Friday 10th February 2017

Barcelona Cathedral: Old Town: Basilica Santa Maria del Mar:

Parc de la Ciutadella: Arc de Triomf: Barceloneta: Casa Batlló

We set off along Las Ramblas around 9:00am. Already, the popular tree-lined avenue was busy with both tourists and locals.

We turned off in the direction of the city’s largest religious building,  the  cathedral which is  known as both the Barcelona Cathedral and The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia.

Situated in the city’s gothic quarter, the cathedral’s neo gothic facade is stunning. It has an ‘open spire’ and bell tower. A stage was being erected in the area in front of the church and stalls too were being organised. The city’s patron saint, Saint Eulalia, has a three day festival dedicated to her and it was about to begin. The festivities would include music events, sound and light shows, a parade of  giants, the traditional human pyramid building game known as castells, and both children’s and adult’s fire runs.

We entered the imposing cathedral and walked around its internal perimeter, which is lined with small chapels.

We saw that the traditional purchase or donation for the lighting of candles had been replaced by a coin operated machine. When a specific amount was inserted, a mechanical tea-light lit up.

 

 

This is the first time that we have seen this and we were both amazed and saddened to see this modernisation. Perhaps apart from the need for a person to remove these candles, one of the other reasons for this modern development is for health and safety, or fire risks and rules. What a shame!

 

In the centre of the nave is the beautiful choir, containing many coats of arms. This reminded us  of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, England.

 

 

 

 

We continued strolling through the narrow cobbled streets of the gothic old town. We stopped for a few minutes to listen to a busker playing a large wooden harp. He was dressed warmly against the 12 degree Celsius February temperature.

A photo of him on the front of the cds, which he was hoping to sell, showed him dressed in a white cordobes hat and a white suit; perhaps he plays a part in one of the many flamenco shows that take place across the city most evenings.

 

 

We visited the Basilica De Santa Maria del Mar. Apparently it took just 55 years to build this Catalan Gothic building. It boasts stunning stained-glass windows, including one to commemorate the hosting of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

The stonework, tall ceilings and huge pillars are all superb and there is a feeling of vastness.

 

 

Our next stop was Parc de la Ciutadella. Our guidebook promised green parrots residing in the park’s palm trees. We had only taken a few steps into this city centre green oasis, when we heard the twitter of parrots. We then spotted one, then two, then four, then more.

We watched them flying from the palm trees to various other trees. They patiently cut small twigs from the branches with their beaks and carried them back to their nest constructions in the palm trees.

 

 

 

 

 

Dave photographed half a dozen green parrots squabbling on the narrow footpath in front of us; a couple of pigeons appeared and joined in. A barking dog came running down the path in search of food and all the birds quickly flew into the trees leaving the dog disappointed that his trophy was only bread.  A lot of the parrots had chains with tiny collars around their necks; scientists are apparently monitoring their movements within the city.

We bought a takeaway coffee from a small kiosk and sat on a bench admiring the magnificent fountain known as the ‘Cascada’. A maintenance worker in the park said in his opinion this was the best fountain in the city. Antoni Gaudi apparently did some work on it, although he was only a student at the time.

 

After consulting our map, we realised that the Arc de Triomf was just a few minutes’ walk away. The huge arch was constructed in 1888 as the main entrance to the world fair, which the city was hosting for the first time.

 

Close to the arch, we saw the city’s courthouse, photographers and a TV broadcasting van were waiting outside. There was a small crowd and one man had a yellow and red Catalan flag wrapped around him. We guessed that the crowd were awaiting a court result.

We retraced our steps and wandered back through the pretty park to head to Port Vell. Toddlers were chasing huge bubbles that a man was creating from two sticks and a bucket of soapy water. The toddlers were running around, giggling and shrieking with happiness whenever they popped a bubble.

Port Vell, which translates to Old Harbour, was completely refurbished for the 1992 Olympics. The rundown warehouses and industrial buildings have disappeared and been replaced with a pedestrian only area, a shopping mall and one of the biggest aquariums in Europe. One or two of the historic buildings have been renovated and made into either modern offices or an exclusive hotel.  We admired the massive yachts in the harbour and wondered whose they were and how much they cost to run.

We stopped in Barceloneta, Barcelona’s seaside area for a beer and baguette for lunch. We then searched for the neighbourhood’s market and church which were mentioned in the guidebook.

The market was located in a building behind two large sliding doors, not an outdoor one which we had visualised, so we decided not to look around. Unfortunately we never did come across the church.

 

 

 

 

 

We walked along the city’s promenade. Many people were sat on the beach, warmly wrapped up against the cold. Some were eating their lunch.

There were one or two people selling large square sarongs with colourful mandalas on them. A few spectacular sand sculptures had been patiently built, a dragon with fire coming out of its open mouth, three wise monkeys, a temple and a volcano amongst others.  Their creators stood close by hoping for a few coins from the locals and tourists who stopped to admire their artwork.

One or two surfers were riding the waves and a few people were balancing on paddle boards. Many forms of transport were in use along the promenade, segways, skateboards, bicycles and scooters.

 

We queued for the cable car and enjoyed the amazing views of the sea, the beach, the city’s rooftops and it’s many buildings.  We easily spotted the famous cathedral, the Sagrada Famillia.

 

 

The cable car took us to the area called Montjuic.  We then headed back down the hill to sea level.

We walked the length of Las Ramblas once more, enjoying the atmosphere. We then quenched our thirst with a beer sat outside a small bar and people watched for a while.

 

It was 6:00pm when we returned to the hotel. We must have walked miles; we left the hotel 9 hours ago!

We spent an hour or so researching on the internet, to see what events were taking place and when during the three day Santa Eulalia Festival. Seeing as we are here we may as well take the opportunity to see a local festival.

After showering and changing, we set off again to a restaurant which is recommended in one of our guide books.  It’s a Chinese restaurant called Out Of China.

We enjoyed the walk, first  passing through the Plaça de Catalunya before winding our way through a myriad of streets and boulevards. We kept stopping to admire the marvellous buildings. Periodically Dave consulted our map and we both searched for  concealed street names to confirm we were still heading in the right direction.

 

Eventually we found the restaurant with a little help from a receptionist in a hotel; she hadn’t heard of it but googled the name and was soon able to point us in the right direction.  It was of course just around the corner!

It was a modern restaurant, not typically Chinese in decor or menu, it was tastefully decorated with a vivid royal blue colour scheme. We ordered a delicious meal of vegetables with walnuts, cheese and chive spring rolls, beef in a black bean sauce and sweet and sour Iberico pork which turned out to be our favourite dish. We added a bottle of Chardonnay to our order making it a perfect meal!

We took a different route back to our hotel plus a bit of a detour.  We wanted to pass by the Casa Batlló. This building is one of Gaudi’s most famous creations.

Wow! It looks as if it’s out of a fairytale.  It is truly amazing! And what a fabulous opportunity to see it at night, all illuminated!  We stood and stared at it for quite some time before continuing our walk back to the hotel.  We are looking forward to seeing it again in the daylight  tomorrow.

 

 

We had a glass of wine at the hotel while researching the possible modes of transport to get us to Park Güell which is a possible trip for Sunday.

We fell into bed just after midnight.

It has been a fabulous full day in Barcelona.

 

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