Nothing like some line dancing in Western costume to make you homesick.
This statue was more to my liking. Look at those abs!
The Catalans do love their flag.
Like New Yorkers, they use their balconies for bicycle storage.
The route that Chris mapped took us through some sleepy neighborhoods. This family was out for a Sunday morning stroll.
I don't normally associate whimsy with graffiti.
The low-tech garbage men have time for a chat
. . . or a picture.
An Austrian bakery looked pretty tempting even after a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit, croissants and homemade coffee.
As we began climbing "the mountain of the Jews," the homes got nicer. Check out the water spouts on the side of this one.
The National Museum offers great views of the sprawling city below.
Look at the silhouette of these ionic columns against the blue Mediterranean sky!
Here's a close-up of the museum's exterior
. . . and some sculpture on the grounds.
Much of the interior had recently undergone renovation, including the enormous theatre/performance space.
Natural light flooded the museum.
Chris, Thom & Dan are standing directly beneath this incredibly beautiful dome.
In America, all the exhibition galleries would be named for private donors but it seemed that the Catalan government funded all this beauty. See what your tax dollars can buy when you don't have a bloated Department of Defense?
Maybe it was the light, but the religious art looked so much brighter than the works from a comparable period that I've seen displayed at other museums. I found the depictions of torture particularly fascinating.
I can't ever recall seeing such an explicit depiction of a nursing Mary. Her niño sure knew how to "latch on."
Looks like Jesus is seeking your vote in this pose.
What's this kid trying to prove with his foot atop a skull?
The "Hapsburg lip," which resulted from years of royals sleeping with their nieces, nephews and cousins, looks almost sensual here.
More interesting work from the museum's extensive collection of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance & Baroque art.
I didn't recognize the artist Maria Fortuny. If the name sounds familiar, it's probably because he fathered a famous fashion designer. Hopefully, this isn't his mother.
Ramon Casas painted this bicycle built for two. NMAC markets the image heavily in the gift store.
The collection of decorative arts is impressive, too.
An entire room is devoted to a beautiful collection of work by a Catalan artist that hung in a bar. Sutbtle it isn't.
Hello Narcissi (that's plural for Narcissus if you were wondering)!
Thom purchased a lovely umbrella, printed with images of Barcelona, in the gift shop.
We cabbed it from MNAC to Parc Guell, halfway up another hill on the opposite side of town. Initially conceived as a housing development for the wealthy, it was the last commission accepted by Antoni Gaudi before he began work on the Sagrada Familia.
Two gingerbread houses flank the park's entrance.
Gaudi spent the last 20 years of his life in this one. He died at the age of 76 after being struck by a street car in 1926.
Halfway up this staircase, you find one of Barcelona's iconic sights, a friendly, mosaic lizard. The natural world inspired much of Gaudi's almost hallucinogenic work.
Time to throw a peace sign in the covered seating area that overlooks the lizard.
My companions mocked me on top of the park's pavilion, which offers more terrific views of Barcelona. That's the Mediterranean in the distance.
A sinuous marble bench that molds comfortably to your bottom wraps around the pavilion. As you can see, Gaudi loved mosaic.
Gargoyles (or dogs?) like this one drain the pavilion.
Sometimes, he used mosaic as an applique.
He painted the interior walls of his house a vivid blue.
Our tour of the mostly bare interior provided a nice backdrop for portraits.
We ended the day by taking a cab even higher up on the mountain to the Mirablau in Tibidabo, which offers some of the best views in Barcelona as well as reasonably priced cocktails. Chris, Thom and I walked back to our apartment afterwards.
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