A Yorkshire Visitor

This weekend my friend David from Leeds came to visit! He'd only been to Barcelona once before for a day trip so we went around all the main sights. I've summarised the weekend in 9 pictures and descriptions to go with them which go from top left to bottom right.

1. Monument a Colom
We started off by walking down the Ramblas, past the famous Boqueria market and the beautiful Plaça Reial towards the Port. At the end of the Ramblas stands this monument of Christopher Columbus which is 60 metres high, and has a statue of Columbus on top, pointing out to sea. It's normally possible to go all the way up the monument in a lift, but unfortunately it was closed for repairs that day. In the photo we're sitting on the lions at the foot of the monument.

2. Bombers
Here in Barcelona it is quite common to see bombers around the city. Fortunately, however, the Catalan word bombers does not refer to people who drop bombs, but rather firemen. Everytime I see a sign, or a bomber-mobile here it makes me chuckle, so I thought it relevant to include a photo is of one of their Barcelona headquarters.

3. Las Arenas
Although the ban on bull fighting in Catalonia only came into action at the beginning of this year, the last bull fight in this bull ring in Plaça Espanya took place over 30 years ago, in 1977. In the 1990's it fell into disrepair and was then converted into the shopping centre it is now. For €1 you can to take a lift up and walk around the top of the ring which provides a lovely panorama over the whole city.

4. Montjuïc
In this photo Íngrid and I are standing outside MNAC (the Catalan National Museum of Art), looking down over the city. The atmosphere was lovely and although it was a little bit chilly, we sat on the steps for a while, listening to a guitar player who was busking. The MNAC is located in a building called the Palau Nacional, and in order to get there you take escalators up the hill. As far as I know, in England escalators are an indoor thing so I am continually amazed at the utter brilliantness of Barcelona for building outdoor escalators to transport the tourists up and down hills to tourist spots.

5. La Font Màgica
A feature on many of the postcards, the Magic Fountain at Montjuïc is popular among the city's tourists. A few evenings a week, the fountains turn into a beautiful display of water, lit up in numerous colours and accompanied by music. Today the fountains stayed red for the whole display in order to raise awareness of the need for blood and tissue donors in Barcelona and Catalonia.

6. Anella Olímpica
Barcelona was the host city of the 1992 Olimpic games, and it's Olimpic stadium sits on Montjuïc, a hill in the south of the city. We learnt that the stadium was actually built in in the 1930s for some games which, due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, didn't end up happening. Then in 1992 the old stadium was preserved for the Olimpic games, with builders digging further down in order to create enough seating for the events. Here we're standing in front of the fountains beside the stadium.

7. Catedral
In contrast to most of the city on a Sunday, Plaça de la Catedral was relatively busy. A band on the steps of the Cathedral had attracted a crowd, there was a stand with information about diabetes in honour of diabetes day on 14th November, and other people like us who were just on a Sunday morning stroll. Despite having seen the Cathedral from the outside on numerous occasions, this was the first time I'd actually been inside, and our visit happened to coincide with a mass.

8. Extras
After the Cathedral, David and I headed out of the gothic quarter and towards the coast. As we approached the port, we stumbled across on a film set and within minutes we had been invited onto the set to take part. There was a big black stallion, police men, bandits and a foreign police car: our job was to join a crowd of protesters and to shout as the policemen and the bandits fought and then drew away with fake blood on their faces. We weren't the best extras as we left the scene soon after, but it was an interesting experience I guess.

9. Barceloneta
Sunday stroll along one of Barcelona's 7 beaches. I love the fact that palm trees are native to the city, and that I get to walk past them every day on the way to Uni. I've been here for two months now, but they still make me feel like I'm on holiday when I walk past them!