Presenting La Rambla, the supposed pride of Barcelona! La Rambla is a magnificent 18th century boulevard stretching just over a kilometre northeast from the coast and is full of shops, cafes, buskers, street artists, newsstands, and a lot of people! You could easily spend a couple hours wandering along here if you were to stop and enjoy everything. Barcelona is the capital of the Catalonia region of Spain, and these people do not like to be thought of as Spanish. They even have their own language (albeit pretty similar to Spanish). Barcelona hosted the 1992 Olympic Games, and the massive facelift it received just prior apparently made a huge difference to the place.

One of the many street performers along La Rambla is this illusionist dude. He lit a cigarette, got me to check it...

...put his hand inside my top and crushed the ciggy in it from the front...

...and POOF it was gone - not even a mark!

How the fuck did he do that?!

There was also a bloke with a dancing skeleton...

And this. Much like the kid, I didn't really know what to make of this guy with his legs in mid-air, but there you are.

This guy was awesome. He'd whip out a piece of black paper and scissors, and in about 60-seconds flat cut out a very accurate silhouette of somebody.

This guy's mate was sitting on his lap to pose for a silhouette, but Mr Scissors improvised somewhat, hahaha!

La Rambla has a bloody massive market place too similar to that in Valencia.

These poor bastards were still alive and moving, barely. Not nice.

At the other end of La Rambla is another big broad leafy boulevard, Passeig de Gracia. This is considered to be the Champs-Élysées of Catalonia due to it being the hub of the shopping scene.

Passeig de Gracia contains three good architectural examples from three famous Spanish architects (if you're into that). Here we have the Lleo-Morera House by Lluís Domènech i Montaner built between 1902 and 1906 - goody...

Amatller House by Josep Puig i Cadafalch built in 1900 - hooray...

Batllo House (left), designed in 1907, and Mila House (right), designed in 1912, both by the great Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi is an absolute legend in these parts. Supposedly no single architect has ever marked a major city as comprehensively and spectacularly as Gaudi did here; he alone would be sufficient reason to visit Barcelona if you're into all that. Gaudi designed many of Barcelona's most charismatic buildings throughout the city including mansions, parks, schools, gateways, and even lampposts hehe. However, Gaudi's most famous structure is still unfinished - more on that and him later.

Oh by the way did anybody want a good knife? There's a good shop down here you can pick one (or a few) up from. Anybody from Glasgow reading this?

Also along here is a brilliant ice cream shop - nice! That fly died happy I bet.

A few other sights around the city (taken while on a cycle tour): Arc de Triomf - similar to Paris' Arc de Triomphe and built for the 1888 Universal Exhibition which took place right next door in...

...Parc de la Ciutadella (Citidel Park). Somewhere in here is a boating lake, a zoo, and this huge fountain that only kicks off in the afternoon (that Gaudi contributed to as a student).

We've all seen folk that wash windscreens at traffic lights for money. Well this dude juggles for the traffic (and still expects to get money)!

Not far up the road is the mighty Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family) - Barcelona's most distinctive landmark and surely the most unusual cathedral in the world. La Sagrada Familia was Gaudi's baby with the devout Catholic dedicating over 40 years of his life to the project, personally going out into the street to raise funds from passersby to facilitate its construction. The first stone was laid in 1882, and Gaudi's dream was to create Europe's biggest cathedral with thee facades representing the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ, and 18 domes and pinnacles to symbolise the 12 apostles, the four evangelists, the Virgin Mary (but was she really?), and Christ. Hallelujah! Gaudi met an untimely death in 1926 when he was mowed down by a tram in town, at which time only some of one facade was completed, and just four of the 18 towers.

Gaudi wasn't admitted to hospital for quite some time because he dressed like a hobo and nobody recognised him. The story surrounding his death has a couple of versions depending on who you ask. One version is that he eventually died in hospital a John Doe and his identity wasn't revealed until some time later. The other version is that he was eventually recognised by friends while still alive in a pauper's hospital, but refused to be moved to a better hospital and later died. Either way, Barcelona gave the great man what was essentially a state funeral, and his body is buried right here within the temple to which he devoted his life. Imagine being the tram driver that ran him over!

Construction still continues on la Sagrada Familia today using plans and drawings and so forth Gaudi left behind. Two of the three facades have been completed (below), and 8 of the 18 towers (based on information I've been able to find; progress was severely hindered and the project almost abandoned upon Gaudi's death due to lack of funds and civil war). The expected number of construction years left again varies depending on who you ask - the average seems to be around 30-40 years. Some optimists claim construction will be completed as soon as 2026 - the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's run-in with that tram, but that seems unlikely.

The east-facing Nativity facade viewed from the side.

The west-facing Passion facade.

Barcelona has a pretty decent stretch of beaches, man-made for the Olympic Games. Some dopey bitch on the cycle tour asked how they got all the water if it's man-made - the tour guide humoured her by saying they trucked it all in tankers, and then quickly changed the subject. Lord give me strength.

Not far from the beaches is the hill of Montjuïc - the main site of the Olympic Games.

L'Anella Olimpica (the Olympic Ring) sits atop what was the main stadium for the games.

At the top of the hill and overlooking it all is Montjuïc Castle. It was built in the 18th century by the Spanish to stop the people of Barcelona rebelling hahaha - this lot seriously do not want to be thought of as Spanish and clearly don't like them very much either!

Hazy old Barcelona looking north as seen from Montjuïc Castle. The coast is to the right.

Barcelona's port as seen from Montjuïc Castle. This is one of Europe's busiest and is apparently a big reason why Spain will never allow Catalonia's independence.

At the bottom of the hill is Palau Nacional (National Palace). Built between 1926 and 1929, it houses the National Art Museum of Catalonia and has a bloody cool fountain out front (more about that on the next page).

The Spanish are real night owls, with dinner not being served in most restaurants until 9pm. When the sun goes down they all come out to play!

La Rambla...

Plaça de Catalunya (Barcelona's busiest plaza, located at the top of La Rambla)...

The city by night looking south back towards Montjuïc. The floodlights are coming from Palau Nacional at the bottom of the hill. This was shot from Parc Güell - another one of Gaudi's big efforts.