Sites of Barcelona, Spain

Here are a few of my photos from our two days in Barcelona, where the Oceania Riviera was christened.  This is one of my favorite cities in Europe, despite the mishap I experienced on this visit.  


I had just finished telling some people on the ship to be very careful with their belongings because Barcelona is known by some to be the pickpocketing capital of Europe...if not the world.  Ten minutes later my pocket camera was gone.  I was on my way to have dinner with two friends of mine who live in Barcelona.  I was determined not to let the theft affect my time with my friends or my liking of Barcelona.   


I'm a very savvy, cautious traveler who had my camera in my front pocket and my shirt-tail covering the opening to my pockets.  I'm always aware of who is around me and who is getting too close.  I know most of the "schemes" they use to distract people.  Yet they "got" me.  They are masters at their work.  I decided to pray for them rather than let them ruin my trip.  That said, I had more photos than the ones you see here to share on my blog...they were on the missing camera.  

The most famous landmark in Barcelona is La Sagrado Familia, a church that has been under construction for decades.  The facade of the church facing east has more traditional art depicting the nativity and the one facing west has more modern, contemporary designs of the passion of Christ.   This photo was taken on the traditional side.  Antoni Gaudi, the famous architect, took over this project in 1883 and devoted most of his final years in the 1920's to this building.  At that time it was less than 25% complete.  As you will see in the following photos, Gaudi's influence is present throughout Barcelona and the surrounding area.

Gaudi's original plan called for 18 spires...12 for the apostles, 4 for the evangelists, 1 for the virgin Mary and the tallest for Jesus Christ.  The scheduled completion of the church is still years away.  If all goes as planned, it will be the tallest church building in the world...but will be one foot lower than than the hill that towers over Barcelona...as Gaudi did not want his creation to be taller than God's creation.

If you look closely at this photo you'll see a large bubble floating through the air...the woman approaching it has no idea it is there.  

This is one of my favorite photos from the trip as this child gazes in awe at the giant bubble floating by.

For those visiting Barcelona, I recommend you go to the park overlooking the city of Barcelona.  Here you can really see the influence of Gaudi.  In this photo and the one below you can see two buildings that are part of this park.

On our excursion we stopped at a small church that also was designed by Gaudi. Most of the photos I took of that church were on the camera mentioned above, but I did manage to get this photo of the exterior of the church with my second camera.  

This is the other most famous site of Barcelona...Las Ramblas.   It is a street lined with shops, vendors and street performers.  This photo was taken early in the morning, but in the afternoon and evening the walk becomes alive with activity.