Image via Wikipedia

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia , an autonomous  community in northeastern Spain.It is also   the second largest city in Spain , after Madrid.Barcelona offers a unique opportunity for tourists to walk to Roman remains to the medieval city and to the modern city with its open avenues and all intersections left wide open by the corneres of buildings  uniquely cut.

Barcelona is a huge architectural exhibition encompassing all styles , from the Roman and Gothic  up to the international of Miles van der Rohe.Rich ornaments , bright mosaics,colored glass , glaze, wood, marble and stone in combinations that defy the conventional.

There are many ways to get to Barcelona . Barcelona is served by Barcelona Airport in the town of El Prat Del Llobregat , about 17 km fron the center of Barcelona, and it is the largest airport on the Mediterranean Coast.Barcelona is also served by a port , the port has  over 2000 year old history with a great contemporary importance.

Places of interest in Barcelona:

-La Rambla- is a tree-lined pedestrian boulevard packed with buskers, living statues, mimes and itinerant salespeople selling everything from lottery tickets to jewellery. The noisy bird market on the second block of La Rambla is worth a stop, as is the nearby Palau de la Virreina, a grand 18th-century rococo mansion, with arts and entertainment information and a ticket office. Next door is La Rambla’s most colourful market, the Mercat de la Boqueria. Just south of the Boqueria the Mosaic de Miró punctuates the pavement, with one tile signed by the artist. The next section of La Rambla boasts the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the famous 19th-century opera house. Below the Plaça Reial, La Rambla becomes decidedly seedy, with strip clubs and peep shows. La Rambla terminates at the lofty Monument a Colom and the harbour. You can ascend the monument by lift. Just west of the monument, on Avinguda de les Drassanes, stand the Reials Drassanes (Royal Shipyards), which house the fascinating Museu Marítim.

-Barri Gotic- contains a concentration of medieval Gothic buildings only a few blocks northeast of La Rambla, and is the nucleus of old Barcelona. It’s a maze of interconnecting dark streets linking with squares, and there are plenty of cafes and bars, as well as the cheapest accommodation in town.

-Museu Picasso-it  is Barcelona’s most visited museum. It’s housed in three strikingly beautiful stone mansions on the Carrer de Montcada, which was, in medieval times, an approach to the port. The museum shows numerous works that trace the artist’s early years, and is especially strong on his Blue Period;

-La Sagrada Familia -the life’s work of Barcelona’s favourite son, Antoni Gaudí, the magnificent spires of the unfinished cathedral imprint themselves boldly against the sky with swelling outlines inspired by the holy mountain Montserrat. They are encrusted with a tangle of sculptures that seem to breathe life into the stone.

-Montjuic -the hill overlooking the city centre from the southwest, is home to some fine art galleries, leisure attractions, soothing parks and the main group of 1992 Olympic sites.

The capital of Catalonia is unequivocally a Mediterranean city, not only because of its geographic location but also and above all because of its history, tradition and cultural influences.Barcelona, more than just a single city, is really a collection of multi-faceted and diverse cities.

Related articles

• DAY 3 & 4 BARCELONA – Barcelona, Spain (travelpod.com)
• Barcelona Tourist Attractions – Certainly Worthy (attractionsonline.com)
• Barcelona – Barcelona, Spain (travelpod.com)
• suggested for a stay – Barcelona, Spain (travelpod.com)
• experiencing the attractions of Barcelona, the go – Barcelona, Spain (travelpod.com)