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Thursday, September 24, 2015

Walking to Columbus

Christopher Columbus monument towering over Barcelona harbor
Arrived back in Barcelona mid afternoon on Wednesday.  I dropped the diesel Mini Cooper off back at Hertz and it was time to explore Barcelona.  It was time to go searching for Columbus.


Barcelona makes a very nice first impression.  We're staying in a neighborhood about a mile inland, near (but not too near) Plaça de Catalunya.  The best way to get to the harbor area is via La Rambla.


So off we go.


La Rambla was crowded.


La Rambla is the famous tree-lined street that leads to Barcelona harbor.  It is known for being packed with two things:  tourists and pickpockets.


Finally, reaching the end of La Rambla ...


Christopher Columbus, towering high above the port of Barcelona.  This is the view from the front side.


This is definitely the tourist part of town.



The Port of Barcelona building was very interesting-looking.  It's not famous or anything, but it is interesting.


Here you can see Christopher Columbus towering over the trees.


This is something weird.


Hot dogs and crepes?  Together in one food cart?  Not two things I ever thought should be paired together,  I'm guessing it sells hot dogs and it sells crepes.   Not a hot dog that has a crepe wrapped around it.


Big boat town Barcelona is.


And they have buoys that are boys.


Walked along the waterside for awhile.  We had a young woman from Taiwan who wanted to walk with us because she was afraid of the aggressive pigeons.  Alas, I took no pictures of either Emily or the aggressive pigeons.


But we did see that.  Kinda sorta Joan Miró looking, isn't it?  But what about this?


Why a lobster?  Why not, I would guess.  We headed into the Barrio Gotic (the Gothic Quarter) to head back to the hotel via a different route.


And then I saw the exterior of the Cathedral of Barcelona.



A man on a horse.  An evergreen in statuary.


A sliver of cathedral visible.  And then ...


The Cathedral of Barcelona in all of its magnificence.  Shall we go in?


And of course the interior was magnificent.



I thought I would have trouble finding it, but I immediately found what -- or should I say "who" -- I was looking for:


St. Raymond of Penyafort.


St. Raymond of Penyafort is my personal patron saint.  I choose him from among all the saints when I was talking Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults (RCIA) classes in Washington, D.C., right before I moved to Las Vegas in early 1992. Here is the lean close and look through the bars view.


I wanted to visit my saint and pay homage.  And I did.  And then it was time to leave.


They had angry geese at the Cathedral.  Why were the geese angry?


Because they were behind bars.


There is a festival in town, so there was a concert stage in front of the cathedral.


But one of the great things about Barcelona is all the beautiful buildings, including buildings that no one even thinks worth mentioning in guidebooks.  Like these two.



I forget to take my camera to supper, so food pictures tonight.  And what was for supper.  I'll give you a clue:  we're in Barcelona.  (Answer: tapas.)

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