A couple of days in Barcelona, to chill out and catch Calexico in concert at the Bikini Club! Plenty of time for sightseeing, though, in between the gig and the tapas bars... starting off round the corner from the hotel, with the Placa Toros Monumental:

From there it's a short walk to the incredible Sagrada Familia, a cathedral started in 1882, and still only about half-finished. But it's already one of the world's great buildings, inspiring and trippy in equal measure. Not only is the structure itself quite breathtaking, it's covered in little (and not-so-little!) details of sculpture - bowls of fruit, a Christmas tree, protruberances that seem to evolve into doves, interpretations of Biblical scenes like you've never seen them... And of course we climbed the towers, about 75 metres up. Brilliant!

Fruit:

Excellent spiral staircases!

Turtle:

 

The other absolute must-see in Barcelona is Gaudi's Casa Mila, an apartment complex. On acid.

The apartments themselves are rather fine, but the roof terrace is the best part!

This is another Gaudi building, the Casa Batlló:

 

Shop window:

End of a hard shift as human statues...

Stonework in the Barri Gotic:

This was below this arch:

Gargoyles abound:

Down to the harbour:

The Maremàgnum centre in the heart of the old port:

Self portrait in the reflecting panels:

Close-up:

Columbus, pointing roughly towards Libya, and some more modern sculptures:

More civic art; but they do it with such style!

And finally, a look at the marina:

Fantastico!

All photos (c) 2001 Andrew Gilham
High-resolution versions available