The photos below are what we saw.
Our
hotel was right across the street from Plaza Catalunya, the main
plaza in town (by tourist density). From our hotel window,
we watched bus after bus drop off loads of tourists at the
plaza. We passed the plaza on our way to Corte Ingles, a
huge department store.
The
plaza had fountains and bazillion pigeons drinking and bathing
in the fountains.
Plenty
of nice fountains in the plaza with intricate sculptures.
The
Roman Baccus theme is always popular with statues. Grapes
and naked women: let the party begin.
There
were tens of thousands of pigeons in the plaza. And to
make things worse, people fed them attracting more.
Kathleen had to watch them scatter.
Pigeon
Pot Pie - its whats for dinner!
From our
window in the hotel which overlooks the plaza, we watched the
city workers pressure wash the plaza each morning to hose away
the pigeon droppings. This fountain was drained and
cleaned daily.
A crown
of thorns to prevent the pigeons from alighting on the statues.
There
were nicely-tended rose gardens in the plaza.
More
interesting statues.
As a
stroke of (bad) luck there was an important soccer game in town
and the Italian fans showed up en-masse. They, were in the
plaza shouting, singing and marching. The riot police were
there with crowd-control equipment. These fellows were
loud but otherwise well-behaved.
The
largest sculpture in the plaza.
Our
hotel was under the Samsung sign. New, contemporary
architecture and very nice inside. The building to the
left in the Banco Espania.
These
happy fellows were part of the riot police on duty in the plaza.
We
started marching toward the high-rent district and the sun came
out giving nice views of the great buildings on the boulevard.
Note the
detailed embellishments on the building.
Note the
intricate iron work on the balcony and the patterns in the wall.
Casa
Batllo was one of Gaudi's buildings and was turned into a
museum. There were huge lines to get into the
building. We settled for a view from the street.
Gaudi
was famous for his odd patterns and non-linear edges.
In the
distance, I could see another structure that if not designed by
Gaudi, was clearly influenced by his style.
This
building clearly shows his influence. Note the detail
under the smaller balconies.
Down the
street was another Gaudi-designed building, this one likely an
apartment building.
Note the
odd iron-work and non-symmetrical contours.
We
walked north toward the Sagrada Familia cathedral and came upon
this odd work. I was surprised it was not yellow.
The
story here is not the statue but rather that the base of it is a
gas station.
| Previous Adventure | ||
| Trip Home Page |
Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2017, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.