Palau de la Musica Catalana and the Parc de la Ciutadella

 The Palau de la Musica Catalana was built not by Gaudi, but by Domenech i Montaner in 1908. This was my first target of the day. You can only see it (outside of concerts) by guided tours, so I had to first buy a ticket and then, with time to kill, visit the Parc de la Ciutadella nearby. First some random buildings along the way.

The colourful St Catherine's Market

Yes, a building with applied  eyeballs. Why not?

Ok back to the Concert Hall. This is not a cheap trip, but it is well worthwhile. The guide was excellent. But first the exterior. Very difficult to appreciate this as its so tightly packed into the area with other tall apartment blocks. It has a tastefully added modern addition.

The original booking kiosk concealed in a colourful tiled pillar

The foyer area

The staircase. Grand doesn't begin to describe it.

There is a reception hall upstairs

Then one goes into the stunning auditorium. We started up in the circle, with a great view of the central lantern. What is so different about this concert hall to every other one I have visited is that its lit by natural not artificial light.

Now down into the stalls.

Next stop was somewhere not on the tourist list. Rather than visit Musee Picasso I went to the European Museum of Modern Art. What is different is this is a museum of FIGURATIVE art, and therefore totally unfashionable. And also very accessible. First floor had a retrospective exhibition of an artist who specializes in extravagant ballet posed statues, Richard MacDonald.

The collection is in the rather attractive Palau Gomis, the palace of an 18th century merchant.

A bust of Nureyev 

 Upstairs is a collection of really interesting stuff you will never have seen. So here it is, well a small selection.

Getting a bit hungry, I found a quite square and had a pizza (ok I know its Spain but it was what I fancied.)

Then onto the Park. The ridiculously over elaborate (but magnificent) Cascade was worked on by a younger Gaudi.

Natural history museum.

This is the Arc de Triomf, not built to commemorate a great military triumph but as the entrance to the 1888 World Exhibition.