Barcelona

Cashed up and in Barcelona, time for SHOPPING!...... later

Spain has 40 million people with over 3 million in its capital, Madrid. Barcelona. the second largest city of 1.6 million is the home of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Joan Miro. The Dali and Picasso Museums had to be paid homage to. Picasso’s 14^th Century former Aguilar Palace, in the Gothic Quarter, houses his largest life collection and should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Did you know that Salvador Dali once sent a comedy script he had written to the Marx Brothers, in the USA, for their consideration? They rejected the script so Dali responded by sending a gift of a harp to Harpo Marx with barbed wire for strings, temper, temper!

Ok, OK, one more church. I dragged myself to the Antonio Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia, known for its art nouveau modernismo façade. I was pleasantly impressed with the lack of gargoyles, demons, skeletons, tombs or other gothic/greek/roman influences despite it being commenced in 1883. The natural organic lines lean more towards the style of the early Minoans from Santorini but what do I know about these things?

All of the above is made easy as it all sits around the famed Las Ramblas shopping district. Flowers, street theatre and the July sales all made for an entertaining afternoon. 

Las Ramblas is a very long mall sitting between two streets and is the centre of the social scene in Barcelona. Many of the recommended restaurants are in this area. There is the most amazing street theatre every few metres, animated characters, soccer skills demonstrations, gambling on guessing which cone hides the pea, really good singers fighting to be heard.  This is truly a unique area where anything artistic is accepted and applauded.