Spain - Barcelona

Gaudi, Gaudi, Gaudi...  I had wanted for many years to visit Barcelona, home of the many architectural works of Antoni Gaudi.  Well, they were nice, but they really weren't "All That".  I guess I had a notion that there was a lot more of his work and that it was crazier than it turned out to be.  Above is the line to get inside the Sagrada Familia, apparently the only cathedral in the world still being built.  Gaudi died in 1926 and the city is hoping to have it completed by 2026 on the hundredth year of his death.  In the meantime, they are raking in the dough to build it!  After arriving at 9am (opening time) and seeing this line up, we elected to skip going in and waiting over an hour in line - instead we got some nice shots of the exterior.  We did the same thing with La Pedrera and another on La Gracia.  There were simply droves of tourists and high entry fees and we decided to use our time to appreciate the rest of Barcelona.

This is Park Guell, a free park that I understand was originally meant to be a neighbourhood with houses designed by Gaudi but the demand at the time wasn't strong enough and in the end, Gaudi's benefactor bought the development and turned it into a park.  This was my favorite example of Gaudi's work and was a restful place despite the huge crowds.  It was a Saturday, but to give you an idea, I waited in line a full half hour just to use the bathroom! 

Another stroke of luck, we happened to be visiting on a day that was called "the night of the museums".  It was May 19th and I don't think this is done often.  I got a list of about 30-40 museums and cultural centres that were offering free admission between 7pm-1am.  Well, here I am and Cassio took the pic, (of course) to prove that we were FIRST in line for the Picasso museum.  We arrived at 5:30 and waited 90 minutes but hey, we got to sit down, and the line after us, went all the way down the street.  Plus, it gave us a good chance to rest after having walked around town since 9am.  The museum was good, and I saw many works I recognized, but it also houses a fair number of early works to show Picasso's development as an artist.

This is "Las Ramblas" - the main drag down the older centre of Barcelona.  Boy was it crowded and full of tourist type souvenir shops.  No where to sit and definitely a pick-pocket's heaven. 

View of the beach area of Barcelona

The Market

Fountain in the Jardin by the Zoo.