Barcelona

Barcelona is a world class city, the largest in Catalonia (2nd largest in Spain). Catalonia is the northwest of Spain, abutting France, the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean and Andorra (see another post). There is much to see here; so there are several posts.
Not surprisingly, Barcelona was founded by the Romans about 2,000 years ago, although there are legends claiming it was founded by Hercules, in one case and by Hamilcar Barca of Carthage in the second.
This post gathers some pictures from around the city. The 1st is an overview taken from Montjuïc (see another post). The 2nd picture is Barcelona's Arc d'Triomf that was built as the entrance for the 1888 Universal Exposition.
The next 3 pictures go together. This famous block in the 3rd picture has several famous houses from the Catalan Modernist period. The 4th picture is about halfway down the block and is typical modernist. In this case, it is partly Flemish in character along with the typical modernist mix of tiles, glass and more. The next is the Casa Battló by Gaudí, the architect of Sagrada Familia (see another post). The 6th picture is another building by Gaudí just up the street a couple blocks: Casa Milà. There is much too much to say about Gaudí for a single post like this. I'll leave that to your browser.
No look at Barcelona would be complete without a picture along La Rambla which is the 7th picture. Probably the most famous street in Barcelona, La Rambla is a bit more than 1 kilometer in length, is a pedestrian way and is filled with shopping and restaurants. And it's a good place for a paseo.
The last 2 pictures look at the Mediterranean. The 8th is the commercial port, taken from Montjuïc, and the 9th is the marina. You might be interested to know that the big yacht to the right isn't a cruise ship. It's a private yacht.Read more