Passeig de Gràcia is the grand avenue of Barcelona, and on its sunny side stands a building that looks like it was made out of something living. Casa Batlló, remodelled by Antoni Gaudí between 1904 and 1906 for the textile industrialist Josep Batlló, is a facade of mottled glass and ceramic, with balconies shaped like masks or skulls and bone-like columns, and a roof ridge that arches like the back of a dragon, with a tower topped by a cross. Locals call it the House of Bones, and the roof is said to represent the dragon slain by Saint George, patron saint of Catalonia.
The house stands on the Block of Discord, a stretch of the avenue where several of the leading Modernista architects built neighbouring houses in competing styles, and a few steps away are works by Domènech i Montaner and Puig i Cadafalch. Gaudí did not build from scratch, but rebuilt an older house, and he turned the interior into a flowing series of curved walls, wooden doors and a central light well tiled in shades of blue, graded so that the light seems even at every level. The building is part of the group of Gaudí works listed by UNESCO.
Barcelona is a city for motorbikes, with more of them per head than almost anywhere in Europe, and riding here is easy once you learn the rhythm. Scooters and motorcycles share the lanes and park in marked bays on the pavements, and the grid of the Eixample makes navigation simple. The traffic is fast and close, so keep your wits about you, and note that a low-emission zone restricts older vehicles, so check the rules before you arrive. Cobbles, tram tracks and painted lines can be slippery when wet.
Fuel is easy to find on the edges of the city but sparser in the middle, so fill the tank when you can. The Eixample has endless cafés, bars and restaurants, and a plate of tapas or a bowl of fideuà at a local place is a pleasant lunch.
The ride combines Casa Batlló with the Cova de Vallmajor, an excursion into a very different, older Catalonia. Entrance to the house is by timed ticket, and queues form in high season, so book ahead.