DAY 16, MAY 21, Saturday:
Checked out. Stored our bags in a locker 14 euros. Museu del Disseny [Design museum], Arc de Triomf, Ciutadella Park, Cathedral of Barcelona (Catedral La Seu)
Took airport shuttle to airport .7.30 PM Air France flight to Paris
STAY: Ibid Paris CDG Airport, 3 nights
CHECK OUT
Checked out. Dropped our keys, took pics. Stored our bags in a locker at Plaza Catalunya 14 euros.
Took the metro to Glories station and walked to Museu del Disseny [Design museum]
The Museu del Disseny de Barcelona (Catalan, English: "Barcelona Design Museum")
It is located on Plaça de les Glòries, next to Torre Agbar,
it is a center for Barcelona's Institute of Culture, which acts as a museum and laboratory. It focuses on 4 branches : space design, product design, information design and fashion.
FURNITURE
Arc de Triomf
The Arch of Triumph was the entrance to the 1888 Exhibition. This is done in red brick and looks like a Mudejar construction. The top has a beautiful frieze and has winged angels.
The Ciutadella Park
The Ciutadella Park is located near the port, in the Ribera district. It started out as a fortress in 1714 . In 1869 it was decided to turn this into a park and the fortress was demolished. The park was used for the Universal Exhibition of 1888. The gardens were the work of the French landscape architect
The park has the former Arsenal, which is now the Catalan Parliament building. There is a spectacular and monumental waterfall, called the Cascada, that was designed by Fontsere with the help of a student called Gaudi. The cascading waterfall has sculptures of horses and winged dragons. The backdrop of the fountain is a triumphal arch that is topped with a sculpture of a manned chariot of four horses. All of these have the Baroque style.
PARROTS
Barcelona Cathedral (La Seu)
€7.00 Weekdays: 12:30 pm to 7:45 pm (last entrance 7:15).https://www.catedralbcn.org/
Saturdays: 12:30 pm to 5:30 pm (last entrance 4:45).
Sundays/holidays: 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm (last entrance 4:45).
Cathedral derives from the word cathedra (seat) and is, in effect, the residence of the dioceses' Bishop. The place from which he teaches and explains Christian doctrine to the faithful.
The Barcelona Cathedral uses the Catalan Gothic architecture of the 14th century. The cathedral honors St. Eulalia, co-patron saint of Barcelona, who was killed by Romans by putting her in a knife-studded barrel and rolling her down the street. The entire church is ornate, with towers and spires reaching into the sky.
The church was started in 1298 and finished in 1448, while the main front was done in 1898 and the dome tower in 1913. The site first had a Roman temple, then a mosque, and then a Christian church before the Cathedral was finally built, under the reign of King Jaume II. The church has flying buttresses and gargoyles. The interior has slender pillars.
The interior is 83m long, 37m wide, and 25m high.
There are two bell towers that are covered with Gothic pinnacles.
main door and the huge Gothic arch above. A stone sculpture of Christ keeps watch over the entrance while the 12 apostles occupy either side of the doors. In all you’ll find 75 figures and 8 stained-glass windows two side towers (constructed between 1896-1898) flanking the dome of the church which is crowned with a statue of Saint Helen.
The Door of Sant Ivo (on the left hand side of the church when in the main square) was the church’s main entrance for over 500 years
Inside the church there are high Gothic arches. There are many side chapels, but the most interesting is the Capella del Santíssim Sagrament (the Chapel of the Most Saintly Sacrament). It contains the alabaster tomb of St. Olegarius, the archbishop of Tarragona who died in 1136.
There is also the Christ of Lepanto, which Don Juan de Austria carried on the prow of his flagship during his victorious battle with the Turks at Lepanto in 1571.
There are choir stalls in the middle of the church that are quite elaborate.
The Altarpiece of the Foundation of the Mercedarian Order in the Mare de Déu de la Mercè Chapel, done by Joan Roig in 1688, has sculptures that are extremely beautiful.
From the Capilla Mayor (main chapel) has steps down to the crypt. It has an alabaster sarcophagus of Santa Eulàlia, who died in the 3rd century. Santa Eulàlia is the patron saint of the Cathedral and co-patroness of the city. She was the virgin daughter of an upper-class Barcelona family, and later was burned at the stake for her beliefs under the Romans.
There is a small Cathedral museum where one can see a few big paintings. The Monstrance of Barcelona is very large and made of gold and precious jewels, and displayed to celebrate special occasions.
Roof access is from one of the chapels on the left hand side of the church by lift – from here you get a spectacular 360-degree views of the city. There’s also a closer look at the bell tower and the legendary gargoyles.
Tickets for roof access are €3.00.
WASTED PRECIOUS TIME
We had to go back to Plaza Catalunya, collect our bags from the locker and board the airport shuttle for our 7.30 pm flight.
It was 1 km walk from the cathedaral. We foolishly decided to take the metro and got through the stile in the metro station. We realized that station has the train running in the opposite direction. . So we had to take the train, go to the next station, take stairs to change the direction and ride 2 stations to get to Plaza Catalunya.
Did so and collected our bags. The whole plaza was cordoned off for a function, the shuttle was not coming there. We had to drag our bags to the next station Universitat, 500 m away.
We did so, caught the shuttle and reached the airport
FLIGHT DELAYED
Flight was delayed by 3 hours and we reached Paris by midnight.
Thankgully our hotel was at the airport. We took the free CDGVAL, reached our hotel, checked in and plopped into our beds
Report continues
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