This post features: Madrid, from February 2015 and from June 2019: Barcelona, Zaragoza, Lleida and Girona
Madrid
My plane to MadridPlaza de Isabel – just out of the Opera Metro stop & sat down to get my bearings – wondered where my hotel was & then realised it was the building you can see off to the left with Hotel Opera written on it
Plaza de Oriente:
Plaza de OrientePlaza de Oriente
Plaza de España:
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
Parque de la Montaña:
Complicated piece depicting an angel rescuing 3 injured soldiers and a cannonFountain in the Parque de la MontanaTemple of Debod – a 2,200 year old Egyptian temple to Amun and Isis – a gift to Spain from the Egyptian government
Cathedral of Santa Maria:
Cathedral of Santa Maria
Plaza Mayor and Plaza de la Villa:
Plaza MayorPlaza de la Villa
Museums and Galleries:
Museo San Fransico El GrandeStatue of NeptuneThe Prado Museum entrance – well worth the €14 euro entrance price – but it would be useful to have sign posts guiding you around as there are so many galleries – amazing, bordering on overwhelming…Minerva peeking out from the roof of Circulo de Bellas ArtesMinerva on the roof of Circulo de Bellas ArtesMinerva on the roof of Circulo de Bellas Artes Views of Madrid from the roof of Circulo de Bellas Artes Views of Madrid from the roof of Circulo de Bellas Artes Views of Madrid from the roof of Circulo de Bellas Artes Views of Madrid from the roof of Circulo de Bellas Artes Views of Madrid from the roof of Circulo de Bellas Artes Views of Madrid from the roof of Circulo de Bellas Artes
The Royal Palace:
The Royal PalaceThe Royal Palace
El Centro Canalejas:
Restoration of the Centro Canalejas, involving seven 19th century buildings that had been empty for about 15 yearsIt will become home to a hotel, shopping centre and apartmentsIt opened in 2021A lighthouse at the end of the street
Street Scenes:
Don’t be fooled – these are not roof people – these are but bits of masonryThe home of the Barefoot Carmelites – and home to the multi-coloured domeThe temple of Drachmus – the Greek God of Money. It’s actually the Barclays Bank building. A statue of Christopher Columbus stands in the middle of the junction…Modernist roof peopleDismalPuerto del Sol – curiously the Metro station here is sponsored by VodafoneIt’s 13.40 – a perfectly respectable time for the first beer of the day – didn’t expect the sandwich & crisps, though – and all for €4.50The Spanish don’t eat until around 10pm – early diners are not welcomeMy plane back to London
Barcelona
Gaudi:
This is the Casa Milà – one of Gaudi’s buildingsGaudi’s Basilica of the Sacred FamilyBegun in 1882, estimated completion date: 2026-28
Other Churches:
The church of St Joan
The Arc de Triomf:
Built in 1888, of red bricks in the New Moorish style, the Arc de Triomf served as the main entrance to the World Fair the end of the Passeig Lluís CompanysThe Parc de la Ciutadella
The City:
I assume this is art of some kind
Zaragoza
Our Lady of the Pilar Basilica (as in Mary of the Pillar or the Virgin Mary) – however you say it, the building is hugeYou aren’t meant to take pictures insideThe La Seo Cathedral is astonishingly ornate & intricate inside – you can’t take pictures and there are security personnel patrolling to ensure that you don’t The River Ebro – the longest in Spain at 575 miles (910km) – with the Basilica on the rightThe church of St Cayetano (Cajetan in Italian) co-founder of the Theatines The church of St Juan de los Panetes
Lleida
Lleida – dominated by the ruins of the old fortress and cathedral, the city is on the River Sagre, a tributary of the Ebro..View from the top of the clock tower – 238 stepsThe New Cathedral of St AntonioGloomy inside but nice and cool, tooOddly decorative shop on the Eix Comercial de Lleida – a long, pedestrianised shopping street…The church of St Joan dates from 1168 but was rebuilt in 1895…Gloomy and austere inside, it is nice and coolLleida station has the decency to be close to the town unlike Zaragoza’s…
Girona
The River OnyarThe Basilica of St Felix on the left and the Cathedral of Girona on the rightSt Felix of the chopped tower…Getting ready for a wedding…The CathedralThere is an interesting, if harrowing, Jewish Museum here – I didn’t realise that the Inquisition persecuted Jews as well as the indigenous peoples of Central and South America A city of narrow streetsThis could be described as a farmer’s market – if farmers made shoesI couldn’t find any signs to indicate what this dreadful building is
