Spain
Spain, Spain · Barcelona
7 places pinned — click any one for its story.
The place
Spain sits at the crossroads of Europe and Africa — Roman Hispania, then nearly eight centuries of Moorish rule, then the Reconquista and the 1492 voyage that opened the Americas. Our trip took in Gaudí's Barcelona on the Mediterranean and the art and grandeur of Madrid — the Sagrada Família and the Prado, tapas and late dinners.
Places I visited
History & facts for each spot — with a “then & now” archival photo where one exists. Every one has its own page; open it for the full write-up and all the photos.
Catalan to the core — the Gothic quarter, Gaudí's modernisme, and a waterfront the city finally turned back towards for the 1992 Olympics.
Full history & photos →Read more on Wikipedia →Archival photo: Barcelona a vista de pájaro — Wikimedia Commons
Gaudí's unfinished masterpiece — a basilica begun in 1882 like nothing else on Earth, its stone towers still rising over Barcelona more than a century on.
Full history & photos →Archival photo: ETH-BIB-Barcelona, Sagrada Familia-Tschadseeflug 1930-31-LBS MH02-08-0201 — Wikimedia Commons
Gaudí's fairy-tale hilltop park of mosaic serpents, undulating benches, and gingerbread pavilions, with a panorama across the whole city to the sea.
Full history & photos →Archival photo: Danses populars al Park Güell - 1908 — Wikimedia Commons
Gaudí's shimmering 'house of bones' on the Passeig de Gràcia — a facade of coloured glass and a scaly dragon-back roof.
Full history & photos →Archival photo: Batllo-godo-per Napoleon — Wikimedia Commons
Gaudí's last civil work — an apartment block of wave-like stone and wrought-iron balconies, with a rooftop of chimney-warriors.
Full history & photos →Archival photo: Escala i xemeneia de la Casa Milà amb un senyor al costat — Wikimedia Commons
The medieval heart of the old city — narrow stone lanes around the 14th-century cathedral, Roman walls, and hidden squares.
Full history & photos →Archival photo: -Cathderal of Barcelona- MET DP71286 — Wikimedia Commons
The tree-lined boulevard running down to the harbour — flower stalls, the Boqueria market, and the living pulse of Barcelona.
Full history & photos →Archival photo: Gent passejant a la Rambla — Wikimedia Commons