Some general information about Barcelona

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, and the second largest city of Spain.
It lies on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In 1992 the Summer Olympic Games were held in Barcelona.
The city is also famous of the buildings of Gaudí. 
He was Spain's famous architect, and now his fascinating legacy of colourful buildings and creations are the main attractions of Barcelona.
For example the Güell Park, or the Sagrada Familia.

Plaza de Espanya

The Plaza de Espanya from the stairs of National Art Museum of Catalonia:

View from the Montjuïc

At the top of Montjuïc hill (214m), the Castell de Montjuïc is a fortress built during the 18th century to defense the harbour. The Montjuïc hill was the location of the 1929 Universal Exhibition and of the 1992 Olympic Games. Montjuïc is translated as Hill of the Jews in the medieval Catalan language.

Castell of Montjuïc

Today there are only flowers in the moat.  :)

Palau Sant Jordi

The sport arena was opened in 1992 for the Summer Olympic Games, and it's lies on the Montjui. It was designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. The capacity of the arena is 17000.

Montjuic Communications Tower

The tower was desinged by the spanish architect Santiago Calatrava Valls, and built to transmit television coverage of the Olympic Games in 1992.
It's 136m high, and represent an athlete holding the olympic flame.

Palm Trees and the sea

The harbour from Montjuic

Gardens on the Montjuic hill

Palm trees everywhere... :)

Columbus Monument

The 60m high monument was designed by Gaietà Buigas i Monravà for the Universal exhibition of 1888. At the Plaça de la Porta de Pau - Square of the Gate of Peace - stands the monumental column topped by a statue of Christoffel Columbus. This is the place where He arrived in 1493 after his discovery of America the year before.
The 7m high statue shows a standing Columbus pointing towards the sea. Oddly enough, he is not pointing in the direction of the new world he discovered.
The column can be visited, a lift brings you to a platform from where you have a perfect view over Port Vell and the Rambla.

Promenade near the harbour

There is a beautiful promenade between the harbour and the Passaig de Colom:

Ronda del Litoral

Downtown alley

The Barceloneta neighborhood

Barceloneta is the place where the fishermans lived long ago. Now there are many restaurants, bars, and of course the long sandy beach.

The Sandy Beach

It was March. But we have swum in the sea! :)

The Tapas

It's a kind of food (or snack), usually fried baby squid and other little fried animals from the sea. With a slice of lemon. Traditionally served next to your beer! Hmmm... :) Try it in a bar of Barceloneta, there are the most delicious! ;)

Modern Office Building

You can see it, before your train arrive to Estació de França

The Market in Barcelona - Mercat de la Boquería

There are a lot of very impressive markets in the city. The Mercat de la Boquería is next to the La Rambla, and maybe it is the most tourist friendly market in Barcelona.

The Market - Stuffs from the sea... :P

The Plaza Real

The square opens via an arcaded passageway from the Ramblas. It is an important and lovely tryst especially at night, generally filled with people from the city and tourists. There are a lot of palms trees, and on the center there is a fountain with a sculpture of the Three Graces and next to the fountain there are 4 nice street lamps designed by Antoni Gaudí in his early years.

Sagrada Familia (Holy Family Church)

The Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) is a massive Roman Catholic temple. Construction began in 1882. Antoni Gaudí worked on the basilica for over 40 years, devoting the last 15 years of his life entirely to this project. On the subject of the extremely long construction period, Gaudí is said to have joked, "My client is not in a hurry." :) After Gaudí's death in 1926, work continued, but parts of the unfinished building and Gaudí's models and workshop were destroyed during the war by Catalan anarchists. The design, as now being constructed, is based both on reconstructed versions of the lost plans and on modern adaptations.

According to the media, 2,26 million people visited the partially built temple in 2004, making it one of the most popular attractions in Spain. It has 12 bell towers between 90 m and 112 m high represent the apostles. The main central bell tower will be 170 m high and with a huge cross on their top, but it will follow in the future.

Sagrada Familia - Colorful windows

Sagrada Familia - Inside

The entrance fee is 8 Euros. An elevator takes up one of the towers. From this level bird's-eye view on the works, and a wonderful panorama of the city can be seen. Unfortunately usually we have to wait a lot of time in a very long queue before we can go up. We've haven't got enough time, so now we don't have any pictures from the tower. :(

Sagrada Familia - Museum in the basement

The scale-modell of the complete church: