CASA BATLLÓ GAUDI TOUR | Barcelona Spain Travel Guide

The sun is out, it's beautiful. Look at the back of the dragon here on the rooftop of Casa Balliol. So if you're looking for the most centralized Gaudi place in the city of Barcelona, Casa Balliol is it. So this building is considered one of the most epic modernisme and Art Nouveau places in all of Barcelona, and I can see why. Hola, buenos dias. It is Tuesday here in Barcelona. We're headed over to Casa Balliol. Today, first time ever going inside. I always pass by this beautiful place by Gaudi and I've never gone inside, so this is going to be a first. I'm excited. We have a 9 o'clock appointment, and yeah, we'll talk more about it as we go along. But the weather, the weather's not cooperating. Alright, JK Schindler, so rainy day in Barcelona. I didn't anticipate it to be this way, but like I said in the Philippines, don't let the rain get in the way of your parade. Alright, headed over to Casa Balliol right now. I could've, I had lived here for two years, I should've went in there during like a nice sunny day, but whatever. We'll make the best of it. It's indoors. As you've noticed, I've corrected the way I've said Casa Balliol because I was pronouncing it Casa Batillo, which is definitely wrong, and I wanted to make sure that I got the pronunciation correct. When you first enter Casa Balliol, you see this beautiful wavy stairwell. Alright guys, so we finally made it into Casa Balliol. It is pouring rain outside, but we're going to make the best of it because we're inside now and it's beautiful in here. Casa Balliol was originally built in 1877 by Emilio Sala Cortez, who happened to be one of Gaudi's professors in architecture. Just past the stairs is the famous living room in which people just love taking pictures of. This is the famous area where you take all the pictures and stuff, but it's pouring rain outside right now. Casa Balliol was commissioned to be built by Gaudi and renovated in 1904 and 1906. Put a little twist into it and turned it into his own. It's amazing that it only took two years for Antoni Gaudi to redesign this beautiful casa. So people around Barcelona, before Gaudi even touched Casa Balliol, said that this building was a wreck and it was ugly and whatever, but once Gaudi got his hands on it and Joseph Balliol, who is the head of the family, the Balliol family, commissioned him to build this. He turned it into something spectacular. The outer facade is very skeletal and very visceral. It looks like a skeleton from the outside and the balconies are beautiful and then the top roof is what it's most famously known for, which looks like the back of a dragon. And I'll try to get some shots of that when it's not raining outside. If you would like to explore Casa Balliol a little bit early, you can spend extra for 37 euro and be one of the first to enter in the morning. That way you're fighting less crowds and you enjoy it a little more. My favorite part of this building is the grand staircase, which leads you up to the rooftop terrace. With its blue tiles, Gaudi intended to make it look like you were swimming under the sea. The blue tile is just simply amazing, dude, I love it. On one of the levels of the grand staircase, you'll find the store, where you can pick up Gaudi art pieces, some magnets, keychains, t-shirts, you name it. This is the nicest building complex I've seen in all of Barcelona in the two years I've lived here. It even beats La Pedrera. The different shades of blue on the tile seems to change once natural light hits the tiles and once it's bright in there, it's even more beautiful to look at. So if you're looking for the most centralized Gaudi place in the city of Barcelona, Casa Balliol is it. It's right off of Passeig de Gràcia, really near Plaza Catalunya. So yeah, this place is cool, there's a lot of people. Even at 9 o'clock, I try to get here first thing in the morning and it's just jam-packed. Even the washrooms are designed with intricacy. Now we're going up this spiral stairwell to the rooftop, in which you can actually reserve for special events like weddings and get-togethers. Yeah, I know, I picked the worst day to come out here to the rooftop, look it's freaking pouring rain and yeah, there's nothing you can do about it, you just gotta do what you gotta do. This is actually the back area of the rooftop. When the sun does shine on this beautiful rooftop, the vibrant colors of this rooftop just seem to glow. This was my first close encounter with the scales of the rooftop and the scales of the dragon. So this building is considered one of the most epic modernisme and art nouveau places in all of Barcelona and I can see why. Look how beautiful this is. The chimney stacks of this rooftop are designed to prevent backdrafts. They are also reminiscent of the rooftop in La Pedrera, Casa Milà. Inside you'll find a little 3D representation of Antoni Gaudi himself, the legend. And I would suggest to slowly go up and down Casa Baleo just to check out things that you may have missed because of all the intricate artwork. It's just a beautiful place and you may have missed something, so go back and check it all out. So this is the part of Casa Baleo where you can go on the balcony and take one of these famous shots. It's closed right now but it should open in the next 5 minutes, so it's through this door right here, that door. Now the picture may be a little pricey but that's the only way to get that shot in the entire building and it may be worth it because it's a great souvenir to take home in a frame and put on your table. So since I'm by myself I bought a picture, just the fact that I can't set up a tripod and take a pic, so why not? It's 12 euros for a picture. Awesome, so it's finally cleared up outside. I just wanted to say that this place is amazing. The rooftop tiles make it look like it's a shell of a turtle. That's pretty cool. I really dig the area of the stairwell. It makes it look like you're in the ocean and you're actually swimming. They actually make some of the glass on the railings look like everything's blurred, like you're swimming in water. Think about it, this was made in the 1900s. That's how advanced thinking Gaudi was. It's amazing to think that this building was almost demolished in 1904 until Antoni Gaudi got his hands on it and was able to refurbish it and make it his own. This building has also been labeled a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These chimneys are labeled as polychrome chimney stacks and they are beautiful with designs and crosses all over the place and you can look out to places like Montjuic and even see other parts of Barcelona in the distance. The sun is out. It's beautiful. Look at the back of the dragon here on the rooftop of Casa Barrio. So this is the glass I was telling you guys about to make it look like you're underwater swimming and it actually looks so much better when it's light up. It makes all the broken up tile and the ambiance of this place so much better when it's bright outside. See what I mean? How much better it looks when the sun's out. So that beautiful chimney is in the shape of a mushroom. So we're in like a bottom patio area now. It's cleared out. This is the back side of Casa Barrio. Out in this beautiful patio, you'll see Gaudi's favorite Trencadis technique on the tiles and poles that look like dragon scales. This area was used by the Barrio family to go out for some fresh air and to even relax on the weekend if they just wanted some sun and to hang out outside. So we're walking down towards the exit. It's been a good hour and a half here. That's what I gotta say to you guys for advice. Take your time when you're in Casa Barrio because you paid 24 Euro to get in here. The front of this building is super colorful and you'll know it's the artwork of Antoni Gaudi. Locals actually refer to this building as Casa dels Osos meaning house of bones which has a skeletal and organic quality. If you look at the balconies, they kind of remind you of masks and the columns around there are bone-like structures that remind you of the human body. This is a shot of Casa Barrio during the holiday of San Jordi where it's decked out with red roses all over the balconies and it's one of the most visited spots on that day. Alright guys, so that was Casa Barrio. It was great to go in there for once. It was pouring rain and at first, you know, it was a struggle to get upstairs, check out the rooftop and everything but you know, you gotta be patient. We waited, the sun came out, it became beautiful out so yeah, you just can't beat it. Casa Barrio. It's in the center of the city, it's one of Gaudi's treasures. Go check it out. A few tips, $21.50 for students so make sure you have a student card if you're a student. Senior discount is also $21.50, other than that it's $28.50 so make sure you guys know that. If you guys like this video, please give it a thumbs up. Please subscribe to Jaycation, I got great content coming up from Barcelona. Some new things that I haven't done before in my two years here and I'll see you in the next video.