Red roses on St George's Day, perusing Picasso and Basque Pintxol

Hola!

Today is a public holiday in Barcelona celebrating St George's Day where girls receive red roses and boys are given books! Local Barcelonians dressed up as dragons or Princesses and had treasure hunts across the city.

We visited the Gothic Quarter or Barri Gotic to see the Picasso Museum and experience the atmosphere inside the gothic cathedrals. The Picasso Museum was housed in a Spanish Renaissance palace with ornate timber carvings and stone masonry. Picasso's works were good too! In particular, the Les Meninas room of painted studies created for his appropriated masterpiece based on Velasquez's Les Meninas. 

Picasso Museum

We stopped for a treat at Euskal Etxea for Pintxol, a type of Spanish hors d'hoevres from the Basque Country. We all sampled five delicious and very gourmet Pintxol.

We visited the basilica of Santa Maria del Mar and the Barcelona Cathedral, each with lofty ceilings and beautiful stone masonry. The Barcelona Cathedral had access to its roofop so we could gaze over the city and out to the Mediterranean.

Inside Basilica of Santa Maria Del Mar

Outside Barcelona Cathedral

Inside the cathedral

View of the towers and spires from the rooftops of Barcelona Cathedral.

Sagrada Familia from the rooftop of the Barcelona Cathedral and later at night as we ventured out for dinner.

Outside Sagrada Familia Cathedral, Gaudi's masterpiece

As a treat on our last night in Spain, we went to a Flamenco show with tapas and drinks. The show was exuberant and the dancers showed their mastery in flamenco style dancing.

Dinner at El Tablao de Carmen, a Flamenco show in the Poble Espanyol village in Barcelona