Spanish Galleons & Forts

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Geo: 41.3879, 2.16992

Chloe and Ciara were desperate for a shopping fix, so Liz and Kim accompanied them seeking out bargains. Darrol and I headed for the Barcelona Maritime Museum, which were the original ship building yards for the Spanish Galleons that fought sea battles , and sailed and conquered lands across the seas. Overlooking the Port of Barcelona is the massive Christopher Columbus Column with his outstretched arm pointing out to sea. You will no doubt recall Christopher Columbus discovered America and just happened to be Spanish (or so they claim).

There was a full size replica Spanish Galleon in the Museum, which was great to look around. The elaborately decorated stern of the galleon was almost a work of art, with paintings and gold figures. On the bow of the vessel sat Neptune on a golden dolphin, holding his trusty trident ready to plunge into the enemy. Also in the Maritime Museum were early Spanish navigation maps, one dating back to the mid 1400's. Due to their sailing prowess over many centuries, Spain colonised much of South America as well as the East Indies.

After meeting up with the girls for lunch, we proceeded to visit the Musee Picasso, which houses the largest collection of Picasso works in the world, most of which was donated to the Museum by Picasso himself. The museum took you through the various stages of Picasso's painting, starting with when he was a young boy of significant talent, through to his death.

We returned back to our unit hoping to get into Sagrada Familia Cathedral, but unfortunately we could only get into see the cathedral, not get to visit the tower of the cathedral. So we headed back to the Underground and headed for the Port, catching the Funicular then Cable Car up to the ancient Castle overlooking Barcelona. The hill that the castle sits on is quite high and has a commanding view over the city and over the blue Mediterranean Sea.

We then caught the Cable Car and Funicular back down to the Port and walked along the water to Barceloneta, the home of Barcelona's famous seafood restaurants. We were lucky to get a table for six facing the water and all enjoyed a great feast.

We arrived back at our unit after midnight.

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Photos

Bow of Spanish Galleon
with Neptune riding a dolphin.

Castle Overlooking Barcelona
and Mediterranean Sea