6th July

Barcelona Sunny with some cloud Temp 26c.

Today we were booked with a group from Cruise Critic for a tour of Barcelona. It turned out to be a group of 13 and we had the whole bus to ourselves. Our guide named Christian was a very proud Catalonian. He did a very good job making this one of the best tours so far. First we went to a lookout where he pointed out all the landmarks of Barcelona. On the way we past a number of unusual houses which were designed by Antonio Gaudi, more about him later.This lookout is near the site of the Olympic Stadium but unfortunately the road by it was blocked off due to there being a gathering of motor bike enthusiasts.  Somewhere in Europe each year Harley Davidson motorbike owners gather and this year it happens to be Barcelona. There were over 1000 of them here. Even at normal times motorbikes are very popular here in Barcelona you see them everywhere. From the lookout we went the Park Guell. A gentleman named Eusebi Guell was ahead of his time when he entrusted Gaudi to plan and create an estate for the well off families on the land he had acquired on the side of the Muntanya Pelada (bare Mountain). The location was in a healthy setting with splendid views over the sea. The estate was to have 60 houses, with a complex network of paths, viaducts and steps. Guell wanted to recreate the selective British residential estates and that was why he used the English form “Park” in the name Park Guell instead of the Spanish Pac. The park is an amazing collection of Gaudi’s work with twisting paths, a great open space bordered by a snake like seat covered in mosaics made from broken tiles. The open space is covered with sand because it is supported by columns underneath which collect the rain water which goes through the sand and stores it in tanks. Regretfully lack of proper transport to the estate made the project unviable. In 1914 Eusebi Guell chose to halt the work with only 3 houses built but all the infrastructure was in place. Upon the death of Eusebi Guell, his heirs offered it to the Barcelona City Council, which decided to acquire it in 1922 and open it as a public park. It is now UNESCO listed. From the park we journeyed to the famous La Sagrada Familia, an awe-inspiring 19^th century church which remains unfinished to this day but Christian assures us it will be finished by 2029 which will be the 100^th anniversary of Antonio Gaudis death. Christian took us around each side of the church explaining what each face of sculptures represented. All of it is from the bible. Only someone like the genius Antonio Gaudi could have designed this church. His drawings were so intricate that the builders could not understand them so he constructed models for them. He was so dedicated to the construction that in his later life he lived on the site in not very good conditions. Unfortunately he was hit by a tram and died. His models were later destroyed in a fire and it is only recently that with the help of an architect from Australia the models have been reconstructed and are now being used to finish the building as Gaudi intended. After leaving the church we drove through the old part of Barcelona which was once surrounded by a Roman wall. Today we got so much information that I could go on for a long time but will not. After returning to the ship and some lunch we caught the shuttle bus back into Barcelona to visit the famous Las Ramblas which is a pedestrian promenade lined with colourful flower stalls, cafes and souvenir stalls. Nearby is the old medieval quarter of  Barri Gothic. In the Princess Theatre tonight there was a Folkloric show “Flamenco Jose De La Vega” but we were back to late to see it. 

 A Gaudi house

 Pack Guell

 La Sagrada Familia

 Las Ramblas