My Europe Research + Writing Trip Photos - Part III (More Barcelona)

So, I'm pretty behind on this. I've gotten a chance to visit a number of tourist sites since I last posted on here. I have more photos than I can reasonably post, really, but I'll see how many I can post before the blogging software gets mad at me, lol.

Mostly I've been touring Gaudi sites and just walking around town. I'm staying in Born / the Gothic Quarter, so just walking in my "neighborhood" has tons of beautiful old buildings and street art, not to mention a lot of cute little shops and coffee shops and restaurants. I've been eating at home a fair bit, but working out at coffee shops here and there.

Of course, even with the insane number of photos, this is only a fraction of what I've taken. It's easy to go a little nuts with photos here, lol. And this doesn't include my last few days here, since I haven't sorted through all those yet (although I've been writing a lot, so those are definitely less exciting, lol).

Hope you enjoy them! :)

Another of the alleys in the Gothic Quarter. There's so much street art here - I've been photographing a lot of it as I wander around.

This is one of Gaudi's buildings, Palau Güell (Güell Palace). They have tours of this one, too, but I haven't been inside it yet. It's right off La Rambla, the big walking street in the center of town.

This is Plaça Reial, one of my favorite little spots here. It's walled off from a lot of the crazy and really beautiful and peaceful, lined with outdoor cafes.

Another alleyway in the Gothic Quarter...

This is the outside of the big market on La Rambla. I actually ventured in this time. :)

Lots and lots of chocolates...

And lots and lots of dried fruit and nuts...

This was a mishmash of all kinds of stuff... mostly seafood. :) There were also whole booths devoted to olives and fruits, meats and cheeses of all kinds, flowers and pretty much anything edible you can think of.

A somewhat wider view of the indoor / outdoor market. This was probably the closest I've felt to being back in Thailand, lol. These kinds of markets are EVERYWHERE there, and people do most of their shopping in them (locals, at least).

More street art... :)

This is a detail on another really pretty square, not far from the Barcelona Cathedral

A church along La Rambla

There was a circus alongside the marina and ocean. I might have to go back there when it's open, lol. I did walk right by it after I'd wandered on the beach and all over the pier.

Ocean! :) Always makes me happy.

There were quite a few surfers, actually... and naked people, which was funny because everyone else was bundled up for the colder weather. So you'd have people in ski jackets next to completely nude people either swimming or laying out. I'm used to nude beaches being a little more secluded but this was basically a hundred feet from a busy city street.

The beach, surfers, and Hotel W in the background (I actually saw the hotel when I flew in on my way down from Brussels)

This is actually a research shot. I took a lot of photos of rich people's yachts, lol. So for those who read my fiction, you'll be seeing some of this in one of my upcoming books (I won't say which one, lol)

Walking around by the marina... there were tons of restaurants down there, really pretty

The gondola. I was actually going to do this today, but it turns out it's shut down for a few weeks for maintenance. I won't be able to ride on it until the end of the month.

The circus! :) This is one of their painted cars.

A view looking from the marina up towards the city (this is right near the entrance to the Gothic Quarter, which is right along the water on the south side). This is labeled on the map as Edificio de Correos, and appears to be office buildings and the post office.

Walking along the marina, with "La Cara de Barcelona" in the background.

"La Cara de Barcelona" (the face of Barcelona)

Enormous statue of Christopher Columbus... (right at the southern entrance of La Rambla)

This is a restaurant my parents went to when they were last here, lol. I got there at the wrong time, or I at least would have gotten a drink. :)

More views of the Gothic Quarter

Detail on the wall of the Gothic Quarter

This is pretty close to my house. I still haven't been inside might I might need to one of these nights, lol.

More views of the Gothic Quarter - this is close to a coffee shop I work at sometimes.

More Gothic Quarter...

A meat shop (again, not too far from my place)

Another research shot. I've learned to take photos of the police stations in any place where I plan to use as a location, lol. I inevitably need to have some idea about the police stations and what they look like. I even had to go back and take a bunch of L.A. and San Francisco.

Part of the facade of the Catalan Center for Music

Puppy! :)

I am so confused by this, but these statues are EVERYWHERE. I seriously can't figure it out. And it seems connected to some food brand. You can see inside the store that the shelves are covered with miniature versions of this dude pooing. I need to ask someone what this is all about, lol.

A building along the street that houses a lot of the more famous Gaudi buildings (Pg. de Gràcia)

Detail of the top of Casa Batlio

A wider view on Casa Batlio (I did a night tour of this one - some of the photos are below)

This is Casa Mila - I toured this one first, the day before I did Casa Batlio and Sagrada Familia (I did both of those the same day)

Inside Casa Mila

The courtyard of Casa Mila (we were able to see the courtyard, part of the sixth floor, the attic and the roof as part of the regular tour)

The attic ceiling of Casa Mila

A model of Casa Mila inside the attic of the same (there were models of all of the famous Gaudi houses in there, it was pretty cool)

Rooftop stormtroopers (Roman Centurians?) at Casa Mila

Close up of more sculptures on the roof of Casa MIla

Space cucumber! (or sex toy, take your pick, lol) - from the roof of Casa Mila

This was a really pretty courtyard to the north of Casa Mila.

