Swinging around Spain

On our first full day in Barcelona we sat on the top deck of the City Tour (hop-on, hop-off) bus whilst navigating this huge city, with the wind in our hair and blue skies above. The city is known for its architecture, and none so renown as that of Antoni Gaudi, the greatest representative of Catalan modernism, who lived from 1852 to 1926. There is no evidence that the word gaudy came from Gaudi, but it seems a coincidence...

The Pedrera, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Gaudi's last civil work. The facade is an 'architectural sculpture'

Columbus Monument, 60 metres high

Casa Battlo, another of Gaudi's works

Formerly the city's bullfighting ring, the Arenas de Barcelona, was converted in 2011

 to a shopping, commercial, leisure and cultural centre. The last bullfight took place here in 1977.

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (National Museum of Art)

was built during the International Exhibition of 1929

Placa d'Espanya was also built during the International Exhibition of 1929

Arc de Triomf, was built as the main entrance to the Universal Exhibition of 1888

and in modern times has been used as the finish line for some important foot races in Barcelona

The next day we joined a small group tour and saw more of the city including the 'old town' of Barcelona with its myriad narrow alleyways full of interesting shops, art galleries and museums. We also drove up to Parc de Montjuic, the highest point of the city which afforded us fabulous views.

The 'Old Town' of Barcelona dates back to the 14th Century and contains myriad narrow alleyways filled with shops, museums, art galleries and churches.

Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world, having been under construction since 1882. Completion is expected by 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death.

    

Another of Gaudi's work is Park Guell. This park, filled with gardens and architectural elements, was originally planned as a housing development, with one house built as a 'spec home'. But the people of Barcelona were not interested in purchasing houses that far out of the city and the development fell flat. It was later converted to the public parkland it is today.

Our boutique hotel was old, but the interior had been renovated to modern style, except for the lift!

We boarded the Celebrity Infinity for our nine-night cruise around Spain to Portugal and our first stop was Mallorca (Majorca), where Australian fugitive Christopher Skase was holed up for 10 years. We spent the morning touring around Palma, the capital, and visited the Bellver Castle which afforded fantastic views of the city. We then walked through the city past the magnificent Palma Cathedral, the third tallest in the world, and the Almudaina Palace, which was converted from an Arab fortress into the residence of the Kings of Mallorca.

Bellver Castle

Almudaina Palace

Palma Cathedral

500-year-old olive tree in the old town square

Outdoor cafes in the old town square

Part of the enormous Palma Marina

I think our local tour guide Sandra thought we were students. At one stage the bus turned a corner and a huge mountain range monopolised our view. Sandra's response was, 'Can you see the mountain?' to which an American behind us said, 'No?'

Overnight we cruised into Valencia, famous of course for its oranges. We took a shuttle into the city and spent a few hours wandering through the charming old town. We entered the narrow streets, full of shops and cafes, via the Serrano Towers, the imposing gates of the late Medieval wall built between 1392-1398. This fabulous structure was a prison for nobles and knights from 1586 right up until 1887!

The back view of the towers

The narrow streets were full of wonderful historic buildings, shops, cafes and people, and we enjoyed fresh orange juice and croissant at a corner bakery.

Gothic Miguelete Tower (1381-1424)

As with other old towns, Valencia's has its share of beautiful cathedrals. We just happened upon the Royal Basilica of our Lady of the Forsaken, which had a plain stone wall on the street, but was magnificent inside.

We also wandered through the city's modern bustling food markets

Valencia city has what looks like the remains of a moat running between the old and the modern. This area is now occupied by parks, picnic areas and playing fields, including a rugby ground (soccer is of course the leading ball sport in Spain). After three hours of walking, we decided to head back to the ship, tired but happy we had a real feel for this ancient city.

Our next port was Malaga, a resort type city of 780,000 people. Our tour took us to the top of a mountain where we had fabulous views over the city and port, including the bullring which still hosts bullfights 6-8 times each year.

We then drove down into the city and did a walking tour through the old and modern parts of the city, stopping to visit the magnificent Malaga Cathedral known locally as La Manquita.

The building to the right behind this obelisk is where Pablo Picasso was born

Cathedral baroque style exterior

Cathedral interior is a mixture of gothic and renaissance

These incredible 17th Century carved choir stalls extend around in a square 

Our tour guide gave us some free time in the city so we found a Starbucks

and sat down for juice and croissant.

We depart now for Gibraltar (UK), Cadiz (Spain) and on to Portugal.