10-28 Barcelona, Spain

Hola! And welcome to our first port in Spain . . . and my first time to Spain.  Doug had been to Spain many times, but never Barcelona, so it was a new experience for both of us.

Barcelona is a large city of almost 3 million people.  While it has an Old Town with many historical monuments, it is best known for its Modernism in architecture and art in general.  It’s a bustling, lively, cosmopolitan city full of energy and life! 

We took a ship’s tour today called Barcelona Highlights.  It was a half day trip, which was perfect to give us a feel for the city and then free time to explore more on our own.   It was a beautiful, sunny and clear day – perfect for discovering the joys of this city.

We left the harbor via Miramar Rd. to get to a high point in the city – Montjuic Park (our guide called it Monument Hill) to see a great view of the whole city and harbor. From there we could easily see the Water Tower (looks like a huge phallic symbol – in the back far right of the picture,) Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Church (not in this picture) and the Gothic Cathedral in Old Town.  The city is very spread out with its adjoining communities. We did not see the castle, amusement park, gardens, and museums that were there.  A cable car links the harbor to the park. 

Back on the bus and heading back down into the city, we passed the pool used in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona – it sits right on top of a hill with the same great view of the whole city beneath it.  We then passed the artist Miro’s museum where there is an extensive collection of his works of art.  Continuing on we saw the Olympic Stadium, now used for big events, and the St. George Olympic Palace.  There was an unusual white tower that was just a telephone tower.  Even the most mundane structures in this city are unique in their style.  We went past a place that looked like a castle, and inside were replicas of different kinds of Spanish houses.  As we passed the Cultural Center, we saw a statue of an elephant , upside down, standing on its trunk.  Close by was the National Palace built in 1929 which is now a museum. 

We then entered a wide avenue in an area used for major exhibitions and fairs in Barcelona.  Next was the Spanish Square with a major monument in the center of it.  Under construction next to that was a round stadium that had once been for bull fighting.  It was built in 1974 and will soon be open as a major shopping center!  Before entering the real city center, we passed by the oldest university in Barcelona.  Our guide later told us that the young people who are getting great educations here can’t find meaningful employment in Spain due to a severe fiscal downturn.  An amazing 20% of Spain is unemployed.  That is much higher than other countries in Europe.

Entering the city of Barcelona, we went around the Placa de Catalunya and into the best shopping area in the city with high class stores.  The best department store, El Corte, is located here.  It even has a terrace and restaurant on top of the building.

Next was the most elegant street in Barcelona – Passeig de Gracia – which is now a business area and no longer fine homes.  It is the most expensive part of Barcelona.

Antonio Gaudi was an amazing and avant garde Spanish artist and many of his works are  in Barcelona – and the people here love him.  He lived from 1852 – 1926.  Most of his buildings are like some kind of fantasy – and most unusual, especially his chimney tops.  We were fortunate to see several of his buildings – three on tour, and one on our own. 

The first one we saw was Casa Batllo built in 1904. The top almost looks like the back of a dragon, while the balconies look like masks on the front of each.  Today it is a museum and example of fantasy.

The second one is called Casa Mila, also known as La Pedrera, which is a UNESCO site.  It also has unusual chimney tops where people were walking around and unusual balconies.

Probably his most famous, and certainly most visible, is the facade of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral (Holy Family Cathedral.) He became obsessed with it and worked on it almost exclusively the last 8 years of his life.  It was begun in 1882 and is still not finished - you can see the cranes around the towers - but it is the pride of Barcelona.  His design combines stone, iron and ceramics in irreverent fashion.  The rest of the cathedral is being completed by other artists.  The inside was recently completed and during the first part of November (just a couple of weeks away!), the Pope is coming to consecrate it.  Gaudi’s facade is a series of nativity scenes.  The back wall displays the passion of Christ depicting the Last Supper and His hanging on the cross (as well as other scenes.)  The main entrance, when completed, will represent His glorification and resurrection.  We could not go inside – there was at least an hour or more wait.  It had to be one of the most unusual building (and certainly cathedrals) we had ever seen. 

We were given about 20 minutes to walk around and take pictures from the different sides, buy postcards, etc.  We took our pics and then couldn’t resist the Starbucks for a quick pick-me-up!  There were tons of young American students outside drinking their coffees or whatever.  Not to mention – a free bathroom!

We next passed through the expansion area where the writer Cinto lived.  And we saw the five year old water tower – which is 145 meters high (and looks like a phallic symbol – can’t miss it!)

The last part of our tour was in the Old Town – or the Gothic center.  We began by seeing the Roman Wall Square and went inside a building to see part of the actual old Roman wall (complete with holes in the stones.) 

The highlight was going inside the 13th century Gothic Cathedral called Santa Eulalia. Not only was it splendid and elaborate on the outside, the inside was truly overwhelming in its beauty.   We walked around inside seeing the high vaulted ceiling, the organ pipes, the stained glass windows, the lower area under the alter where a saint is supposedly buried.  Then our guide took us inside the choir area – very private – and told us all about the church.  The choir area was so elaborate itself, with the front row of seats made 100 years before the back ones – the difference being how much more elaborate the back ones are.  While we have seen a lot of cathedrals, churches, and mosques on this trip, this one was one of our most favorite. 

Back on the bus, we headed toward the harbor area from which we had started.  There is a very modern statue (looks like it has red dots all over it!) outside the Old Harbor area.  This is the night life area in this part of town – lots of restaurants, bars, etc. 

We were the only ones on our bus who opted to get off the bus early to walk around Barcelona on our own.  We headed toward the main street in the city – and a pedestrian way in the middle of it – Las Ramblas.   It has lots of restaurants, outdoor cafes, shops, etc. all along it.  Doug found the watch he had been looking for in one of the little shops.  There were lots of street performers as well – as well as people dressed up in all kinds of costumes.  The best was a guy dressed like a black dragon who rose up (when you put some $ in his bucket!) and acted like he was going to eat the person paying!  Very fun to watch all these creative people and their get ups. 

We had another expensive tapas lunch in an open air cafe.  We paid for the ambience of being right on the pedestrian way of this busy and popular street.  It certainly was the place to people watch.  We had Sangria – lots of it – and some tapas and then Doug had pizza and I had paella.  It was all pretty good – especially the Sangria. 

We continued walking up Las Ramblas, we passed the Gran Teatre De Liceu and then took a side street to see Gaudi’s Palau Guell – which is really a park.  Restoration was being done on it, so we could only see the front entrance and part of the top.  We really want to come back and see the inside park on this one after seeing pictures of what is inside!  We ended up at the market area called the Boqueria.  It had everything from fruits and veggies to meats and fish.  It was fairly large, so we just browsed quickly.

We walked back down Las Ramblas to the Monument Colon which is a huge statue of Christopher Columbus.  It is where we met the shuttle bus to go back to the ship. 

In the evening we met the two new couples we had met earlier who are from Palm Beach Gardens, FL. (Patricia and Richard, Roz and Harvey.)  We had a fun time with them – drinks in the Ocean Bar and then dinner.

Doug and I went to the ship’s 10 p.m. entertainment – David Deeble – a comedy juggler.  He was a better comedian than juggler!  It was pleasant and a nice way to end the day.

We LOVED Barcelona and really hope we can return.  There is so much we want to see that there just wasn’t time for – the Picasso and Miro museums, and all of Gaudi’s houses – just to name a few!