We arrived in Barcelona around noon, took the bus from the new terminal to the old terminal, walked across the decrepit skyway to the less than lovely Metro stop. Rick Steves indicates that this is the easiest, cheapest way to get into town. It definitely is, though I hope they are going to do some renovation on it as it looks like it hasn't seen an upgrade or repair since the 80s.
The Metro into town was a quick 30 mins, and it dropped up off just a few blocks from our hotel, La Costanza. It is a lovely hotel on a quiet street about 3 blocks away from the main new town street Paseo de Gracia. We dropped off our luggage and walked off towards Las Ramblas.
Barcelona is separated into 2 parts by Plaza de Catalunya. This is a large pedestrian square that also serves as the main transportation hub. We walked across it, and started down Las Ramblas, a long Pedestrian mall that was originally the main street of Barcelona.
There are tons of Pigeons there, and he bet that he could hold his hand out and they would fly up and land on his hand. He was right, only many, many pigeons attempted to do this.
A little ways down Las Ramblas is one of the original water fountains. We stopped to get a drink from it as it is reputed to guarantee a return to Barcelona, and so far we really like this city.
I also got a glass of Horchata, as it was quite warm. I really like this almondy drink.
Las Ramblas ends at the harbor, and there is a massive monument to Christopher Columbus. It was here that he returned from the new world and was greeted by Queen Isabel. As a new world resident, it was very cool to see the spot where it all began.
Coincidentally, it was Columbus Day, so this all had even more significance. There are some very interesting reliefs sculpted around the base of the monument showing Columbus explaining to the Church that the world is round (heresy at the time), and the grateful greeting that he recieved form the Indians whose discovery would later lead to their genocide.
Ultimately of course the discovery of the new world would lead to the growth of Spain as a major player in the new world, but also it's ultimate demise when the Americas revolted from Spain's rule.
Tony had fun with the lions.
On display in honor of Columbus Day, the original contract between Queen Isabel and Columbus. It outlined the terms of his voyage in that any new lands discovered would be the property of Spain, and in turn for his services, Columbus would be named Admiral of the Spanish Navy. It was interesting to see this drawn up in contract form. A really amazing document.
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