OUR TRANSATLANTIC CRUISE - Day 4 - BARCELONA 4

Last but not least, our day in Barcelona included a ramble down las Ramblas, the tree-lined pedestrian mall. Just off las Ramblas is the Gothic Quarter, with many buildings dating back to the 15th century.



There are more photos from the cruise and all the ports we visited on our FLICKR PAGE.

OUR TRANSATLANTIC CRUISE - Day 4 - BARCELONA 3

La Bogueria - Barcelona's food market - wow! Here's a slideshow of all the photos I took at la Boqueria - no need for words:



There are more photos from the cruise and all the ports we visited on our FLICKR PAGE.

OUR TRANSATLANTIC CRUISE - Day 4 - BARCELONA 2

Here’s Rick Steves’ take on Gaudi’s Barcelona:



and two short videos I took inside la Sagrada Familia -







There are more photos from the cruise and all the ports we visited on our FLICKR PAGE.

OUR TRANSATLANTIC CRUISE - Day 4 - BARCELONA 1

Barcelona – I’d heard it was a great city, but really knew nothing about it. Kind of embarrassing, but our transatlantic cruise gave me the opportunity to read about Barcelona and try to make good use of the limited time we’d have there.

Barcelona is full of museums and galleries: a Picasso museum, National Museum of Catalan Art, a gallery featuring works by Miro – with whom I AM familiar, since Louisville has a couple of Miro sculptures – plus the Olympic stadium, used for the 1992 Olympics, but originally built for the Great Exhibition of 1929. Then there’s the Gothic Quarter, which originated during the Roman period, and has many buildings from the 13th to 15th centuries. And last, but certainly not least, are the many buildings designed by Antonio Gaudi. The largest, most elaborate and most amazing of these buildings is, at least in my opinion, the church of La Sagrada Familia.

La Sagrada Familia was first proposed in 1874, and construction began in 1882. Gaudi devoted 43 years of his life to this project, but it certainly wasn’t his only accomplishment. While reading about the various Gaudi buildings in Barcelona, my first impression was that he was just weird! His buildings are very bizarre, curving and odd-shaped, yet once I saw and read information about the building of La Sagrada Familia, my opinion changed completely. This guy was truly a genius, and waaay ahead of his time. His application of geometry allowed him to create designs so radical that he once wondered if his designs were really possible – he said that if they were, wouldn’t someone else have thought of them before?

After studying various tourist information sites about Barcelona and checking both a city map and a Metro (Barcelona’s underground transit system) map, we came up with a plan. We wanted to see as much as we could without feeling rushed, so this was our plan: once we arrived at the foot of Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s long, tree-lined pedestrian mall, we’d take the Metro to La Sagrada Familia. This required that we change trains once, but we were pretty sure we were up to the challenge. We would then spend as much time at La Sagrada Familia as we needed before heading back to the far end of Las Ramblas (the end closest to La Sagrada Familia), then we’d stroll down Las Ramblas, taking slight detours to visit the ancient Gothic quarter as well as the famous food market, La Bogueria.

Because we were so blown away by La Sagrada Familia, I’m going to post some photos today; tomorrow you’re likely to see even more pics of La Sagrada Familia – it was really, really interesting. Oh, and did I mention that it’s not scheduled to be finished until (hopefully) 2026? That would make the total build time 144 years!




















There are more photos from the cruise and all the ports we visited on our FLICKR PAGE.

CRUISING - Day 3 - BARCELONA

Today we'll visit Barcelona. The ship is here from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., and once again we'll do our own thing, trying to see the highlights but still having a relaxing and enjoyable day.

Barcelona's beginnings, much like Rome's, are subject to myth and a bit of mystery. The first myth attributes the founding of the city to Hercules 400 years before the building of Rome, thus the name Βαρκινών;. The second myth attributes the foundation of the city directly to the Carthaginian Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, who named the city Barcino after his family, in the 3rd century BC.

Barcelona has several important museums, including a Picasso museum, but we'll pass on those. We'll be concentrating our efforts into thre areas: the Gothic Quarter, the olderst part of the city, the Sagrada Familia, a work in progress, and Las Ramblas, the mostly pedestrian street that cuts through the heart of the city.

Once again our plan will be to start at the furthest point and work our way back towards the ship. This means that our first stop will be the Sagrada Família, which has been under construction since 1882, and is still financed by private donations. It's expected to be completed by 2026. This massive, impressive and over-the-top church was designed by Antonio Gaudi, who's work is spotted throughout Barcelona.  We'll have to take the subway  to get to the Sagrada Familia, but it looks pretty straightforward - fingers crossed! 

The Barri Gòtic ("Gothic Quarter" in Catalan) is the centre of the old city of Barcelona. Many of the buildings date from medieval times, some from as far back as the Roman settlement of Barcelona. Catalan modernisme architecture (often known as Art Nouveau in the rest of Europe), developed between 1885 and 1950 and left an important legacy in Barcelona. A great number of these buildings are World Heritage Sites.  This area is filled with narrow, medieval streets, and the gothic  14th century Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, often called simply Barcelona Cathedral. 

The cathedral is dedicated to Eulalia of Barcelona, co-patron saint of Barcelona, a young virgin who, according to Catholic tradition, suffered martyrdom during Roman times in Barcelona. One story is that she was exposed naked in the public square and a miraculous snowfall in mid-spring covered her nudity. The enraged Romans put her into a barrel with knives stuck into it and rolled it down a street.  The body of Saint Eulalia is entombed in the cathedral's crypt.

Once we've wandered through the Gothic Quarter we'll stroll down Las Ramblas, a 1.2 kilometer-long tree-lined pedestrian mall.  Here we'll find the legendary La Boqueria Market. It's a foodie paradise ithat's a feast for the senses – groaning stalls of every food imaginable in an elegant market hall. It's said you can buy anything here from fresh fruit to edible beetles, but the Jamon Iberico, Manchego Cheese, freshly squeezed juices and pizza make an excellent and cheap picnic.  Hmmmm-  lunch?  

Las Ramblas ends at the dock, so we'll be sure to find our way back on board.