
Plaça d’Espanya – Barcelona
The old bull ring at Plaça d’Espanya in Barcelona is now a shopping mall with a great view up towards the National Art Museum.
One of the reasons many people come to Barcelona is to view Anthony Gaudi’s beautiful architecture. Some people come to Barcelona and just discover the amazing influence that this man has had on the buildings that we live and worship in.
I’m a fan. We spent a lot of time in the week we had in Barcelona looking at Gaudi’s work and learning about his life. Unasuming but brilliant – in 1926 he was knocked over and killed by a tram and nobody knew who this humble-looking man was with onlookers saying he was a street beggar because of his appearance. But his brilliance has been recognised.
You can see Gaudi’s passion for what he did in his work which is influenced by nature, and religion. He was involved in every detail of his creations and studied and used such crafts as ceramics, stained-glass, wrought iron work and carpentry. New techniques he used included designing with waste ceramic pieces and wine bottles.
Casa Milà is one of Gaudi’s last Civil works. We didn’t see the famous exterior of this Gaudi building as it was covered in scaffolding at the time of our visit. There is a model of the building in the attic so we got an idea of what it looks like on the outside.
The best thing about the visit is the explanations you get about the work of Antonio Gaudi. So even if the scaffolding has been taken down when you visit, buy a ticket and go inside.

The old bull ring at Plaça d’Espanya in Barcelona is now a shopping mall with a great view up towards the National Art Museum.


The Monastery of Pedralbes in Barcelona, now a museum, housing permanent exhibitions consisting of art collected by the monastery, and visiting exhibitions.

The lighthouse at Cape Otway is the oldest surviving lighthouse on mainland Australia. It makes a great stop-over for travellers heading down to the Twelve Apostles.

Bayeux is a picturesque medieval village in Western France, largely unscared by past conflicts, but with a unique connection to the past.

Montmartre’s castle in the sky. You can climb the 90 metre tower for a view over Paris.