A Day Trip to Barcelona.

Next day I decided I would take the train into Barcelona. Peter would not come with me, as a whole day of taking him around a city would be too much for both of us.

We began the day with a trip to the supermarket to buy breakfast. Peter wanted to come with me, so I pushed him there in his chair. It was fine going, as it was all downhill, but obviously that meant it was hard work on the way back.

After breakfast, I walked to the train station. I could have taken a bus as that was closer, but the train would take me to a part of Barcelona I knew, so I thought that would be a better idea even if it involved more walking.

I bought my ticket from the machine in the station and set off for Catalunya Square. We have been here once before when there was a weird hairdressing event going on. This time it was just a normal square filled with pigeons, statues, fountains and lots of people and I liked it a lot better than on our first visit.

Pigeon filled Catalunya Square.

Pigeon filled Catalunya Square.

Bubbles, Catalunya Square.

Bubbles.

Catalunya Square.

Fountain on Catalunya Square.

Statue on Catalunya Square.

Statue on Catalunya Square.

Statue on Catalunya Square.

Statue on Catalunya Square.

Statue on Catalunya Square.

Statue on Catalunya Square.

After looking around Catalunya Square, I headed onto The Ramblas. These are one of the most famous sights in Barcelona, but it is rather difficult to explain why. I think it's got more to do with their location rather than anything else, because basically the Ramblas are just roads with a pedestrianized areas down the middle.

The Ramblas.

Las Ramblas

However there are some beautiful buildings on each side of The Ramblas. I especially like the old umbrella shop with a dragon outside it, but there are also theatres.

Umbrella Store.

Umbrella store.

Theatre del Liceu.

Palau de la Virreina.

Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona.

Buildings on The Ramblas.

At the top end there is a small fountain and lamp post known as Font de Canaletes. This is a well known meeting point, as well as a location for fans of Barcelona Football Club to gather and celebrate their team's victories.

Fountain.

There are also lots of stalls selling flowers, souvenirs, football scarves, snacks etc.

Flower stall.

Souvenir stall.

Stall.

Stall

Football stall.

There are also cafes, restaurants and bars, but apparently they are pretty expensive.

Restaurant on The Ramblas.

Restaurant on The Ramblas.

It's normal to see people posing as statues on this street.

Street artist.

Street artist.

There are several stalls where you can get your sketch done and stalls selling paintings.

Street artist.

Street artist.

Unfortunately during this visit a lot of The Ramblas were being dug up for maintenance, so they were a bit of a mess. The Ramblas are apparently notorious for pickpockets. I didn't have any problems, but I deliberately left my handbag at home and carried my valuables in a neck purse.

At one point I left The Ramblas to take a look in St. Josep Le Boqueria Market. This is a market that started out mainly for butchered goat meat. Now it still has lots of charcuterie stalls, but also has fruit, vegetables, spices and several bars, too. It's interesting, but incredibly busy. I found the crowds a bit overwhelming.

St Josep Le Boqueria.

Charcuterie.

Charcuterie.

Charcuterie.

Charcuterie.

Eggs.

Chillies.

Vegetables.

Fruit.

Colourful stall.

Sweets.

Sea food.

Seafood.

Spices.

Drinks.

I left The Ramblas again when I reached the umbrella shop with the dragon and headed off down a narrow passage way into the Old Town. I've been here before with Peter. On that occasion I just said: "Peter, I want to see this, this and this." and he looked at our map and took me there. This time I had not looked into what was inside the Old Town and I didn't really aim to find anything. I just decided to wander and hope I found something.

I normally love old places, but some parts of the Old Town here just felt really claustrophobic to me.

Narrow street.

Narrow street.

Narrow streets.

Narrow street.

Narrow street.

Old Town street.

Old Town street.

Bicycles.

I was beginning to think I would never find any wide open spaces when I suddenly stumbled upon San Felipe Neri Square. This square is very peaceful nowadays, but it was bombed during The Spanish Civil War, resulting in the death of forty-two people, many of them children. There's a lovely octagonal fountain in the middle of this square.

Church of Saint Philip Neri .

Square of Saint Philip Neri.

Wandering around, I noticed people entering into a colourful courtyard, so I followed them. I had gone into The Palau del Lloctinent, or The Lieutenant's Palace. This was built between 1549 and 1557 and served as the residence of the king's representative in Catalonia.

Palau del Lloctinent.

