Mountains, Nooks, Arts, and Pickpockets.

Are you tired of seeing posts about this trip yet? Then go away, I have more of them! We start our morning exploring some Gothic Quarter hot spots, like El Quatre Gats, a cafe that was part of the 19th Century art scene. Picasso actually held his first exhibition there, and designed posters, etc., for them, including a painting of two guys on a bicycle, one of them being the owner of El Quatre Gats. Put a pin in that, it will be relevant again.

A fountain! And Garrett refuses to act as though he knew a photo was being taken.

 This next thing is, ironically, the school of architecture. It is the blandest, ugliest, worst building. And it is right next to the fabulous, beautiful cathedral. The stick figures on the lower facade are by Picasso. Here is my theory: They ask him to do this. He's pretty old at this point, forgetful and tired, and he does a rough preliminary sketch that he plans to flesh out later. Then he takes a nap and forgets. Months later, they call and ask what he's got and he's like, "Oh, yeah, I definitely did that. Uhh...here it is!" and the people who asked the famous Picasso for art for their building are like, "Wow. It's just wow. This is...incredible. Mind-blowing. You've done it again, Pablo!"

Good Ole Rick Steves, we like to call him "Uncle Rick" has provided us with a tour. Yay!

This is a beautiful mailbox, perhaps the most beautiful mailbox.

You may or may not be aware that there is significant political tension in Catalonia and Spain right now. This church and the story behind it can help explain some of that. During the Spanish Civil War, Franco's forces--with significant help from the freaking Nazis--were bombing Barcelona a significant point of resistance against his coup. This church still bears the marks of the shrapnel. In fact, only this facade remained standing after one significant bombing, in which the rest of the building collapsed, killing 2 dozen children who were sheltering inside. Franco chose to spin this and claim that his opponents actually massacred the priests in this church, never sharing the truth about his bombing and the deaths of those children. This is what Spain is dealing with. A horrendous war, followed by decades of propaganda, and coming to terms with all of that is hard. Dealing with the collective trauma, the baggage of your parents and grandparents...well, I have no answers on how to handle any of that.

Ah, the old ruins of the temple of Augustus from Roman Barcino. Probably right when this picture was being taken, my mom's credit card was being grabbed by pickpockets. Ah, the memories. It turned out all right, the card is canceled and everything, but we did have a stressful hour or so, making calls and taking care of that.

Can we all just pause and admire this incredible gargoyle? It's not a monster, it's a UNICORN!

We spent our afternoon visiting Montjuic, which is more a hill than a mountain, and was completely fixed up for the worlds fair in, like, 1881, and then again spruced up for the olympics in 1991? 92? Sometime in the nineties.

At the top of the hill is Castel Montjuic, the olde fortress, notable for it's views and it's nooks!

Squint for the camera! You can see the whole port from up here, I only photographed the nice side of the port.

We can all fit in this nook. This is a proper, good nook.

There are views of the Mediterranean, and views of the city. This fortress was built less to defend Barcelona and more to control Barcelona. Spain has a real history of trying to control Catalonians, again there is serious baggage here.

This is also an excellent nook. So snug and pleasant.

check out the Sagrada Familia, those towers will be so tall when they are finished!! 

We stopped on our way down the hill at the botanical garden, I didn't photograph a single plant. Maybe I was just tired, but these chairs were my favorite.

This is the Olympic Stadium that now holds big concerts, we just peaked in and carried on.

And it is free night at MNAC! Or the Catalan National Art Museum. A great collection of Catalan art by Catalan artists. Especially interesting was the Romanesque church art; wall murals that were chemically transferred so they could be preserved and shared with the public.

Once adorning the walls of a church, now it's here. I don't know what kind of alchemy was required, but it sure is magical!

 There is also a fair bit of more modern art, Joan Miro provided this mega mural:

There are also prints by one of my favorite nouveau artists, Alfons Mucha.

Do you remember the painting I mentioned that Picasso did for El Quatre Gats? The owner on a tandem bike? Here it is:

 We managed to get through most of the Renaissance and Medieval collection before the announcement that the museum was closing and we had to head to the exit. By this point we were so very, very hungry. And tired. and ready to be done. So we walked down the steps, took in the lit fountain, and headed for food. Was it touristy? Yes. Do I care? NO! Because it was tasty and easy and we were TIRED.