Nice cards

These are the great cards i've received today. My 1st official card from Spain - ES-21804 - sent by a forum member Luis "luiseme" and a card from UK sent by Paola "paolandia" - "you choose used cards tag".

"Casa Batlló is a building restored by Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol, built in the year 1877 and remodelled in the years 1905–1907; located at 43, Passeig de Gràcia, part of the Illa de la Discòrdia in the Eixample district of Barcelona.
The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), and indeed it does have a visceral, skeletal organic quality. It was originally designed for a middle-class family and situated in a prosperous district of Barcelona.

The building looks very remarkable — like everything Gaudí designed, only identifiable as Modernisme or Art Nouveau in the broadest sense. The ground floor, in particular, is rather astonishing with tracery, irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stone work.
It seems that the goal of the designer was to avoid straight lines completely. Much of the façade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles (trencadís) that starts in shades of golden orange moving into greenish blues. The roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dragon or dinosaur. A common theory about the building is that the rounded feature to the left of centre, terminating at the top in a turret and cross, represents the sword of Saint George (patron saint of Catalonia), which has been plunged into the back of the dragon." - in: wikipedia.

"Chichester Cathedral in Chichester, West Sussex, England is an Anglican Cathedral.
Chichester Cathedral has superposed "Norman" (English Romanesque) arcades in the nave and choir, with much Early English (Early Gothic) building. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner rated it 'the most typical English cathedral' (Buildings of England: Sussex). The nave is unusual in that its aisles were doubled in the 13th century. Chichester is the only mediæval cathedral in England with a separate bell tower, like a campanile, and also the only one visible from the sea.
The Cathedral was founded in 1075, after the seat of the bishop was transferred to the town from nearby Selsey. It was consecrated in 1108 under Bishop Ralph de Luffa but a subsequent fire created a need for substantial rebuilding, which was not completed until 1184." - in: wikipedia.