Barcelona City Photos

The view of the city skyline from the ship.  In the center is the Christopher Columbus Monument and to the right is the Torre Agbar.

The next three photos are of the Arc of Triumph from the 1888 World's Exhibition.  Made of brick to celebrate the industrial successes of the region, the arch was the entrance to the exhibit pavilion.  The rest of the building was destroyed, but the arch now stands at the entrance of a park area that now has a view of the Mediterranean Sea and the Olympic Port.

At the entrance of Port Vell, this building was the customs house at the entrance to the main port of trade for centuries.  With the renovations to the city for the 1992 Olympic Games, the commercial port was extended farther from the city.  This port because the private port of the city and is filled with private leisure yachts.

On the other side of the street from the old customs house is the Christopher Columbus Monument.  It is now in the center of a traffic circle with Columbus on top of an atlas facing Port Vell and the Mediterranean Sea.  

At the base of the monument, are symbols that represent the king, queen, and regions within Spain that supported Columbus in his voyage of discovery.

The view of Barcelona from the balcony of the 1929 World's Fair Building.  The surrounding mountains can be seen in the background and to the right, the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia.  The tallest structure in the area is still under construction with the hope of being finished in time for the 100th anniversary of the death of its architect, Antoni Gaudi, in 2026.  It was started in 1882, but is still under construction and difficult to access by bus or car.  It is on the list of places to see the next time I get to Barcelona.

In the Olympic Port, there are hundreds of sailboats ready to go out to sea.  The port has the capacity to moor 740 sailboats!  Mixed with the restaurants and sailing schools, the port has a great deal of foot traffic and access to the beaches as well.

Bullfighting was banned in Barcelona in 2012.  That decision left an arena in the center of the city with no purpose.  There is limited land available for new construction and the city wanted to preserve the Moorish architecture of the area, so they renovated the space.  The building, first built in 1900, has become an avant-garde commercial center with shopping inside and restaurants at the top to provide views of the city.