The positive side is that it is usually cheaper and there are a lot less competition from other tourists.
The negative side is that the out of season times are when most of the repairs or upkeep are done, so a lot of my photos include scaffolding, netting, etc.
But even that usually don't distract you from the impressive buildings.
I am always flabbergasted at the magnificent buildings built so long ago with, and yet many modern buildings, with all of the resources available today, aren't a match for buildings from the 14th century, like the Cathedral above.
My next stop was the meeting point for a tour bus to take us to the Montserrat Mountains (apptly named "serrated mountains") about 30km from Barcelona. "Us" included myself, two Canadians who just came back from South Africa, many Americans, two Asians (unsure which country) and some French and Spanish tourists.
High up in the mountains is the Shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat, a catholic hotspot in Spain. Around 2 million visitors each year trek to the shrine to venerate the statue of the Black Madonna. According to Catholic tradition, St. Luke carved the statue around 50AD and it was taken to Spain and hidden and only found 800 years later in a cave in Montserrat. The statue was too heavy to move, so they believed the Virgin had indicated her will to stay on Montserrat.
The grand Basilica of Montserrat was consecrated in 1592. Just want to point out that the Black Madonnas' colouring has nothing to do with race, but because of the dark wood used to carve it from.
In the picture to the left the rear wall of the original basilica can be seen. Unfortunately most of the sanctuary was destroyed by Napoleon's armies, so a new Basilica was built thereafter. Also destroyed was thousands and thousands of original and hand written texts in the shrine's library.
Now, I am not catholic, so you might wonder why I chose to take the time to visit a basilica outside of Barcelona.
It wasn't for the Black Madonna, even though the last couple of months I read/hear/saw about three or four references to a Black Madonna in different places.
It wasn't for the museum with an estimated 6 million euro Caravaggio painting.
It wasn't even for the beautiful basilica and the views from the mountain.
It was because I really enjoy the Arthurian legends and the Montserrat mountains was thought to be the site of the castle of the Holy Grail. And no, I did not find it.
Mission unaccomplished, we returned to Barcelona and I got off at what is considered the city centre of Barcelona: the Plaza Catalunya.
The big white building, El Corte Ingles, is the biggest department store group in Europe, and fortunately so, since this idiot remembered to bring his camera's battery charger, but forgot to bring an adapter for US to Euro plugs. Not only the fact that they stock such adapters, but that it was so close to where I was and that I was able to get there within 15 minutes of closing time (I only realized I forgot the adapter when my battery started to run out around 16:30 that afternoon) was a great relief. It might not seem like much to those back home in S.A. but in barcelona (and here in Sweden) shops close early on Saturdays and only grocery stores are open on Sundays for limited hours. If I had only remembered later that night, or had reached the shops after 5, I would not have had any photos of Sunday.
From Plaza Catalunya, I walked down the famous La Rambla: The 1.2 km long tree-lined pedestrian mall filled with tourists and street vendors and strange characters in costumes or making irritating sounds with small gadgets that they try to pawn off on you.
Unfortunately, since I was there in February, the tree-lined effect is rather diminished. The vendors and costumed characters however were not.
I also made a visit to the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria; the large public market where you can get fresh fruit, fresh fish, fresh meat and other fresh things that you might want, including some rabbit.
From La Rambla I made my way to the Parc de la Ciutadella, passing by the Monument a Colom, the monument for Christopher Columbus which is situated at the sight where he returned to Spain after his first voyage to the Americas.
The Parc de la Ciutadella was, after its establishment sometime during the mid 19 century, the only green area in the city for decades. It houses the barcelona zoo, the parliament of Catalonia, some museums and a fountain (the Cascada) of considerable size designed by none other than Gaudi.
I am still deciding whether I prefer this fountain to Trevi in Rome.
There are also lots of fascinating trees that have a spooky quality to them that I really enjoy.
My day of tourism ended at the Arc de Triomf. Not the Paris one. That would've been quite a feat. I actually saw this mammoth arch on Friday night, having passed by it from the bus station to my hotel. And though it isn't really beautiful to me, it is truly impressive, even more so than the Parisian counterpart.
With tired feet and thoroughly impressed eyes I made my way back to La Rambla (stopping by the department store to get an adapter!) and dropped in at the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, after which I stopped by a couple of bars lining the crowded street and chatted to people from Israel, Australia, an Irish couple and a Slovenian bar girl. Too bad my camera was back at the hotel charging, but as the night grew longer, I needed to get back to the hotel to recharge myself as well. Tomorrow was going to be a long day visiting several places that contribute to the saying, Barcelona: City of Gaudi.
