Ok, let's get some serious sight-seeing done.
An early morning walk and not too far down Las Ramblas (where everyone is still cleaning up after last night) is a large plaza called Placa Reial. On Sundays there is a street market there of small stalls who sold almost exclusively rare stamps, collectable coins and bars of medals and other military insignias.
Almost next door is the imposing Barcelona Cathedral. This was after all a Sunday morning so no tourists were permitted inside to disrupt the mass being said. But even so, outside we could hear a beautiful voice singing Ave Maria in a glorious mezzo soprano. We thought at first it must be coming from the service inside, but no. It was a busker singing from between the high stone walls of the Cathedral and the adjacent buildings. And that voice. Obviously she had been trained operatically and the emotional investment in the arias she sang was something to behold. I could have listened to her for hours.
Pressing on further up Las Ramblas it ends in the impressive Placa Catalunya. Though considerably large than most other plazas we have seen I couldn't see much the distinguish it distinctly. It is noted for its pidgeons apparently. They flock there in the hundreds and vendors will sell you a small bag of feed if you wish. Then look out for what resembles a massed pidgeons mugging of the feeder.
Continuing north is a wide beautiful avenue called the Passeig de Gracia. The shop fronts read like the advertisements of Vogue magazine. Louis Vuiton rubs shoulders with Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Tiffanies, Bvlgaria, Cartier, Hugo Boss, you name it. This is definitely up-market shopping. Seriously it would put the Champs Élysées to shame.
And right at the very end is the Gaudi designed La Pedrera. Designed as a residenc for the Mila family this was to occupy only the first two floors. The next 4 floors were to be apartments for paying tenants. And Gaudi did a number on it with radical new design concepts and structural techniques. We will be going through it tomorrow so I will describe it more fully then.
We then made our way further south to the Palau de Musica. This is an astonishingly beautiful old building (circa 1910) of structural iron finished in glass and mosaics. I was not surprised to find it still in use, but I was surprised to find out how often. They hold on average around 300 concerts a year there. And everyone is invited from Montserrat Caballe to Paco Pena to Herbie Hancock.
Working still further south is the Museo Picasso. As you may know, he was a prolific painter and many of his works grace the walls of galleries and private collections the world over. The rest he willed to the city of Barcelona who quickly created a museum to display them in. A walk through this gallery is like a chronological retelling of the artists career. From his classical beginnings we can trace his evolution through his Rose and Blue periods and into the more generally known Cubist period for which he is probably better known. A great part of his later years was spent doing reinterpretations of the Valasquez masterpiece, Las Meninas. Many of them are on display here too.
Our last port of call was, literally, the port. At the southern most end of Las Ramblas is a large park area full of families and kids and dogs and ice-cream vendors and bounces castles and multi-million dollar yachts. There were dozens of the ultra-luxurious craft moored here with price tags running into the millions, obscene amounts of money all sacrificed on the altar of status to my way of thinking.
We are going out again tomorrow so stay tuned, people.
An early morning walk and not too far down Las Ramblas (where everyone is still cleaning up after last night) is a large plaza called Placa Reial. On Sundays there is a street market there of small stalls who sold almost exclusively rare stamps, collectable coins and bars of medals and other military insignias.
Almost next door is the imposing Barcelona Cathedral. This was after all a Sunday morning so no tourists were permitted inside to disrupt the mass being said. But even so, outside we could hear a beautiful voice singing Ave Maria in a glorious mezzo soprano. We thought at first it must be coming from the service inside, but no. It was a busker singing from between the high stone walls of the Cathedral and the adjacent buildings. And that voice. Obviously she had been trained operatically and the emotional investment in the arias she sang was something to behold. I could have listened to her for hours.
Pressing on further up Las Ramblas it ends in the impressive Placa Catalunya. Though considerably large than most other plazas we have seen I couldn't see much the distinguish it distinctly. It is noted for its pidgeons apparently. They flock there in the hundreds and vendors will sell you a small bag of feed if you wish. Then look out for what resembles a massed pidgeons mugging of the feeder.
Continuing north is a wide beautiful avenue called the Passeig de Gracia. The shop fronts read like the advertisements of Vogue magazine. Louis Vuiton rubs shoulders with Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Tiffanies, Bvlgaria, Cartier, Hugo Boss, you name it. This is definitely up-market shopping. Seriously it would put the Champs Élysées to shame.
And right at the very end is the Gaudi designed La Pedrera. Designed as a residenc for the Mila family this was to occupy only the first two floors. The next 4 floors were to be apartments for paying tenants. And Gaudi did a number on it with radical new design concepts and structural techniques. We will be going through it tomorrow so I will describe it more fully then.
We then made our way further south to the Palau de Musica. This is an astonishingly beautiful old building (circa 1910) of structural iron finished in glass and mosaics. I was not surprised to find it still in use, but I was surprised to find out how often. They hold on average around 300 concerts a year there. And everyone is invited from Montserrat Caballe to Paco Pena to Herbie Hancock.
Working still further south is the Museo Picasso. As you may know, he was a prolific painter and many of his works grace the walls of galleries and private collections the world over. The rest he willed to the city of Barcelona who quickly created a museum to display them in. A walk through this gallery is like a chronological retelling of the artists career. From his classical beginnings we can trace his evolution through his Rose and Blue periods and into the more generally known Cubist period for which he is probably better known. A great part of his later years was spent doing reinterpretations of the Valasquez masterpiece, Las Meninas. Many of them are on display here too.
Our last port of call was, literally, the port. At the southern most end of Las Ramblas is a large park area full of families and kids and dogs and ice-cream vendors and bounces castles and multi-million dollar yachts. There were dozens of the ultra-luxurious craft moored here with price tags running into the millions, obscene amounts of money all sacrificed on the altar of status to my way of thinking.
We are going out again tomorrow so stay tuned, people.
The Placa Reial, on a Sunday morning.
Those little stall holders are selling collector coins, stamps and medals.
(And the occasional Rembrandt.)
The fountain at the Place Reial.
Barcelona Cathedral main entrance.
It was Sunday and mass was taking place, so no interior photos today.
Entrance (one of them) to the Placa de Catalunya.
A better description would be the Placa de Pidgeons. There are thousands of them.
You can buy small bags of feed and get yourself swamped by them if you want.
Some of the impressive statuary around the Placa.
This is the famous Gaudi designed Casa Batllo
Being restored and hidden behind the scaffolding and screens unfortunately.
You'll just have to use your imagination till I find a better pic.
This is the very famous Gaudi designed Casa Mila,
But better known as The Pedrera (spanish for quarry).
Entrance to the Palau de Musica Catalana.
See the old fashioned box offices in the columns?
The first floor columns, representing different trees of Catalunya.
The main auditorium.
Holds 2,000 and is a striking blend of glass, mosaics and light from everywhere.
The "Gloworm" mosaic in the main auditorium ceiling.
It's hard to tell if it curves up or curves down.
(It curves down.)
Science and Charity by Picasso.
Over several years, Picasso did a great many interpretations of the Velasquez masterpiece, Las Meninas. Look carefully and you can see it, right down to the dog in the foreground.
Some of the privately owned cruising yachts moored in Barcelona.
And here is another.
And here is yet another.
All in all we lost count after about 12 or 16 or so.
They are grossly austentatious and must be expensive to the point of obscenity.
The Maremagnum and Aquarium.
It has a shopping centre, restaurants, playgrounds for kids and is teaming with people and activity.
The Ramblas del Mar, a pedestrian bridge from the Aquarium area back to shore.
The pedestrian bridge is actually a swing bridge.
Here it is opening to let a small vessel return to the marina.
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