Hats off to Gaudi

Trip Start Apr 17, 2002
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Trip End May 21, 2002


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Flag of Spain and Canary Islands  , Catalonia,
Thursday, May 2, 2002

Before leaving Andorra we had a little discussion regarding Barcelona which I was ready to skip feeling (wrongly!) that we were falling behind our imaginary schedule.  However Edyta said that she really wanted to see a thing or two there so we headed for Catalonia.  And how glad I am we did!
On the way to Barcelona we went through a fairly well known, 5-km long tunnel that is certainly not the longest in Europe but, I bet, one of the most expensive - over Euro 8.-!
We parked for the night in a small town called St Vincenc de Castellgali, near a train station, from which we took a train to Barcelona the next morning.  In hindsight we should have driven into Barcelona as the streets there are wide and the traffic not too bad.  Also, we didn't realise that the day we were visiting the city was a public holiday, 1 May, the Labour Day.
While the Old Town and the well-known La Rambla did not impress us, Passeig de Gracia certainly did.  
For me it is the most beautiful city street I have ever seen.  Not only does it have some of the finest modern buildings (one of them by Gaudi and some others by other great architects), it is also wide, comfortable for cars and pedestrians, lined with trees.
The famous Gaudi's Sagrada Familia cathedral did not disappoint either.  It is one of those artifacts that take your breath away when you first see them.
 
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