Catalonia
(11-17 September 2001)
Barcelona
That's Barcelona! The central square of Barcelona - Placa de Catalunya
(with 3 railway stations undergroud).
Placa de Espania, another busy place.
An Passeig de Gracia, another (busy) place in Barcelona.
Also there are a plenty of different streets...
Bercelona (l.ike Paris) also has its Arch of Trioumph but of a more
prosaic nature (to commemorate the 1888 World Fair).
Here's something (I do not know what) nearby. But looks nice.
Cascada Monumental in the park La Cuitadela...
...even mamonths graze there...
Cathedral of Saint Eulalia, which took 150 years to build (1298-1448).
But this record may be easily beaten by the Sagrada Familya Cathedral that
is being under construction since 1881!
Here is a detail of the facade.
A romantic fountain in its courtyard.
Another Placa (named Reial, designed by Daniel Molina),
...another fountain (this time with three graces)...
...another streetlamp (designed by Gaudi).
Rambla: a place to ramble (and to see jugglers, to eat a pizza, to
buy a scorpion, to comission a painting of oneself, to browse through the
flea market, etc...)
A scene on Rambla: Almost like in Zwieg's "Schachnovelle"
The Statue of Columbus one can see from far away.
Apparently they did not learn the rules of good behaviour in the mediveal
Spain, so that Columbus didn't know that it is unpolite to point with a
finger (even at the Americans).
I share Columbus' vision.
A Chinese house?
A view at Barcelona from Montjuik.
An old castle on the top of the mountain.
Clear the way!
Unfortunately, the olimpic torch cannot be clearly seen on this picture...
...so here is a "little" exposure correction:-)
Always ready! (Near (former) Catalan Parliament.)
Palace National...
...hosting the Arts Museum.
Entrance to the Park Guel...
...which was designed by Gaudi...
(here is his famous dragon(?))
. with the money of someone called Guel.
They wanted to build a small ideal world...
...but nobody wanted to live there :-/
No wonder why: imaging walking all the time sloped
..or sitting on a 150-meter bench :-)
Pigeons in Barcelona are in no way inferior (in boldness or number)
to London ones.
Next station - Salami Pizza.
Cactui is as frequent decorative plant here as any other with the obvious
advantage...
that you do not have to water it:-)
But some people neglect their cactus' plantations...
...so one can very easily get lost there.
The famous Casa Mila of Gaudi (with strangely shaped chimnies). Sorry
that my person occupies too much space on this photo.
Montserrat
Montserrat is not very high (1300m), but it does look impressive...
...and funny!
...
...
Up over there...
...and here.
It's scary to live under a rock like this.
Mountains squeeze in from all corners.
Meditation about the sense of life.
The Chapel of Santa Cueva, built by Gaudi, where according to the legend
the Virgin appeared in 880.
There are a few interesting monuments carved in the rock on the way
to Santa Cueva, by Gaudi and other sculptors.
Pyrenees
Pyrenees are quite high, although not very steep, so it is not hard
to walk up there. But they are definitely very beautiful. Many a place
asks to be put on canvas. I haven't made any paintings but hear are some
photos at least.
Lots of cows and horses...
A sun about to set...
...but still lingering around.
In the morning...
Even the skies look different...
...
A lake (2130 m above the see level)
A stone...