Barcelona Day 1

We got up this morning after a well needed nights sleep...  We are staying at the Hotel Cortes, it's nice, clean, has free internet and is in a really great location just off La Rambla.

The view from our room.

La Rambla in the morning.

This is the Boqueria Market just off La Rambla.

Selling every kind of fresh fruit, veggie, fish, meat, cheese and everything in between, fantastic!!

Stu and Ty outside the market.

Most large European cities have free tours given by "starving students" working for tips only.  Stu and I have been on several and they have all proven to be very educational and entertaining, so off we went to do the Barcelona Free Walking Tour, we weren't let down, it was a lot of fun!

This is the art school that local boy Pablo Picasso attended.

"Power of Creation" indeed!

This square was named for George Orwell... Just a bit of irony:  Those of you familiar with George Orwell, know he was not a fan of "Big Brother" well, the blue sign is is a notice that the square is under 24 hour surveilliance.

When architecture goes wrong...

Very wrong!

This ledge was used for the aristocrats to mount their horses gracefully.

City Hall

The patron saint of Barcelona, St George slaying a dragon.

Time for a pit stop...

1 euro beers, yahooo!

Salute!

Stu and Shawn our Australian guide.

This building used to be an umbrella shop.

Roman ruins...Those Romans got around didn't they??

There are these really cool looking rain spouts all over the city.

I think this one is a piggy.

Some of the buildings around Barcelona were built using "recycled" materials....in this case, Jewish head stones.

As you can see, we had a beautiful day!

Fun facts to know and share... For statues of heroes on horseback, if one of the horses hooves are off the ground the soldier was wounded in battle. If two of the hooves are off the ground then the soldier was killed in battle. If all four hooves are on the ground the soldier was unharmed in battle.

The Barcelona Cathedral

A random courtyard.

This is an old mail box.  We were told that the birds were meant to give you the warm fuzzy feeling of "oh, I'm sure my mail will arrive quickly", when the reality lies just below with the turtle...

So much for division of church and state...This cute little bridge was built so the Bishop wouldn't have to walk on the streets with the commoners to get to the government building across the street.

There are really beautiful buildings all over the city.

The Plaça de Sant Felip Neri is where 153 people died when a bomb fell on the convent in the square on 30 January 1938. The church, which had been turned into a makeshift orphanage and most of the victims were refugee children from Madrid. As the rescue workers pulled out the survivors from the building another bomb fell in the square, killing more. It was the second worst bombing atrocity to hit Barcelona during the war. You can still see the marks from the blast on the side of the church.

Reminants of a Roman aquaduct.

Our walking tour was supposed to be 2 hours...  It ended up being almost 4, so you know we were starving!!  We had a great late lunch - early dinner, or as our friend Paolo says "linner" (or lupper) at a nice little place, Petit Xaica, great paella...

and vino!!

Tomorrow we are going to check the progress on the Sagrada Familia church, I hope the weather is just like today!!