Barcelona's Cathedral and Santa Maria del Mar
There was a group of locals dancing the Sardana, the traditional Catalonian dance, in front of the Cathedral of Barcelona when I first saw and visited it. That's what I remember the most about the cathedral even more than the cathedral's façade itself. The locals certainly felt very proud of their culture and I could feel it.
The Cathedral of Barcelona
Inside the cathedral
This wall was often what many visitors saw inside any Spanish Cathedral. I learned that this barrier separated the the haves from the have nots in the olden days. My Spanish culture professor stated that all the rich and royals could go pass the barrier while the poor only went as far as the huge wall. The poor never really got to see the mass being celebrated but could only hear it. Thus, the Spanish expression "Oir Misa" or listen to mass in English.
The main altar
A side altar
And another inside the cathedral
And another
There was a pond inside the cathedral for swans to wade in.
At Santa Maria del Mar, Summer 2004
At Santa Maria del Mar, Christmas Day in Barcelona, 1987
Looking at these two pictures and thinking about the time I first lived in Spain make me very melancholy. I truly, truly miss my very first year in Spain. It was unbelievably memorable for me.
I believe this was the line for the Picasso Museum. Marc and I no longer went in but I did on my first visit in 1987. To this day, I still have the lithographs I bought during my visit.