
No one is more famous in Barcelona than
Gaudi

Christopher Columbus Monument

Joan at the Christopher Columbus Monument

Plaça Cataluña
Some of the city's most important streets meet at Plaça Cataluña: La Rambla, Portal de l'Àngel and Passeig de Gràcia

Plaça Cataluña is especially known for its fountains, flowers and statues

Plaça Cataluña statue

La Rambla - A tree-lined pedestrian mall connecting Plaça de Cataluña with the Christopher Columbus Monument at the city's waterfront

La Rambla's architecture

La Rambla's architecture

La Rambla's sidewalk cafes

La Rambla's sidewalk cafes

The traffic on both sides of La Rambla pedestrian mall. Parking for motorcycles only

The
Market at La Rambla

The
Market at La Rambla

The
Market at La Rambla
Happy Pills! Really?

Tonorio's wine cellar

Base of the Columbus Monument

Barcelona's old Customs building

Barcelona's old Customs building

Along the
Moll d'Espanya waterfront park and marina
Moll d'Espanya waterfront park and marina
Moll d'Espanya waterfront park and marina
Moll d'Espanya waterfront park and marina

Port Vell footbridge with the cable car to Montjuïc crossing the skyline

The Barcelona Cable Car runs between Barcelona and the top of Montjuïc mountain

The cable car central tower - the Torre de Jaume I

Montjuïc is the hill overlooking the Barcelona harbor

Montjuïc translates to
Mountain of the Jews

Port Vell marina

Port Vell marina

Port Vell marina

Port Vell marina

Port Vell marina

Joan wants one of these!
Barcelona - Cruises 4 & 5 (Dec 2012 & 2013)

La Rambla - A tree-lined pedestrian mall connecting Plaça de Cataluña with the Christopher Columbus Monument at the city's waterfront.

La Rambla is crowded with tourists, pavement cafes and souvenir kiosks

Shopping on La Rambla

Yes. We bought this painting

"Mickey D" and The Colonel on La Rambla

Burger King on La Rambla

The famous "living statues" of La Rambla.

A "living statue"

Here's a guy with no head!

A real statue - Frederic Soler (1839-1895, poet)

Merry Christmas

Avinguda Portal de l'Àngel
Part of the large shopping area and one of the city's most visited streets

Portal de l'Àngel is one of Barcelona's most expensive areas and Spain's second most expensive street. It is always crowded with tourists at any time of the year

La Sagrada Familia
This 'Nativity' façade faces East. This cathedral is one of Antoni Gaudì's most famous works

La Sagrada Familia
The "Passion façade" faces West

The Nativity Façade was the first to be completed and is the most characteristic of Gaudì's naturalistic style

The Nativity Façade is dedicated to the birth of Jesus

The sculptures are ornately arranged and decorated with scenes and images from nature

The Passion façade
Construction was begun in 1954. The towers were finished in 1976

The Passion façade is especially striking for its spare, gaunt, tormented characters, including Christ being scourged at the pillar and on the Cross

The Glory Façade
This will be the largest and most striking of the façades. Construction began in 2002

La Sagrada Familia has 3,000,000 visitors a year.
One projection anticipates construction to be completed around 2026, the centennial of Gaudì's death

Casa Batlló
Another one of Antoni Gaudì’s masterpieces. It is located on Passeig de Gràcia near our hotel

Much of the façade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles (trencadìs) that starts in shades of golden orange moving into greenish blues

The colorful roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dragon or dinosaur

Barri Gòtic
The Barcelona Cathedral, known as La Seu, is certainly one of the finest Gothic buildings in Barcelona

The forecourt of the cathedral, Pla de la Seu, is crowded with kiosks and shoppers. It is often used for parties and events

Barri Gòtic (Gothic district) is so called because it used to be the Roman village and thus has some remnants of its glorious past

The Gothic district is the first choice for many visitors to Barcelona. It is the cultural hub of the city and the shopping is amazing

Inspiring archetecture

The 197 ft tall monument to Christopher Columbus stands at the lower end of La Rambla

Port Vell
The outdated old Customs building

The Port Vell pedestrian walkway at the end of La Rambla

The waterfront is less hectic than La Rambla with wide sidewalks, palm trees, benches and modern art

Along the waterfront

Port Vell Marina

The Peix (fish)
This unique sculpture was built in 1992 at Barcelona's waterfront. The large steel structure is indicative of the themes of many other Frank O. Gehry works

Torre Agbar
Headquarters for Aguas de Barcelona (Agbar), the municipal water company.
The structure has a layer of polished aluminum in blues, greens, and grays and 59,619 sheets of clear glass. At night, the tower is illuminated with 4,500 yellow, blue, pink, and red lights.

