Actually showing up a little late was good because we got higher number stickers, which mean we went with Catherine She was Irish but had done a Masters in museum studies in Barcelona and lived here for five years. She did a great job and even kept the kids' attention for 2.5 hours. Before the tour started, we said we could bailout if we got bored or tired but I don't think there was any talk of that once we got going. -James
A short break before the tour starts...
We stopped in an old Gothic square of Santa Maria del Pi, or Santa
Maria of the pine tree. There is a pine tree in the square. The
legend is that the pine tree is from Roman times, but it doesn't look
like it. The church has a rose window that is the second biggest in the
world after Notre Dame. -James
Also in that square was a building with sgraffito. They cover an old building with white plaster and then scrape the plaster off to leave a design. It has a very cool effect. -James
Eulalia was a 13 year old girl who defied the Romans in the 300s
or so by keeping her Christianity. To make an example of her, they
tortured her 13 different ways including rolling her down a hill in a
barrel filled with blades and broken glass. They finally crucified her
on an X cross. At her death, it started to snow and she was covered in a
shroud of white snow. Now, they keep 13 white geese in the Cathedral
for her. - James
^Remember the Australian couple
telling us earlier in the day about the 13 white ducks at the Cathedral!
We couldn't wait to see them again to tell them what we'd learned! This was a small shrine to Eulalia buried on a small alley barely wide enough to be called a road; later in the tour we saw the white geese.
Another square had been severely damaged in the civil war and had to
be rebuilt. When they built the new building they brought in an old
facade from somewhere else to match and complete the square.
Apparently, they do this a lot - move architecture around. -James
Government building with the flags and the "new" facade.
The older facade, now on the side of the building.
We did a walking tour and learned that when Wilfred the Harry was
wounded, [his friend] stuck four fingers in his blood and ran them down
his golden shield, hence: the red and gold Catalunyan flag. -Brady
We learned about Wilfred the harry and his hairy descendants who
ruled Catalunya...when you take the [Catalunyan] flag and put the
triangle and star on top from the Cuban flag (the last Spanish colony to
gain independence), you get a flag that stands for Catalunyan
independence.
Outside of the Barcelona cathedral:
The geese!
We walked through the original gates of the city. The bases of the towers are made of huge blocks; this is the original part of the structure. The smaller bricks and stones at the top are repairs and renovations over the years.
We saw Wilfred the Harry (he really looks hairy!) fighting a griffin to defend his city:
Rudy got a little distracted by the street performer with the awesome bubbles!
We also went on a walking tour. It was really fun because our guide
was good and told us facts about the old city. One of the facts is that
King Ferdinand II was walking down a staircase and someone tried to
stab him in the neck. Another fact is that a whole part of town got
together to build a church because they didn't feel welcome at the
cathedral. They built it all by themselves. For some government
buildings, they moved the Gothic face to the side of the building. I
bought a Messi jersey and then we went back to the cruise and watched
lightning. -Rudy
After the tour, we strolled back toward the Columbus monument to catch the port bus again. The kids were on the lookout for Barcelona FC gear, and the pressure was on since we were leaving that night. We were on some quiet back streets and found a souvenir shop still open. All the guys on the Ramblas were masters of the bait and switch, telling us they'd sell us a shirt for one price, but then trying to give us a different shirt than we said we wanted. This guy seemed like he was ready for business - closing time was approaching and he was happy for a sale. Brady negotiated a price for a hat, and then Rudy jumped into the fray and got a bargain on a jersey. Happy campers all around!
We got back to the ship just in time for our 8:00 dinner. I was finger combing my hair into some semblance of presentable and the boys were zipping their pant legs back on during the short bus ride. We just barely made it in time...kind of the theme for the day!
We finally made it back to the room around 10:30 and were up past 12:00 watching the ship leave port. -James
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