The courtyard of the Palau del Lloctinent.

The courtyard of the Palau del Lloctinent.

Emerging at the other end of this building I found myself in the Plaça del Rei, a fourteenth century public square. The Chapel of Saint Agata is located here.

Plaça del Rei.

Chapel of Santa Àgata

Around this area I also came across The Monument to the Heroes of 1809, which is dedicated to eight people who attempted to drive French troops out of Barcelona, but were captured and executed.

The Monument to the Heroes of 1809.

I also saw the Bishop's Bridge, which was built in 1928 and connects the Palau de la Generalitat with the Casa dels Canonges, or House of the Canons.

Bishop's Bridge.

House of the Canons.

House of the Canons detail.

Then I arrived at Barcelona Cathedral.

Cathedral of Barcelona.

Detail of The Cathedral of Barcelona.

Detail of The Cathedral of Barcelona.

Not far from the cathedral I stumbled upon the Casa de l'Ardiaca, or House of the Archdeacon, which dates back to the twelfth century. There were some really beautiful tiles here.

House of the Archdeacon.

Fountain in the House of the Archdeacon.

House of the Archdeacon.

House of the Archdeacon.

Tiles.

Tiles.

Tiles

Tiles.

I found the Plaça de Sant Jaume, the square of Saint James, which is home to the Generalitat of Catalonia and the City Hall. There was a man here singing patriotic songs and shouting anti tourist slogans. No one seemed to be paying him much attention.

Sant Jaume on the facade of a building in Plaça de Sant Jaume.

Barcelona City Hall.

I wandered into The Plaça Reial with it's neoclassical architecture, restaurants and central fountain.

Plaça Reial.

Plaça Reial.

In addition to all of this I came across several churches.

Church of Sant Jaume.

Capella de Santa Llúcia.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy

Església de la Mare de Déu de Betlem.

The facade of the Church of Our Lady of Bethlehem.

I also saw lots more beautiful buildings, such as the House of Francesc Martí Puig and the Passage of Credit, build between 1875 and 1879 on the site of a former convent. Inside the Passage of Credit there's a strange statue called 'Trilogy of Life' by the artist Gil Gelpi.

Casa Francesc Martí Puig door.

Passatge del Crèdit

Trilogy of Life.

I discovered a square called Plaça del Duc de Medinaceli, which had a monument to Galceran Marquet, the vice-admiral of the Catalan fleet that fought against the Genoese in 1331. I loved the statues at the base of the monument.

Plaça del Duc de Medinaceli.

Monument to Galceran Marquet, located in the Plaça del Duc de Medinaceli.

Detail of fountain.

I also found a fountain depicting Neptune, God of the sea in The Plaça de la Mercè.

Fountain of Neptune.

There was an interesting shop selling caricature figures of famous people and there was lots of Street art.

Shop.

Shop.

Street art.

Street art.

Street art.

Naturally by this stage I was completely lost, so I used Google maps to get me back to The Ramblas. I walked right to the bottom to the Column of Christopher Columbus. I particularly like the lions around the column's base.

Christopher Columbus.

Christopher Columbus.

Lion at the base of the column.

Lion at the base of the column.

There are lots of lovely buildings around here, too, such as: The Old Canon Foundary, The Naval Command of Barcelona and The Old Customs House. Most of these buildings have some connection to the port.

Old Cannon Foundary.

Naval Command of Barcelona.

Old Customs House.

I crossed over to the Port of Barcelona and took some pictures before walking back to Catalunya Square and heading home.

The Port of Barcelona.

The Port of Barcelona.

The Port of Barcelona.

Selfie at The Port of Barcelona.

In the evening we ate sandwiches in our room and went for a drink in the hotel bar.

A drink in the bar.

A drink in the bar.

Next day we were leaving Sant Joan Despi. I took Peter out in the morning and we had breakfast in the park. We sat next to the skate-boarding area and watched the skateboarders strut their stuff.

Peter in Sant Joan Despi.

Peter in Sant Joan Despi.

Peter in the park.

Peter in the park.

Peter doing a bit of skateboarding.

Peter doing a bit of skateboarding.

We had a slightly late checkout and called a Free now cab. The app said the cab would come in ten minutes, so we went downstairs to pay the bill and, to our surprise, found the cab already waiting for us. It was time to leave Sant Joan Despi and head to our next destination, Molins de Rei - the Windmills of the King.