2028 as of 2011. I didn't realize how long this structure had been built, I thought it was just going through a big remodel. Its interesting to think about how people are still following a plan made by an artist who lived over 100 years ago. This Roman Catholic Church was designed by Catalan Architect Antoni Gaudi. It is really apparent that this church has a Byzantine influence as well as a Gothic style to it based on the pointed arches and ribbed vaults. The meaning of this building is set through the form and expression of its facade and the iconography of its sculpture. In the end, there will be 18 towers pointing towards the sky. The one in the middle represents Jesus Christ with 4 surrounding that one to show the gospels. The tower above the apse represents the Virgin Mary while the remaining 12 towers are built after the 12 apostles.
While walking around Barcelona, we stumbled upon this beautifully, ornate home. We later found it is actually called Casa Batlló, House of Bones, due to its skeletal facade. It was created by architect Antoni Gaudi and is considered one of his masterpieces. What drew me to it were the oval-like windows and gray stone with blue/orange/green detailing on it. It clearly is not like the rest of the buildings found in Barcelona. The detailing seem to have come from different colored tiles sporadically put on the exterior. It's also interesting to note that there are no straight lines found on the structure, only round. in my opinion, it makes the outside soft and not as harsh with corners and straight lines. It showed how Gaudi went outside the box with his work.
On the inside of Casa Batlló I found this beautiful stain glass window. I can never get enough of these types of windows because of the light that they bring into rooms. I think it brings an aura to the room that normal windows do not and creates something interesting for the eye to look at. I like the different shapes of the windows from top to bottom as to create another visually pleasing aspect to the entire window itself. I like the colors that Gaudi chose as well, they are relaxing and not overbearing in any way. They also have a gothic feel to them
The last piece of art I found was stumbled upon while walking in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. Although I am not entirely sure what the name of it is, I thought it was closely tied to what we have been learning about in class. Clearly, it has a gothic style to it based on its location. It also is apparent through the darker hues of the religious figures. The pointed arches and tall towers also give way to the gothic style. It is so cool to be able to recognize the types of art I find when I travel to different cities and I hope I can continue to recognize them for years to come.
Here are some other pictures from my time in Barcelona!!!
