Thursday's Child: The Alcazar, Segovia

The final building in Spain I’ll write about this month is the stunning Alcazar in Segovia.  Rather than telling you the history of this astounding castle or trying to describe it in my own words, I’ll say that it reminded me throughout of the poem The Lady of Shalott.  Between our photos and Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s words, I’ll let you form your own impressions.

Four gray walls and four gray towers,

Overlook a space of flowers,

And the silent isle imbowers

The Lady of Shalott.

There she weaves by night and day

A magic web with colours gay.

She has heard a whisper say,

A curse is on her if she stay

To look down to Camelot.

And moving thro’ a mirror clear

That hangs before her all the year,

Shadows of the world appear.

There she sees the highway near

Winding down to Camelot.

And sometimes thro’ the mirror blue

The knights come riding two and two:

She hath no loyal Knight and true,

The Lady of Shalott.

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,

He rode between the barley-sheaves,

The sun came dazzling thro’ the leaves,

And flamed upon the brazen greaves

Of bold Sir Lancelot.

She left the web, she left the loom,

She made three paces thro’ the room,

She saw the water-lily bloom,

She saw the helmet and the plume,

She look’d down to Camelot.

Out flew the web and floated wide;

The mirror crack’d from side to side;

“The curse is come upon me,” cried

The Lady of Shalott

Excerpts from The Lady of Shalott, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Thursday's Child: Casa Batllo, Barcelona

Casa Batllo was another of Antoni Gaudi’s private commissions in Barcelona.  Like La Pedrera, it was built on Barcelona’s iconic street, Passeig de Gracia, and avoids any use of straight lines.  Irregular windows and balconies, and the extensive use of glass and the colour blue in the interior, lend it a beguiling appearance. 

Casa Batllo, both stately and enchanting, feels like it was lifted from a modernist fairy tale and set down in the middle of Barcelona.  As we explored the silent rooms we could have been stepping into the long-dormant castle of Sleeping Beauty.  The lovely princess, cursed to sleep for one hundred years, must have been as captivated by its artistry as the prince who came to rescue her.

Shielded for one hundred years, the enchanted castle looms.

A rooftop beacon to Prince Charming.

Flowers set in stone could only be the hallmark of a castle cursed by an evil fairy.

The inner courtyard, illuminated by sunlight.

Thursday's Child: Guggenheim museum, Bilbao

One of the exciting aspects of traveling is visiting great buildings that are unlike anything you’ve seen anywhere else.  This month, I’ll tell you about some of that amazing architecture, and I’ll start by writing about the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain.

When the Basque region of Spain was revitalizing itself in the late twentieth century, it hired Frank Gehry to build a museum.  He responded with a titanium and glass masterpiece that was almost shockingly unlike any other.  When it opened in 1997, I saw photos of it everywhere.  I don’t know much about architecture, but I was captivated by this building that was so unusual, it was difficult even to describe.  Some people say it resembles a spaceship that landed by the water and never left; others describe it as an otherworldly boat.  Either way, it’s hard to take your eyes off it.

After admiring the Bilbao Guggenheim from afar for over ten years, it was a thrill to visit it in 2008.  My oldest daughter reminded me that as we walked around its perimeter, it seemed to change colour depending on the angle and the time of day.  Because of the swooping curves of the building, the reflecting pools of water, and the river that runs beside it, at times the building almost seemed to float, as if it wasn’t really bound to the earth. 

Inspired by water, transformed by light, the Bilbao Guggenheim is a triumph of architecture and a joy to visit.

Thursday's Child: Casa Guilla, Spain

Photo used courtesy of www.casaguilla.com

Unlike all the other hotels I’m writing about this month, we took our own luggage directly to the Casa Guilla.  But the white-knuckle drive to get there, and the utter peace once we arrived, make it one of the top remote hotels we’ve ever visited.  

Andrew is an enthusiastic driver.  It’s his willingness to rent a car and drive into the far regions of foreign countries that lets me seek out these amazing locales.  But this drive tested even his limits, as we rounded one hairpin turn after another, with sheer drops of a hundred feet or more.  I had booked us into the Casa Guilla for two nights, and the plan was that on our full day there, we’d drive back into the valley and see some of the surrounding countryside.  When I shared this plan with Andrew, he said, “I’ll be driving that road one more time, and that’s to take us back to Barcelona.”

Take a look at the picture at the top of this post.  Notice the buildings all along the ridge.  Then see the building perched at the very top: that’s Casa Guilla.  Even parking our car was an adventure.  I stood along the edge to help Andrew back up, to prevent a reenactment of the final scene in Thelma and Louise.  

Scenes from our hike  

Casa Guilla is nestled in the Pyrenees near the village of Tremp.  It's a couple of hours from Barcelona but it seems like a million miles away.  According to the Casa Guilla website, they've dated the house back at least 1000 years, to the time of Charlemagne.

Even though we never did make it into the valley (except on our way back to Barcelona), we had a wonderful day exploring the casa and hiking around the area.  We relaxed by the pool, and we enjoyed two gourmet dinners which were framed by the most glorious sunsets we’ve ever seen.  The beautiful views of the Pyrenees and the serenity of the hotel made the drive there and back more than worth it.

Hiking down the mountain was easier than driving.
Hiking back up was good exercise!

Casa Guilla patio