Barcelona - Architectual details and pick pockets.

Barcelona Tourism has jumped on the Gaudi bandwagon. Its all Gaudi, all the time. His buildings are on the front of brochures, posters, T-shirts, towels. There are books in a multitude of languages about him and his works. The mosaic technique that he used is sold on plates, bowls, little bulls and flamenco dancers. His buildings are the symbol of Barcelona tourism.
Not only did he work at a time of expansion and wealth in Barcelona but his patron gave him access to books about the development of architecture and art worldwide. Even though he never left Catalunya, never spoke anything but Catalan, he was aware of things like the art nouveau movement. He was a creative genius who embraced combinations of new and old building materials, became more and more focused on his faith as he got older and work on sagrada familia progressed and he was eccentric (refusing to have his picture taken, living and dressing like a vagrant). Yes, he and his work hold a fascination but he wasn't the only one to leave his mark on Barcelona.
For our last day Aimee and I decided to have no agenda, to just walk and observe the amazing architecture that can be found on many streets in Barcelona. We chose the area West of Placa Catalunya as we had driven through there on the tourist bus and knew it had the potential for some interesting buildings.

This building was only about a block from our apartment but we had avoided the street as
another building was being worked on and the air was full of cement dust. However it was
Easter Monday, so no workmen. I have no idea what it was originally used for but most is
vacant now.  

Ridiculously ornate.

No idea why, but this beautiful building had eyeballs all over it.
"I look at you, you look at me" ??

Sometimes a façade would look quite simple and then we would look closer and see
elaborate brick work and tiles, especially just below the roof line.

This wasn't on a church building, though it may have been originally.

This was on the corner of a street, about 15ft up. No explanation, just there.

This on the top corner of a church door. A flying cow reading a book?
A cow angel?

Time more for the morning coffee and croissant. We couldn't resist the restaurant
called "Pudding" and decorated like something out of "Alice in Wonderland".

Every now and then we would come across water taps, just sticking out of a wall, part of a
façade or like this, ornate ironwork. They didn't say "non potable" but we assume they are just
to cool off, give the dog a drink etc.

Some buildings had shields, some with dates, some with initials.

Only a very few had a plaque identifying the original owner and architect.

Wrought iron over stone.

Often the underneath of balconies are decorated.

Doors are wrought iron or carved wood or a mixture of both. We peeked in some and
found marble foyers and stairs, carved bannisters, elaborate ceilings and always an elevator.
Aimee had read that Barcelona is one of the most progressive places for handicapped access.

A couple of times as we meandered around the neighbourhood, pulled down one street or
another by a glimpse of something we wanted to see better, we crossed the extension of La Rambla,
(beyond Placa Catalunya it is not as wide or as crowded). This bull "thinker" was at one intersection.

Later in the day, when we crossed it again, we found this provocative giraffe.

This extension of La Rambla was the only place we came across the notorious pick pockets that the travel books (and locals) warn about. We were approached by 2 young women with bouquets of carnations, they pushed one on each of us, saying "for the saint" or something like that (it was in Spanish). Automatically we took it and then they asked for a penny, just a penny, for the saint. We were sort of thinking this might be something to do with Easter, how naïve! When we reached  for where we were keeping our money (inside pockets of our jackets) they also reached in there, with another flower. We clued in fast and pushed away from them. Walked rapidly away. They yelled at us wanting the flowers back and being good, polite Canadians we handed them back. Afterwards we thought how stupid that was, giving them back the tool to try the ploy again. It left a bad taste for a little while but then we were distracted by the architecture again and just glad that they hadn't got anything.