Barcelona and Bilbao came to life through Dan Brown's latest novel, Origin!

Take a journey through Bilbao and Barcelona when you read Dan Brown's latest novel, Origin, then join me in person for my  

Jewels of Northern Spain tour,

September 9 - 22, 2019. 

Origin is a very interesting read, that is hard to put down, that takes you to many of the places where I will be taking you.  It starts at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Brown's main character in the book, Robert Langdon, describes the Guggenheim as "an alien hallucination." 
Designed by architect, Frank Gehry, the museum opened in the fall of 1997.  It was a rare feat, for it was constructed on time and on budget.  Covered in glass, titanium and limestone, the building's curves seem to be almost random. 

The main entrance to the museum, where we will not have to wait in line, for I will have purchased our tickets way in advance.

The Fog Sculpture by Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya.  Unique in that the "sculpture" is never the same, the fog materializing and dissipating and continuously changing due to the daily weather patterns. 

It is a wild effect,

creating an almost eerie atmosphere.

 The interior is awe inspiring

 with the white pillars flaring up 200 feet towards the sky into a sea of glass and metal grids

 all connected by walkways and balconies.

In the atrium area, off to one side, is the phenomenal installation by Jenny Holzer titled Installation For Bilbao.

There are nine, forty foot tall linear panels eliminated by LED lights transmitting quotes scrolling upwards in Basque, English and Spanish about the tragedy of AIDS and the turmoil and agony of those left behind.

It's a very powerful installation and those that were interacting around the installation were totally mesmerized. 

Entering the large catacomb of a room, you encounter eight weathered steel sculptures by American artist, Richard Serra.  You can really get an idea of the massive scale these sculptures are by the scale of the people and the room.

The sculptures vary in height from 12 to 14 feet tall and weigh 44 to 276 tons!  They are all self supported.  I love how these sculptures are described in Brown's book, "If you imagine a dollar bill that you curl around a pencil, once you remove the pencil, your coiled bill can stand quite happily on its own edge, supported by it own geometry."  Oh, so true.

Torqued Spiral draws Langdon into its interior where the mysteries to why he is here start to unravel, a beginning of a journey to Barcelona in search of answers...

Entering these sculptures is a moving experience.  But not if your claustrophobic.  The above, titled The Snake, consists of two curving tunnels, side by side, over a hundred feet long.  If one whispers at one end, it can be heard at the other end.

Commonly known as La Salve Bridge, its official name is the ‘Prince and Princess of Spain Bridge’.   Salve comes from folk lore legends of sailors returning home on the river from the sea saying prayers of thanks for their safe return to their families and home.
Constructed of green concrete, it was the first cable-stayed system bridge built in Spain and one of the few with a steel deck.  Built in the early 1970's, it now has become part of the Guggenheim.

On the tenth anniversary of the Museum, a great red gate shaped like the letter "H" called the Red Arc was installed by the French artist Daniel Buren.   As Langdon departs Bilbao via the Nervion River, this is where we will enter the city, over the bridge to check into our hotel.  And only a half block away is where we will have a delightful gourmet lunch after spending the morning at the museum.

Red Bull sponsors annual diving competitions all over the world at various water sights and in 2015, they were held in Bilbao where the divers dove into the Nervion River!  Len and I missed it by just a few days!

Like Langdon, we will spend time in Barcelona.  But our visit will certainly be much more enjoyable.  A morning at Antonio Gaudi's Parc Guell with its randomly curving 
mosaic-lined benches.

This area was originally designed to be a market with its hefty columns that supports the benches and walkways above.

Langdon takes us to Casa Mitla, one of Gaudi's beautiful creations.  Nicknamed La Pedrera, this nine story building certainly is like a "stone quarry" with its sculptured, tiered balconies.
Pere Mila and his wife lived in the large main apartment and rented out the other twenty flats.  Just across from our hotel, at Passeig de Gracia 92, it is one of the most desired addresses in all of Barcelona, if not Spain.

The chimney tops look like aliens.  The organic forms are like they are alive.  
Gaudi once wrote: "Nothing is invented, for it's written in nature first.  Originality consists of returning to the origin."  Hence, the name of Brown's book...

We will be right in the center of L'Eixample (meaning enlargement) district.  The large scale improvements were made to the city by extending the city limits into the surrounding neighborhoods to the north.  The planned neighborhoods were never designed to the pave the way for some of Barcelona’s distinctive 20th century architecture, wide streets with shaved corners.  An exquisite area with lovely shops, gourmet dining and luxurious hotels.

Casa Batllo, one of my favorite houses of Gaudi, is really phenomenal and only a block from our hotel!  It was an existing building that textile industrialist, Josep Batllo', commissioned Gaudi to remodel. Construction began in 1904 and was completed in 1906.  The facade refers to Catalonia's Middle Ages.  The scaly roof line represents the Dragon of Evil impaled on St. George's cross. 

Batllo's residence was the largest apartment in the building that had an impressive "noble floor."  It was a large gallery with balconies that extended beyond the facade of the building with stone columns in shapes of skulls and bones representing the dragon's victims.  This was an area to see and be seen!

You must watch the incredible video of how his house comes to life, La Casa Batlo de Gaudi en Barcelona:   https://youtu.be/QQnWTzkbEKA
I never tire of watching this!

Where Langdon spends an harrowing evening at Gaudi's, Sagrada Familia (the Basilica of the Holy Family), we will enjoy a very informative guided tour one morning.  Sitting on an entire city block, construction started in 1882 and the work continues today with hopes of completion in 2026, making it the tallest church in the world at 560 feet.  Funds for the construction have all been from private donations!
The church consists of three completely different facades; the Nativity , the Passion and the Glory.

But it is the interior that is beyond breathtaking. 

The stone columns inspired by the Santa Maria del Mar church (which we will visit) climb 200 hundred feet up into the air to the geometric vaulted ceiling.  Gaudi referred to the columns and ceiling as the "vaulted forest."

Landgon was in awe of the church's main entrance, a Wall of Codes.  A door of burnished metal, the three-dimensional text covers the entire door with no spaces between the words in which reads a description of Christ's Passion in Catalan.

So dramatic!

Reflection of part of the Sagrada Familia on the mirrored facade of the gift shop.

Langdon finds clues to the mysteries through Miro's drawings.

One afternoon we will tour the Miro Foundacion.

Langdon did fly over the Palace of Pedrables in a helicopter which led him to other clues.  A gorgeous palace (now closed) that once housed a phenomenal ceramic and textile collection.  Now those two collections have joined the design and graphic arts collection in the new Museu del Disseny in Barcelona.  A Museum that is also on my itinerary (and read about it on my Blog - Post dated September 14, 2018)

Origin is an exciting read and I highly recommend it, especially if you plan on joining me on my Jewels of Northern Spain tour in September of 2019.