La Rambla. Often the first landmark that people identify with the city. It is the central and the most famous boulevard which cuts through the heart of the city centre and is a vibrant and lively promenade filled with Barcelona action at its best and worst. It stretches from the harbor to La Plaça Catalunya running through the Ciutat Vella like a spine. Come here to see the street performers jump out at unsuspecting tourists, enjoy the flower and pet stalls, or just sit back and watch all of Barcelona walk by. During the day, La Rambla is packed with tourists, at night, the locals come out. There are newspaper and book stands, birds, flowers, musicians, street-performing artists that all contribute to create a lively and unique atmosphere.
A few blocks south of its north end is La Boqueria, a large, covered open air market with a diverse range of goods and produce. Enjoy freshly squeezed organic fruit juices for €1.5 per cup.
Museu Picasso has a lot of art from his first period, before the cubism, but almost none of his most famous works. Pictures are signed only in Spanish, only overview texts for each period are available in English. Do not take laptops or valuables when heading to the museum, luggage over 30x30cm should be left at checkroom, but without any liability.
Església de Santa Maria del Mar Barcelona’s best example of Catalan Gothic.
Carrer de Montcada opens at its southeast
end into Passeig del Born, a plaza that once
rang to the cheers and jeers of medieval joust-
ing tournaments, today replaced at night by
animated carousing). Built in the 14th century, Santa Maria
was lackin in superfluous decoration even
before anarchists gutted it in 1909 and 1936.
This only serves to highlight its fine propor-
tions, purity of line and sense of space. You
may occasionally catch an evening recital of
baroque music here.
E1 Rastro market > Meson de Candido
Parc de la Ciutadella
East of La Ribera and north of La Barceloneta, the gentle Parc de la Ciutadella makes a fine antidote to the noise and bustle of the city.
After the War of the Spanish Succession, Felipe V built a huge fort (La Ciutadella) to keep watch over Barcelona. Only in 1869 did the government allow its demolition, after which the site was turned into a park and used to host the Universal Exhibition of 1888.
The monumental Cascada near the Passeig de les Pujades entrance was created between 1875 and 1881 by Josep Fontsère, with the help of a young Antoni Gaudí. It’s a dramatic combination of classical statuary, rugged rocks, greenery and thunder- ing water.
Southeast, in the fort’s former arsenal, is
the regional Parlament de Catalunya which has free guided visits in Catalan. It also
opens on the first Friday of the month and on
11 and 12 September.
The south end of the park is occupied by the Zoo de Barcelona which holds about 7500 living thingies, from gorillas to insects.
Along the Passeig de Picasso side of the park are several buildings created for the Universal Exhibition. These include two arboretums, the Museu de Geologia for rock- and fossil-lovers, and the Museu de Zoologia. The contents of this museum (stuffed ani- mals and the kind of displays on the animal kingdom that once formed a part of the young child’s school-outings programmes) are less interesting than the building itself. The Castell dels Tres Dragons (Three Dragons Castle) is a whimsical effort by Lluís Domènech i Mon- taner, who added medieval-castle trimmings on a pioneering steel frame for the Universal Exhibition.
No comments:
Post a Comment