LasRamblas and other shopping.

You all will be so happy to know that after this I only have two more Barcelona posts! Can't blame you if you're bored, I'm getting a bit wearly of it myself. I do thank you for all your sweet comments though---Um, that would be...Cindy and Pamala, and Crystal my faithful readers bless you! :)

Shopping in Barcelona is a challenge. Well, I thought it was anyway, but I'm not much of a shopper even under good circumstances. Factor in a loud, dirty metro ride and pouring rain and it's a wonder that I'm still smiling! We didn't see a grocery store anywhere near the hotel but when we inquired, we learned that there was one a few floors under a department store. This particular department store, El Corte Engles is one of about 6 in the city. It has 8 floors and like I said...groceries on the bottom! If you want the luxury of a shopping cart, that will cost you an extra 2 euros. We only purchased a few items, mostly some of that rare "still" water, but I can't imagine shopping for a family--how do they transport all the items?!?! You can't exactly take your cart out the front door to your waiting vehicle in the parking lot, because there is no front door--just several pair of escalators and your car is not waiting for you in the parking lot because the parking lot does not exist--and neither does your car!
Hello Kitty is huge here. I took this picture for Kammy to see. This store is in Le Pedrables Mall which also has several floors.
I loved this little shop with shirts! I would find men's clothing very boring if it were not for shirts and ties and I confess to loving the European's style when it comes to men's fashion. My hubby was not as impressed as I and sadly we purchased nothing from this store.

This is a candle store much like we have in the states.

Shoes are a big item here. In fact, I heard that if you can only do one thing "right" make it your shoes.

I adore the little handmade clothing items we found in one booth near Las Ramblas. This whole little boys outfit is just darling! Good thing I have girls, or I'd have been mighty tempted!

La Rambla is a street in central Barcelona, popular with both tourists and locals alike. A 1.2 kilometer-long tree-lined pedestrian mall between Barri Gòtic and El Raval, it connects Plaça Catalunya in the centre with the Christopher Columbus monument at Port Vell.
La Rambla can be considered a series of shorter streets, each differently named, hence the plural form Les Rambles (Spanish: Las Ramblas). Construction of the Maremàgnum in the early 1990s resulted in a continuation of La Rambla on a wooden walkway into the harbour.
La Rambla can be crowded, especially during prime time tourist season. Most of the time, there are many more tourists than locals occupying the Rambla, which has changed the shopping selection, as well as the character of the street in general. For this reason also, it has become a prime target for pick pocketing and one Loomis visitor did get his wallet taken here.
The name rambla refers to an intermittent water flow in both Catalan and Spanish, and is derived from the Arabic 'ramla' which means 'sandy riverbed'. The name of the city of Ramla, now in Israel, shares the same origin. On La Rambla, I snapped Rick's picture by a Loomis truck. Um, yeah...that was why we were there, remember? Loomis.

As you walk along LasRamblas, you will pass many booths selling beautiful fresh flowers.

You can be whoever you want to be here, simply by standing behind a picture.

This is a real live HUMAN statue. They really come alive if you try to take a picture without making a tax free donation. We saw several of these, but this one was my favorite.

My Knight in Shining Armor! I think he looks rather angry at the prospect of being so short!

They do have McDonalds! You get your food on the bottom level and can sit pretty much as high up there as you want! Once again, those stairs are a good way to keep the quarter-pounders off your thighs.

Another of those human statues. This one sort of gave me the heebee jeebies.

Me standing in an entrance to a shop.

And two more human statues.There is really no way for pictures to show the enormity of the shopping on La Rambla. It seems to go on and on with hundreds of narrow side streets filled with more little shops of every immaginable type.
Now...can we PLEASE go home!?!?! My feet are killing me! I am not a shopper!

Mercat de Sant Josep / La Boqueria

Probably Barcelona’s best-known market, ideally situated just off La Rambla this market is a must whether sourcing ingredients for a fine meal or just wandering through. It's an assault on the senses with with both pleasant and quite unpleasant smells coming from the fish to fruit. The food sold ranges from ready-made fresh fruit salads for the tired tourist, to literally fresh out of the sea still moving crabs and lobsters (maybe you would also like to look out for the whole sheep's head!?) Not to mention the bright sweet counters that will act like a magnet for any child (or adult!).
Meat Market
Fruit Market. Truly a beautiful sight and the most delicious too!

Fruit Smoothies.

Um...yeah. Sheep's head complete with eyes. Yummy!?!?

Fresh Eggs

Not entirely sure about this one.

Gummy fruits.

Pigeons fly about in the market and in fact, we even noticed one booth owner picking pigeon droppings off his fruit and nut display. You also might want to watch for doggie doo-doo. They pretty much run free here as well. All that being said, there was something about this place that I loved.

Barcelona's Gothic Cathedral

In the center of the Gothic district, the heart of Barcelona, is the city's gothic cathedral, known as La Seu. The first stone of the current church was laid in the 13th century, but it would last until the early 20th century before the cathedral was fully completed.

