Barcelona: 5-10 December

We are presently in Barcelona, this being the end of our 5th day. We will jump on an overnight train in 4.5 hours for Paris - and another 5 day stay. Woohoo!

Barcelona has been just awesome - a city you would love to bits, I can assure you. It´s generally a really young & vibrant city population-wise, though the numbers of middle aged wealthy European tourists apparently climbs every year (not many Germans though, I think all the German tourists must still be in South Africa). It has a huge art scene & local music, stacks of bars, culture coming out of its ears with thousands of years of history & architecture to draw on.
The culture is a fascinating mix to- because it´s on the Iberian Peninsula it has had turns at being occupied by the Romans, Visigoths, Islamist settlers & from middle ages until now Catholic Christians. A city with weird hours, no one is up before 9am at earliest, lunch is 2-4pm when the entire city (& frustratingly many tourist attractions!) close for siesta. Dinner is never before 9pm, when people only head out to the dozens of bars etc after 10pm-ish.

The main street, Las Ramblas, is packed with people all night checking out all the markets along its length & watching the myriad street performers (mimes, magicians, statues, confidence tricksters etc) ply their trade. Brent was thrilled to be part of a street magician´s act, though less thrilled to learn he would only play the fellow´s coat hanger while a buxom Barcelonin took his limelight.

There are signs of famous artists everywhere! The Museu Picasso is in the ancient Gothic heart of town, though a bit of a disappointment unless you are a devout Picasso (1881-1973) fan as the museum only houses preliminary works & sketches from his youth. There are only so many ´Studies of boy & Horse´ one can stomach before lunch.

The famous architect Antoni Gaudi (1852 - 1926, hit by a tram would you believe) -I´d never heard of him before now- has left his fantastic eccentric marks on almost every corner. He has a weird kind of surrealist style of amazing natural curves & gaudy (?eponymous?) colours & styles. Some of his famous buildings around the city include the Casa Battlo (pictured above), the undulating curves of La Pedrera & the monumental testament to Gaudi´s genius (doubling as his tomb) the great & famous Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia (Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family). A huge temple with Gothic inspiration, but in Gaudi´s own true style. Begun in 1882, in the best of medieval or Gothic traditions it is still unfinished over 120 years later!

Salvador Dali, not from Barcelona, but is from a little town up the coast. Didn´t get there. Crap.