Plaça Cataluña
Some of the city's most important streets meet at Plaça Cataluña: La Rambla, Portal de l'Àngel and Passeig de Gràcia if your shopping tastes are slightly more designer orientated

Plaça Cataluña is especially known for its fountains and statues and its proximity to some of Barcelona's most popular attractions.

Plaça Cataluña

Monument Francesc Macià in Plaça Cataluña commemorates the man who declared Cataluña a free independent republic in 1931

Plaça de Cataluña statue

Plaça de Cataluña statue

Plaça de Cataluña at night

One of Europes largest department stores decorated for Christmas

A fountain on Passeig de Gràcia

Pedestrians along Passeig de Gràcia

Tenorio. The best restaurant in Barcelona
37 Passeig de Gràcia.
Tenorio is just a city block north of our hotel

At Tenorio don't miss the "tomato bread" and the "tortilinis in cream sauce"

We'll go back to Barcelona just for this restaurant

Many restaurants have these outside kiosks

Interesting sculpture

Shopping near Plaça Cataluña

Santa at a store near Plaça Cataluña

Hat shop in Barri Gòtic

Dress shop near Passeig de Gràcia

Public transportation

Motorcycles are the most popular transportation

More motorcycles
Hotel Eurostars BCN Design

Hotel Eurostars BCN Design
Passeig de Gracia
Barcelona, Spain

It's not the photo
The wall is intentionally out of focus

A balcony overlooking Passeig de Gràcia

Breakfast buffet

The cuckoo clocks have different time zones
Cádiz - Cruise #7 (Nov 2015)
Cartagena - Cruise #7 (Nov 2015)
Girona - Cruise #7 (Nov 2015)

We docked at the Port of Palamós for our trip to Girona

Palamós small boat harbor

Girona is an ancient town several thousand years old on the River Onyar

Girona, Spain - Colorful. Patriotic. Medieval.

The picturesque houses overlooking the river Onyar are characteristic of Girona

The picturesque houses overlooking the river Onyar are characteristic of Girona

Cataluña Flags
Red and yellow striped flags are displayed from every window and balcony around!

The Collegiate Church of Sant Feliu

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of Girona

The steep alleyways, porticoed streets and squares of Girona

The Jewish ghetto or Call is one of the best preserved in Europe

The narrow streets of the Jewish Quarter have maintained their medieval atmosphere

The Jewish ghetto or Call (derived from the Hebrew “Kahal” meaning
community)

Jewish History Museum in Girona

The Jewish History Museum

The Jewish History Museum

The Jewish History Museum

This model of the Jewish Quarter shows the labyrinth of narrow streets and patios

Girona's legend of the
flies

Txalaka - Best
tapas and how about this wine rack!
Palma De Mallorca - Cruise #7 (Nov 2015)

The massive Santa María cathedral sits between the Royal Palace of La Almudaina and the episcopal palace and overlooks the Mediterranean Sea

Joan at
Parc de la Mar

La Seu, the Santa María cathedral is a Gothic landmark begun by King James I of Aragon in 1229 but finished only in 1601

The Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma

The Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma, more commonly referred to as La Seu, is built on the site of a pre-existing Arab mosque

The Royal Palace of La Almudaina

The Royal Palace of La Almudaina was built as an Arabian Fort

The Fort was claimed as the official royal residence in the early 14th century

Overlooking Parc de la Mar and the Mediterranean Sea

Mallorca for
Majorca Pearls

Mallorca

Mallorca

Mallorca

Mallorca

A
monument to Joan

9
Palma De Mallorca (1994)
The Palace Mallorca is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the largest island in the Balearic Islands archipelago, in Spain. The capital of the island is Palma

The cathedral of Palma

The cathedral of Palma

The cathedral of Palma

The cathedral of Palma

The cathedral of Palma

McDonald's. They're everywhere!

All the way to Mallorca for
Country & Western