Placa Reil / Plaza Real

Across La Rambla and down a short passage is a pretty, arcaded square with a central

 fountain and soaring palm trees.

Once home to a convent and later the haunt of junkies and thieves, today it is a gently 

cleaned up, and full of bars,cafes, and restaurants pushing legal stimulants.

One of Gaudi's first projects was making the lamp posts in this Plaza Real

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La Rambla? Les Rambles? Las Ramblas?

The name LA Rambla is derived from Arabic, signifying a dry riverbed - which is what this spot was until 14th century, when Barcelonas began to populate the area. The stream was soon paved over, and it developed into a pedestrian-only promenade

Victor Hugo proclaimed La Rambla " the most beautiful street in the world " while the Spanish poet Federico Gracia Lorca said it was the "only street he wished would never end"

The tree-shaded, pedestrian-only promenade stretches nearly 2 km down gentle slope from the city's hub, Placa de Catalunya to the waterfront. To the left (as you walk down it) is the Barri Gotic, to the right is El Raval, an emerging artsy neighborhood.

From Plaza Catalunya

This place is famous for street performers including human statues

Streets Artist

Mirador de Colom, marking the end of the Rambla and the start of the waterfront is a statue honoring Christopher Columbus

Portal de la Pau 

The Rambla del Mar is a wooden walkway connecting the Portal de la Pau at the bottom of La Rambla with the Moll d'Espanya, which is home to the Maremagnum leisure and shopping complex, the Imax cinema and the sailing clubs.

Designed by Helio Pinon and Albert Viaplana, who also created the maremagnum building.

Passeig de Josep Carner

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Parc de la Ciutadella

In a dense city with few green spaces, Barcelona largest urban oasis is this 30 hectare park between the old city and waterfront. The park makes for an ideal respite from the city, with Barcelona Zoo, a massive waterfall fountain, lake, sculptures and monuments, and wide promenades and tree-lined trails for strolling or cycling. We did not go to all the places, just pass by the area to see this,

The Arc Triomf marks the entrance to Parc de la Cuitadella, desinged by 

architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas

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Sagrada Familia

The expiatory church of La Sagrada Familia is a work on a grand scale which was begun on 19 March 1882 from a project by the diocesan architect Francisco de Paula del Villar (1828-1901). At the end of 1883 Gaudi was commissioned to carry on the works, a task which he did not abandon until his death in 1926. Since then different architects have continued the work after his original idea. Taken from this Site

As Paul Goldberger called it 

"the most extraordinary personal interpretation of Gothic Architecture since the Middle Ages"


The Church will have three grand facades; The Nativity facade to the East (this facade is the most direct Gaudi influence), the Passion facade to the West and the Glory facade to the South (yet to be completed)

The Nativity

the Passion

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Park Guell, Catalonia, Spain

Parc Guell is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of El Carmel in the Gracia district of Barcelona, Spain. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi and built in the years 1900 to 1914. 

The famous dragon, restored in 2007

Ceiling Mosaic in the Hypostyle Room

Gaudi's mosaic work on the main terrace

Colonnaded pathway where the road projects out from the hillside

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The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art ( MACBA )

MACBA is situated in the Placa dels Angles, in El Raval, Ciutat Vella, Barcelona. 

This building is designed by the American architect Richard Meier. 

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