Our flat was a minute walk to the base of La Rambla. We statred every day in Barcelona with a walk to La Rambla, passing this huge mounument to Columbus. The monument commemorates Columbus' presentation of native Americans he transported back to Spain and presented to the royalty, supposedly on the spot where the monument sits.
The Mediterranean Sea sits to the east of Barcelona. La Rambla lies on a dried up bed of a river that used to flow into the sea, so it goes from east to west. Just west of the base of the street are the Drassanes boatyards, and the Drassanes subway station, from which many of our outings started.
La Rambla is famous for its street life, part of which is the action around the plentiful newsstands. If you go to this part of La Rambla late at night, you will find plenty of other action - some of the world's most aggressive prostitutes. We later found out that they are mostly cross-dressers!
A monument in the middle of La Rambla, and a pretty building behind it.
Beautiful modernist hotel on the south side of La Rambla.
Less than a block from La Rambla is one of Gaudi's buildings, the Guell Palace. It's a home Gaudi designed for Eusabi Guell right in the middle of Barcelona.
A bridal shop across the street from the Guell Palace.
Our favorite gelateria in Barcelona. We found it the first night we were in town. Chris had his first ever gelato here. We went back several times. We enjoyed the vibrant flavors and the excruciatingly, exquisitely bored counter help.
A little fountain sitting in the middle of La Rambla.
Anyone who has ever traveled with me knows I am going to be sticking my head into every pastry shop I come across. We had a couple of favorites in Barcelona. This one, Escribà, is right on La Rambla close to the market. They are famous for supposedly having the best chocolates in Barcelona. Although we didn't try all the chocolates in Barcelona, the pound we bought there did not make it back home. Chris particularly enjoyed the hot chocolate in Spain, which has about three times more chocolate than the hot chocolate in the US does. I liked the ubiquitous "cortado," which is strong coffee mixed with milk.
Escribà has a beautiful peacock stained glass window in the front of the shop.
The Teatre del Liceu is a handsome theatre on La Rambla.
Along with the newstands, La Rambla is the home to shops that sell birds and rabbits. The shops are right in the middle of La Rambla's wide sidewalk.
The entrance to the city market fronts La Rambla.
Miro designed this sidewalk mosaic, which is about halfway between the base of La Rambla and Plaza Catalunya.