It’s got to be, if not the best, up in top three

Barcelona, what a fantastic city and boy did we not do it justice. Having spent half a day walking down Las Ramblas, seeing the cathedral and the waterfront (see previous entry), we cam in again today (Thursday) and took the option to do an open top bus tour and jump off at a couple of stops.
Barcelona is really a city that seems to have come alive in the lat 19th century, but of course it has a long history. Way back around 700-800 it was repelling the Arab invaders, and before then it was Roman walled city, a few fragments of which still remain. Over the centuries the city swallowed up the surrounding villages and grew well beyond the original walls. You can still detect clear divisions between the original city and the various villages that were consumed. Learning something about Spanish regionalism one would not be surprised if these out regions still retained a local dialect and cuisine!
But back to the 19th century and the genius of Gaudi… unreal! When you think what the Victorian architects were doing, all very ornate and proper, this guy was going nuts with curves, bulges, bright colours and playing with textures from rough volcanic rock to super smooth ceramic tiles. He could have been designing today and it would still look like something from the future. He has turned much of Barcelona into what feels like a playroom. And more recent architects have either carried on the tradition, or designed modern buildings on different lines, but still beautiful and unique. Amongst these fantastic buildings are a dizzying collection of sculptures from Christopher Columbus to the stylised Olympic rings, giant lobsters, Miro-inspired creations… We did not make it into any of the art of museums, having spent too much time around the many spired church of Gaudi’s and a fantastic park with those curvy mosaiced benches, water features and cave-like arches. In the park were a couple of musicians, one singing with a guitar and the other with a pair of drums and a sax playing classic Spanish tunes, really a great experience.
I will try and get some pic’s up in the next few days, but really I think you just have to come and live here for a while (or at least stay for a few weeks).