barcelona

When your job wants to send you to Barcelona for a week, you say "yes please"!! I was there for a client, at a global carbon trading conference, but was also lucky enough to get some time to see the city. And what a city it is. Barcelona is so vibrant; people crowd the sidewalks at all hours of the day, tourists and locals alike. Barcelona has everything: loads of outdoor cafes, modern architectural sights (from the renowned Antoni Gaudi), old city pedestrian alleys lined with actual Roman walls, waterfront with beaches and clubs like Miami, and beautiful parks.


Backpacking across Europe: "Las Ramblas," the pedestrian walkway to the sea


Las Ramblas is lined with little outdoor pet shops, baby bunnies and chicks and little turtles!


There is an unbelievable outdoor market along Las Ramblas, where I could happily shop every day.


Placa Reial off of Las Ramblas


Pedestrian streets


Wandering the alleyways - which only backfired once, when I found myself walking down the "red light" street whilst licking a cone of gelato... I tried to play it cool and walk briskly.


I loved these geese! They live in the outdoor cloister of one of the cathedrals in Barcelona, amidst the palm trees and fountains. Another fun thing I happened on in my wandering...



Gaudi's amazing work lives all over Barcelona - some of it is incorporated into houses and apartment buildings along main roads; he also designed an amazing park up on a hill above the city, where he once lived; and finally Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia, which has been under construction for over a century and is still supported by scaffolding and cranes. All of Gaudi's work is inspired by nature - a bit hard to see until you examine the details!


Gaudi architecture right near my hotel


The raised plaza in Park Guell


Awesome street band in Park Guell


Unusual architecture in the park

Tunnel in Gaudi's park


Back and front of the unreal Sagrada Familia


Perpetual scaffolding and cranes