Sights from Barcelona

It isn't easy to post just a few pictures from Barcelona. Around every corner there is something beautiful to discover. Here is just a taste of our day...

The Monument of Columbus on the waterfront stands tall in the sky.

Around each corner there was something new as we walked down the narrow streets filled with antique shops and little bakeries.

La Rambla, the busy street in central Barcelona.

Turists were everywhere... :)

See the bikes behind Antonello? These rental bikes are the greatest things. Pick up one where you are, and drop it off where you are going.

Barcelona Cathedral
The elevated site occupied by the cathedral has always been the spiritual center of Barcelona. First there was a Roman temple here, then a mosque, and then a church that preceded the cathedral. Pure beauty is all I can say...

It's graceful spires can be seen from most of the Barri Gòtic (Gothic quarter) of Barcelona.
(I didn't get a good picture of the outside, but found this online.)
Here the 14th-century cloister, which the historian Cirici called "the loveliest oasis in Barcelona." Its vaulted galleries overlook a lush garden filled with orange, medlar, palm trees, and a mossy central pond.

Underneath the well-worn slabs of its stone floor are the tombs of key members of the Barri Gòtic's ancient guilds.

The lofty, handsomely sculptured choir.

The crypt within the Cathedral contains the remains of Santa Eulàlia, the first patron saint of Barcelona and the saint to whom the cathedral is dedicated. According to Catholic tradition, the young virgin who suffered martyrdom during Roman times in Barcelona was exposed naked in the public square and a miraculous snow fall in mid spring covered her nudity. The enraged Romans put her into a barrel with knives stuck into it and rolled it down a street called 'Baixada de Santa Eulalia'. The crypt beneath the high altar contains the impressive alabaster sarcophagus of Santa Eulalia. The virgin daughter of an upper-class Barcelona family, Eulalia was burned at the stake for her beliefs.
The white geese in the 14th century cloister are said to represent her purity.

There just never is enough time to explore everything... Guess we'll have to come back!