La SeuThe church was named after Barcelona's patron saint Eulalia. Already in 343 A.D. during the Roman Empire a basilica was built at the site of the current cathedral. In 985 the basilica was destroyed by the Moors. It was replaced by a Roman cathedral, built between 1046 and 1058. A Roman chapel, the Capella de Santa Llucia, was added between 1257 and 1268. It was later incorporated in the cloister next to the cathedral.
30 Years later, in 1298, construction of the gothic cathedral started under King Jaume II, known as 'the Just'. During the construction of the gothic cathedral, the existing roman building was demolished except for the Santa Llucia chapel.
Due to civil wars and the black death which hit the city several times, the construction only progressed slowly. It took until 1460 before the main building was completed. The gothic facade was finished much later, in 1889 and the last part, the central spire, was completed in 1913. The design of both the facade and the spire were based on the original design from 1408 by the French architect Charles Galters.
The church is 93m/305ft long and 40m wide. The octagonal clock towers reach a height of more than 50m. They were built between 1386 and 1393. The spire of the central tower reaches a height of 70m or 230ft.
The interior consists of one wide nave with 28 side chapels. The crypt contains the sarcophagus of Santa Eulalia. The cathedral also has a beautifully carved choir. An elevator in the northeast of the cathedral brings you to the cathedral's roof.
Adjacent to the cathedral is a 14th century cloister. There are always 13 geese in its central courtyard. Each goose represents one year in the life of the martyr Santa Eulalia, a young girl tortured to death in the 4th century by the Romans for her religion. The cloister also contains a small museum with liturgist artifacts.
Some important Roman ruins are exposed under the Plaça del Rei, entrance by the city museum. Some remaining fragments of the old Roman walls have been incorporated into the cathedral. In the photo below, I am standing near the these walls and what is left of a bridge which was once the only way into the city. There is some dispute as to exactly how old this bridge is. I read one place online where they were claiming to have been built in the year 13 BC. Also nearby are found some exposed tombs from Roman time. Some of these tombs are known to be as old as the year 343-perhaps some even older.

Standing near the remains of the bridge leading into the fortress and cathedral area. This fortress area at least, if not these very ruins were home to a Roman military camp in the year 15BC

There is only one of 8 arches remaining today.

One of the 13 geese always present in the cathedral courtyard.

The tombs.

Monastery of Pedralbes

The monastery of Pedralbes, is one of the finest examples of Catalan Gothic in Barcelona. The building from the early 14th century shows the everyday life of nuns. Religious art from the 14th to the 20th century is displayed in the monastery museum.
Highlights are the three-storey cloister and the gardens inside the monastery.

The picture below is of a "day cell" or what we would think of as a prayer room.

The monastery was founded by Queen Elisenda de Montcada. Her husband, King Jacob II (Jaume II), supported her and dedicated the monastery to Holy Mary. Ever since, it has been administered by the nuns of the Order of Saint Clare.

The construction work of the monastery started in March 1326. Queen Elisenda chose its location in the village of Sarrià, which back then was far out of the city of Barcelona. The name "Pedralbes" derives from the Latin Petras Albas (white stones), a white stone is the cornerstone of the apsis. On May 3, 1327 the nuns moved into the monastery. Since the monastery was built in just one year, it was not influenced by any other architectural styles and is a fine example of particularly homogeneous gothic architecture in Catalonia.
It was not before the 15th century that the third and lowest storey was added to the cloister.

In 1212, Clare of Assisi joined Francis of Assisi's Dominican Order and soon founded the Order of Saint Clare, later also dubbed the "Second Order" of the Franciscans.
The Order of Saint Clare still administers the monastery. Today, the nuns live in a more modern annex but are still here.

I think this was my favorite place to visit. We were both amazed at the repair such an old building could be in. It was peaceful and I felt almost sacred feeling. It was also remarkably clean!

On the way out, I was admiring these old windows and noticed a pair of pigeons nesting.

The cobblestone streets leading back to the Monastery were just enchanting!

Do you realize how OLD this is?!?! I mean, like over 100 years before Columbus sailed. I love old windows and doors and there was plenty of both here! Wow!

The history is amazing! Even though it's not our history, in a very real way it is ours--think Columbus!

Christopher Columbus and the Port City

Columbus just might be the smartest man I never met. He certainly had the right idea. I no sooner arrived in Spain than I was ready to return to the New World as well! I mentioned this to my hubby and he wanted to be the smartest man I ever met, so he pointed in the same direction--notice him in the bottom right hand corner of the above picture.
The monument of Christopher Columbus is a 60 meters high column, It was put up for the universal exposition of 1888 in homage to the famous explorer. The sight of the city is remarkable.
The Columbus Monument (Monument a Colom in Catalan, also known as the Monumento a Colón and Mirador de Colón in Spanish). It was constructed for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888) and is located at the site where Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage to the Americas. The monument serves as a reminder that Barcelona is where Christopher Columbus reported to Queen Isabella and Ferdinand after Columbus' most famous trip.
The statue was sculpted by Rafael Atché and is said to depict Columbus pointing towards the New World with his right hand, while holding a scroll in the left. As it was sited, instead of pointing to the west towards the New World, the statue points east towards Columbus's supposed home city of Genoa. The statue is atop a socle, on which the word "Tierra" (land) is inscribed.

My husband loved seeing all the ships and boats. We considered a sail boat ride, but time and money not to mention weather conditions were not friendly to that idea.

My husband loved all the ships. I am very afraid of water, so to me they were beautiful in a terrifying sort of way.
This one did catch my eye as being a homey spot with the sweet little table on deck and all.