Barçelona Shows its Colors, Eventually
We've returned from Spain having seen another incredible city. Unfortunately, the weatherman wasn't wrong and it rained on us for most of the time. However, in spite of Angie being ill for most of the trip and weather not being suitable for walking around or taking good pictures, when it wasn't raining we were hustling through this beautiful port city and eating some great food.
After Angie's finished her work commitments, we hit the streets on Friday and went to Gaudi's Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia, with its 100m high spires and stunning Gothic architecture. A wet walk through the Parc Zoologic to the Arc de Triomf. The walk home took us by Barceloneta, the marina area of Barcelona, where we had a memorable dinner of paella, asparagus, fresh sardines and anchovies.
Saturday was another day of rain and getting over a sickness, mostly spent in or very near to the hotel. We did take a walk down La Rambla, the central walkway of Barcelona, past the Monument a Colom (Monument of Columbus) and walked along the marina to the Museu d'Historia de Catalunya where we learned the fascinating and turbulent history of the area of Catalunya. We turned in early and took the opportunity to plan our next day.
Sunday we were in front of the queue for the Museu Picasso, a line that we had seen the previous day reaching extraordinary lengths, and we were rewarded. The museum, situated in a row of medieval mansions, was a true highlight of our time in Europe. A very engaging look inside the development and maturation of one of the world's great creative minds, the Museu Picasso shows off sketches from Pablo Picasso's childhood through his cubist works. The collection includes the complete series of 57 works based on Diego Velazquez's famous Las Meninas painting. After the morning at the museum we went to the nearby Santa Maria del Mar, a 14th century basilica with beautiful interiors with stained glass and arched ceilings. We weren't allowed much viewing time as it was during Sunday mass, but it was well worth the short glimpse we did get. From there it was on to the other side of town to see the Parc de Montjuic, an area full of gardens that was perfect for a walk now that the sun was at last shining through the clouds. Montjuic is also home to many structures used in the 1992 Summer Olympic Games, including the Estadi Olimpic. Home to the 1992 games' opening ceremony, the Estadi Olimpic is also the home to the football club RCD Espanyol de Barcelona of the Spain's La Liga. Our walk in the park took us up a sizable hill to the Castell de Montjuic, from which we could see breathtaking views of Barcelona. The long day of walking came to an end at Camp Nou, home to FC Barcelona for their match against RCD Mallorca (see match report below).
Monday was a travel day but we had some time to spare in the morning and went to the 10th century church of Sant Pau de Camp and to the Parc de l'Estacio del Nord, home to a few bits of land art such as the Cel Caigut (Fallen Sky, pictured above). We then walked to the bus station and were on our way home. Barcelona is a beautiful place in sunshine, and as with any place in rain can be a bit dreary. Thankfully we got a bit of sun and got to see this great city the way it was meant to be seen.

FC Barçelona 1-0 RCD Mallorca
The Camp Nou is a must for any football fan. This huge stadium in the middle of the city does not look imposing from the outside because its sunken into the ground giving the illusion of any old stadium. From the streets it rather looks like Old Trafford in size, big to be sure. Once inside you get the scale of this massive building; it seats just short of 98,000 people.
The match itself was a classic match of one team playing not to lose (Mallorca) and one team frustrated by playing against a team playing not to lose (Barcelona). A stingy Mallorca played well enough to get out of the first half without conceding and even were awarded a penalty when Barca 'keeper Victor Valdes fouled Mallorca striker Jonas Gutierrez in the box on 28 minutes. Gutierrez made it easy for Valdez on the ensuing penalty kick and his weak effort was saved much to the delight of the home crowd. The second half saw more of the same with Mallorca keeping Barca at bay for the entire second half. A draw seemed a fair result until an unfortunate bounce came off of Mallorca's Fernando Navarro and into his own net in added time. The crowd went berserk but we couldn't help but feel that the result wasn't what the game deserved. Nonetheless, Barcelona got their 3 points and are on course for a third successive La Liga title.