Barcelona Everything Else

Barcelona was a very nice experience with grand architecture around every corner.  It was a clean well kept city with large wide avenues, many for pedestrians only.

 

Unlike the massive strong looking architecture of Berlin, Paris or St. Petersburg, in Barcelona it is softer, less imposing.  This style brings a warmth and familiarity that makes you comfortable. It reminded us very much of the French Quarter in New Orleans.

This dragon gate designed by Gaudi it is made from common iron parts welded together.  The gate is at the entrance of  Guell Pavilions.

 All along the major streets there are souvenir shops, restaurants and Tapas bars.  We stopped at a small shop selling cured ham.  They slice it off in paper thin slices and then chop it up leaving it looking similar to bacon bits.  We tried some, it was O.K. but it was not as good as it looked.

 

The Arc de Triomf was built as the main access gate for the 1888 Barcelona World Fair by architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas. This was more the style of architecture we had expected to see. 

Although much smaller than the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile in Paris, it is very beautiful with nice carvings and brickwork.

I especially liked the Christopher Columbus monument.  I like the tall thin style of the monument. It is similar to the Victory column in Berlin and The Lord Nelson monument in Trafalgar Square in London. The Columbus monument is located in Barcelona because that is where Columbus had to report back to Queen Isabella & King Ferdinand about his trip to the Far East, which actually was to what became America.

The base of the column has a lot of statues and carvings making it very ornate and decorative.   






 




There are multiple lions around the base, some seated some standing. They are the most regal looking lion statues I have ever seen.

There is an elevator that takes you to the top to an observation deck.  It was a small round elevator, the smallest commercial elevator I have ever seen or rode in, five people would fit but you were touching each other and the walls at the same time.

The monument is located at the end of La Ramblas Street, near the port.  On Ramblas street there were a lot of "Street Actors" dressed like St. George, Columbus and other prominent people.  We especially liked the guy portraying Columbus.  He put on quite a show looking through a imaginary spy glass, proclaiming "Land Ho!" and interacting with passing children.

 







Across the street was the Maritime Museum, it had some griffins on the corners that were very nice sculptures.

 

 




 
The Hospital de la St. Creu is an impressive series of buildings. It looks more like a church than a hospital.  The front entrance has a tall spired tower with a clock in it. 

The cornerstone was laid around 1400 and completed in 1414. It is no longer a hospital but contains several libraries and a school of higher learning.

La Ramblas was a very busy street with a lot of shops, Tapa's bars and vendors from one end to the other.  We has some waffles as a snack while we walked back to our hotel, they were GREAT!

TJ & EA in Barcelona in front of the Hospital de la St. Creu