Hi Mummy,
today we took a walk along the beach promenade. Our hotel is close to the coastline, so we only had to cross the street to get there.
These high-rasers were built for the Olympic Village of the 1992 Summer Olympics.
This is a fish fixation, created by the architekt Frank Gehry, manifested by a 35 metre x 54 metre fish made of steel lattice. The fish marks the start of the Olympic Port area and is placed at the base of the two landmark towers.
A look behind ...
We walked through the old district Barceloneta, also with an own beach sector.
This is the tower of an aerial ropeway to Montjuic, a mountain in the municipal area.
You can find artwork here at the beaches, for example this statue in front of the ropeway tower.
We went to Port Vell than, the old harbour.
Here you can see the statue "El Cap de Barcelona" by the American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein.
We were in Port Vell than.
We also visited Ramla de Mar, a prolongation of the world famous boulevard Las Ramblas, leading to the Christopher Columbus Monument.
We also walked to the newer part of the harbour.
This fantastic steel construction is overspanning an intersection.
We walked to the old town to have lunch in a cava-bar. Cava is the Catalanian Champagne. You eat tapas and drink cava here. Really delicious! I tasted the local cheese, Katja and her friend had fish.
We went to the old town, built in medieval times with narrow lanes.
This is the church Santa Maria del Mar, we wanted to have a look inside, but it was closed until afternoon.
In the background you can see one of the historic markets. It is under construction at the moment.
Instead we visited Parc de la Ciutadella, the city's main central park.
Originally here was a citadel, after it was torn in 19th century, this park was built here. It contains a pond, a fantastic fountain (which is also under construction at the moment) and the Barcelona Zoo.
This is the fountain.
We went to Montjuic by bus. Here you can find the Olympic arena.
Montjuïc is a broad shallow hill with a relatively flat top overlooking the harbour, to the southeast of the city centre. The top of the hill (height: 173 metres) was the site of several fortifications, the latest of which (the Castell de Montjuïc) remains today. The fortress largely dates from the 17th century, with 18th century additions. We visited the remains of the fortress.
This is the view across the city. Georgeous, isn't it?
From here you are also overlooking the harbour.
We went downhill and reached Placa d'Espanya, one of the central squares of Barcelona.
We went back to the city centre by bus, reaching Placa Catalunya. It was already dark and we took some photos with the illuminated fountains.
On their way to the hotel Katja and her friend had one or two drinks in a nearby beach bar. Tomorrow we will return home, what a pity!
Bye
Carlisle
