After checking in we headed out to explore the city by foot and to grab some lunch. Our hotel was very close to the Arc de Triumph and tree-lined parks, which were relaxing to stroll down in the early afternoon.
We found a bright and small café for lunch on one of the main roads which served up gorgeous smoothies, huge paninis and excellent cooffe.
After lunch we continued along the main roads, passing the port with docked boats and the statue at the end of La Rambala of Christopther Columbus. We made our way up the bustling La Rambala, were even in the off-season it was just full of people. We strolled down the market stalls and along the restaurants which would spill out onto the walkways serving up hot paellas and tapas. We came across an even more crowded part of town, the St Josep Markets which sold food, food, food such as chocolates…
… sweets…
… fruit ….
And seafood so fresh, we spied some of it still moving on the ice.
We picked up a few snacks and continued on, this time ducking in and out of shops. The evening was settling upon the city and we made our way back to the hotel for an early night in preparation for a busy following day.
We spent the next day learning about the local art that resides in the city. There’s an awful lot of art in Barcelona. I don’t think I have ever seen so much work by Picasso and Dali in a single place, and Gaudi's work is nothing short maginificent. Gaudi really makes Barcelona the unique place it is with his artistic contributions to the city’s landscape.
The Museo Picasso was a detailed history of Piscasso’s life and work. The museum is located in a fascinating part of town where Barcelona’s noblity used to reside. They built stunning mansions, that now house several art galleries and museums down a narrow cobbled streets.
We popped into Dali’s museum, an eclectic collection of drawings, paintings, objects, sculptures and his notebooks.
And then came across a small cathedral, the Placa de Pi, with its well known stained glass window.
A few block away is the more famous cathedral, Cathedal of Santa Eulàlia. Having entered around the back, we admired the charming cloister and lofty arches that surrounded the private garden and wondered if there was going to be much more.
Instincts must have told us there was because we walked around the cloister a few times and on our last time around, we came across an obscure entryway to the back of the main cathedral. Here we found ourselves in the grandest of spaces, with towering columns, rich dark wood and colourful stained glass windows. We walked along the chambers filled with art and objects dedicated to the Roman Catholic religion and found a small sign indicating that we could take a lift up to the roof where we were first introduced to views over Barcelona.
The rest of the afternoon was spent wondering the city and the sparkling shops of the Passeig de Gracia. It was along here where we met our first encounters with Gaudi’s work, the apartment building-turned-museum, Casa Batllo and the more famous Casa Mila or La Pedrera as it is more commonly known, meaning ‘Stone Quarry’ for it’s wavy cliff-like exterior. As with all of Gaudi’s work, there is always a flurry of activity around it. Up close, we discovered and visited the temporary exhibition open called Passion and Commerce, Art in Venice in the 17th and 18th Century.
After a full day of sight-seeing we made our way down to the waterside for a birthday dinner of seafood and sangria.
The next day was a Gaudi sight-seeing day. Our first stop was the famous La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s work in progress cathedral which has estimations of completion sometime within the next 50 years due to the lack of finance over the decades and the need for advancements in building technology to see through Gaudi’s vision. Gaudi’s cathedral is nothing like anything you have ever seen before. A huge construction of many, many motifs, symbols, stories and meaning. A lot of the story and preserved artefacts from Gaudi’s work life can be found in and around the cathedral.
Moving further north of the city, we made it up to Park Guell overlooking the city filled with even more of Gaudi’s imagination and vision. The park has spectacular views over Barcelona, looking down on the building and towards the water.
Gaudi also created wonderful spaces for people to relax and enjoy, such as the meandering colourful mosaic seats. We parked ourselves on the seats and enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine and the guy opposite us strumming his guitar.
Upon exiting the park, we met Gaudi’s famous mosaic lizard and two gingerbread-like houses.
Our last stop in the city was for black boots, for my birthday. Over the past few days we had trawled many stores and on our very last night, on the Pasieg de Gracia, the perfect pair were found.
