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| Barcelona from Mount Carmel |
Our first destination in Spain is the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona - full of history and extremely popular with locals and visitors.
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| Carrer de Ferran |
The district is characterized by narrow cobbled streets with tall old buildings,
Dining areas in every available outdoor space and square.
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| Dining in Plaça de Sant Miquel |
Many front entrances lead immediately onto the street (on account that the street is too narrow to have a separate footpath) so it is important to look right and left before stepping out through the doorway.
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| Typical Gothic Quarter street |
We have arranged to stay with Airbnb hosts Samuel and Esmeralda. Their place is just a few streets away from Plaça Sant Jaume - a landmark city square in the Gothic Quarter and home to the Town Hall and the Palace of the Generalitat.
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| Plaça Sant Jaume |
The Palace of the Generalitat (General Council) is one of the most cherished symbols of Catalan nationalism and one of the few medieval buildings in Europe which remains the seat of government for the city.
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| Palace of the Generalitat |
Just a short walking distance from our "home" is the extremely popular Rambla dels Caputxins
(La Rambla) which runs through the Gothic Quarter between Plaza de Catalunya the heart of the city and the old port.
At the old port is the celebrated statue of Christopher Columbus (considered by some experts to have been a Catalan).
We watched the setting sun from the highest point and lookout - Calvary in Park Guell.
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| Popular lookout - Calvary |
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| View to the coast from Calvary, Park Guell |
The park is named after Eusebi Güell, rich Catalan businessman. In 1900, Güell commissioned close friend of the modernist architect Gaudí to turn the land at the foot of the mountain into an exclusive residential complex in the style of an English garden city.
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| Monumental Precinct |
Access the highly popular monumental precinct is restricted to a maximum of 400 people every half an hour to try to ensure the conservation and maintenance of this most fragile and frequented part of the Park.
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| Park Guell entrance |
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| Themed street decoration |
Gràcia is well-known for it's festival which is held for 5 days in August and sees the locals competing in street decoration (they take it quite seriously). The results are usually spectacular, and at night the festival comes alive with drinks stalls and stages of live music of every variety.
I couldn't help avoid reflecting on the comparison between this community focused happy, safe and family friendly environment and the life threatening culture of inner Sydney where we've got to have laws to stop alcohol fueled people killing innocent bystanders. Is Australia still the lucky country?
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| Decorations all made from recycled materials |
Today's highlight was our visit to the celebrated landmark - the Basílica de la Sagrada Familia. Described as the expression in stone of the Christian faith this ongoing construction site features both Gothic and Byzantine architectural styles that was commenced and continues to be inspired by famous architect Antoni Gaudi.
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| Plaça de la Sagrada Família |
Gaudi's commission to design this temple commenced in 1883 and continued until his death in 1926.
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| Sagrada Familia construction site |
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| Basílica de la Sagrada Familia from the air |
Tonight's tapas dining experience at the Cerveceria Catalana - amazing!
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| The Tapas and Salad selection |
however there were many other temptations during the day including
That's about it for now.
The Skipper.
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