The Ruins (3 of 14)

On the next day, our second private tour was a walking tour given by Vivian. She's originally from Brazil; traveled all over the world and has now settled in Barcelona.

Our first stop was to Placa Sant Felip Neri or 'Sant Felipe Neri Plaza' one of our guide's favorite plazas in Barcelona. It's beautiful, peaceful and quaint, yet is also very tragic. 

In 1926, the famous architect, Gaudi was walking to the church in this tiny square and was run over by a tram and died. In 1938 during the Spanish Civil War,  a bomb blast killed many people including 20 children who were sheltering in the church. A small memorial plaque is posted to remember them along with the pockmarked stone walls of the church a result of the horrific bombing.

The commemorative plaque above Emily's head.

The pockmarked stones were very deep in some areas.

Our guide tells us that Spain does not like to remember their deaths/tragedies as Americans do. We, in the US, erect memorials, statues, or structures to commemorate those who lost their lives unexpectedly for our country. In Spain, they try to hide their tragedies and desire to not dwell on such sad events. Thus the tiny plaque on the wall. If I was not told about the significance of this plaza, I would have never known what had truly happened here.

The Barcelona Cathedral or the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia is a gothic cathedral and the seat of the archbishop of Barcelona.

This cathedral was dedicated to the Eulalia of Barcelona, a young 13 year old who converted to Christianity and subsequently was tortured 13 times (one for every year of her life) by the Romans. Known as a martyr, her body is entombed in the cathedral's crypt.

Santa Eulalia shrine displayed on a street corner

The cathedral is built on top of the Roman Ruins.... and we walked the surrounding area while Vivian pointed out the structures that are still standing today.

She's showing us the original layout of the Roman city (built on the raised ground of a hillock called Mons Taber) where they created a very efficient aqueduct system to bring water into their city. Some of the aquaducts are still existent today.

The remains of the Roman aqueduct, at the main entrance. This was one of the only 4 points of entry into the Roman city and it was so heavily fortified that the structure has withstood nearly 2000 years of bombardment, upheaval and changing architectural designs.

Rear of the cathedral

These are the original columns from the Roman temple (one of the most important buildings in the Roman city) which was situated in the center of the forum. Only 4 of nine-metre high columns are preserved from the temple along with the architrave that joined them and part of the podium.

Check out how large theses columns were (to the far right) compared to us little people.

Now these steps were significant.. why? Do you recognize the picture from your elementary school textbooks?

Placa del Rei (King's Square)

It's Christopher Columbus coming back to Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

It is on these steps that Ferdinand and Isabella greeted Columbus as he returned from his first voyage to the New World. Within this fascinating building is the Barcelona Museum and King's Palace (which we did go see inside and will be shared in a future post).

More ruins to be found..

Excavation is still going on... this is a picture of back of a hotel which was going to create a parking lot but discovered more ruins of the Roman city. Thus they stopped.

I can not end this post without what we ate... so back to La Boqueria

It's busy day and night!

This is ham or jamon iberico, the top quality Spanish hams is made of pigs fed on a special diet (acorns, herbs and olives) and are cured for at least 12 months (some even take up to five years!).

Their 'jamons' are not the same as our ham. It's finely sliced and have a smooth texture and taste. Not salty like our prosciutto (which is parma ham) back home.

Cheryl's expensive purchase!

There are numerous bars to satisfy your seafood taste buds. Freshly cooked in front of you.

Razor Clams!

Juice bars are at every corner offering freshly squeezed juice from any fruit you can imagine! And for 1euro it's delish! I had two cups of freshly squeezed orange juice! Oh so sweet!!

Fresh Pasta Bar!

I got ravioli with bolognese sauce while Hannah got fetticine with tomato sauce.

Off of Las Ramblas is a hidden gem of 'asian' type food called Wok to Walk. It's like Mongolian stir fry where you chose your ingredients and they stir fry everything together for you!

NEXT UP: Gaudi's Masterpiece