Looking down into the inner courtyard of Casa Mila

A wider view of the rooftop sculptures

Looking back along the side of the roof (you can see Sagrada Familia in the background)

Looking out over Pg. Gracia

Another funky statue on the roof of Casa Mila

I loved the covered walkway with it's leaf / palm frond like covering

The door and gate of Casa Mila (no longer has public access)

Just another pretty building / windows along one of my walks

Another building

Second trip to see Sagrada Familia (this time I had a ticket to go inside)

Turtle holding up part of the structure (just outside the entrance to the main cathedral)

Inside Sagrada Familia...

More Sagrada Familia... I really lucked out with the time of day. the sun was just pouring through the stained glass windows on the west side (it was around 3pm). Just gorgeous.

Looking up and towards the altar (that gold umbrella is the crucifix over the altar)

More detail of the inside of Sagrada Familia

Staircase inside La Sagrada Familia

That really amazing sunlight through the stained glass.

Organ colored by stained glass windows.

A view into the crypt (also colored by the stained glass)

All the pillars inside colored by stained glass on the west side.

This is looking up at roughly the highest part of the cathedral's ceiling

This is directly across from the altar in the back of the church (the doors on the west side all had bible verses inscribed in them)

A closer shot of the crucifix and the altar. I was lucky to be there when it was super quiet.

This is just behind and above the altar - I love all the gold.

This is a detail of one of the front doors on the east side of the building. It was all jungly with insects and snails and beetles. Very cool.

Trumpeters on the east side.

Me being a total dork, lol.

Another weird selfie of the stained glass. :)

The outside of the building on the west side. The outside of a number of the outer doors had what appeared to be the stations of the cross on them.

These doors had quotes (one on each side - both were covered in writing)

Over the main door in the back on the west side.

Detail of sculpture on the back / west side.

More of the back of the cathedral (I took a bunch of the front last time, so I didn't include much of that side - the more melty side, lol)

I loved these towers with baskets of fruit on them.

Stone horse (I loved this style - it actually reminded me of Picasso a bit)

A wider view of the back / west side.

Side angle on the back / west side.

Another angle on that same side of the cathedral

Wide angle shot from right by the park on the west side.

The park on the west side

La Casa Batlio (from the outside)

Looking up from the courtyard when you walk inside.

Another view looking up from the lowest floor.

The outside of Casa Batlio at night. :)

Fireplace. According to the audio, this was set up as a "courtship" spot, with a larger bench on one side for the couple and a smaller one on the other for the chaperone. I just like that they made it a mushroom, lol.

Inside Casa Batlio

Part of the light show for the night tour

More of the light show for the night tour.

Looking out the windows at Pg. Gracia.

Indoor window. I loved all the shapes, so organic and neat. :)

This was part of a detail in the backyard / outdoor patio.

These corridors had a really cool video effect with sound that made it look (and sound) very convincingly like water was flowing down the walls. It was really neat. I took a bunch of video of it, too, because it looked so realistic.

A model of Casa Batlio inside Casa Batlio

One of the wooden doors - they all had unique symbols on them and shapes.

Bedroom

One of the Batlios who lived in the house (Antonia?)

The stargazing window

Inside the office

A typewriter that was definitely used to murder someone. That thing looked like it weighed thirty pounds, minimum.

The elevator shaft (we walked, but the elevator looked really cool)

There was this really weird audio "story" that went along with the tour, told mostly from the point of view of the maid. This is a holograph / video of the maid. Very weird, honestly, I don't know how to describe it, but the story was so random and made so little sense.

I loved these corridors. :)

The roof, with moon in background

The other side of the roof

Staircase going down

Another of those trippy corridors on the way out of Casa Batlio

Funky new-agey store I wandered into :)

A street fair basically right outside my door this past Saturday. Selling mostly jewelry but also paper goods and some clothing and knick-knacks. :)

More street art

A brunch spot I've been meaning to go to for a while. Maybe tomorrow? :)

Really pretty window in the Gothic Quarter - and lol, I just realized that says "Hemp Gallery Museum"... complete with little pot leaves worked into the design. I didn't even notice that until just now, seeing the blown up version of the photo. Too funny!

Parrots! There were little green parrots ALL OVER this one park west of La Rambla. They were making so much noise I looked for them everywhere before I found them in the palm trees in these cute little nests. I've only seen them in that one park so far, but I'm going to look in see if they're in the botanical gardens, too. So cute.

"El Flako"

"El Gat de Botero" - these guys were so enamored of this cat sculpture I got tired of waiting for them to finish taking selfies of themselves with it, and just included them in the photo. They were so funny. I don't know WHY they liked that statue so much, but they were there for a really long time. Another couple gave up and walked away, lol.

"El Gat de Botero"

Another cute little parrot

The parrot park (also has El Gat de Botero)

This was a little mission and school I stumbled across. A LOT of homeless people living in there, but at least they had oranges to eat. :)

Garden inside the monastery

Orange trees!

The belfry

Cute little shop on La Rambla. And I'm just now noticing the name, Escribá - which means scribe or writer, lol. How fitting. I might need to go there for pastries next time.

Another pretty building in the Gothic Quarter (just off La Rambla)

More street art...

Strange plastic statue (there were a whole bunch of them on this one balcony)

Sculpture garden

Placa Nova

One last little bit of street art....

* * *

And WHEW... I made it through all of that. I think I even labeled them all, lol (not like all of those labels are particularly helpful). Hope you enjoyed getting another peek into what I've been seeing over here. So far most of this week I've been working / writing, so not sightseeing so much, but I'll at least try to get out for an hour or so of walking again tomorrow.

Best wishes and hope you're all doing well!