Joe & Karen McDermott

23 April 2026

Arriving late yesterday we slept well and today decided to do some walking around and boy did we walk - my watch recorded a bit over 15 klms but the city is well laid out and easy enough to find your way.

We found that it was Sant Jordi (St George) day and a public holiday so everywhere was busy with locals all enjoying the day. It is traditional that people give each other gifts and it is normal for women to give men red roses and men to give women books so there were lots and lots of stalls set up selling these things.

We decided that a bus tour was the best way to see things - we're here for five days but it's a big city and we'd never see everything on our own. It was an interesting ride and gave us a few good ideas on places to explore more thoroughly.

A fun trip including the time our bus was water bombed by an anti-tourist protester. We only received a few drops but some poor buggers up the front were wet through.

Lots of buildings displayed the Catalan flag. It's a distinct identity for the area.

The architecture of the city is also distinctive.

And Primark - we thought it was a UK only retailer, but obviously not.

We stopped for a spot of late lunch and Karen received a red rose.

24 April 2026

Following up on the bus tour we decided to make today a Gaudi day and check out the impact he had on the architecture and life of the city.

First stop was Park Guelle which was originally going to be an exclusive suburb perched on top of the highest local hill. The site was chosen because it offered clean air (Barcelona was an industrial city and smoke pollution was pretty horrible down around the city itself. Gaudi laid out the individual house blocks and the road network and all the small details such as drainage and water storage etc.

He, and his investors, made some basic rules for any buildings constructed there - no more than two storeys for instance - and that turned buyers off. They didn't want to be told what they could and couldn't build, so after just two houses were built (one being Gaudi's own home) they just turned the whole thing into a park.

They used local stone for everything and Gaudi wanted things to look either rough hewn or very, very prettily decorated.

The columns shown above are examples of the rough hewn look and they provide shade and shelter for people, but they also support the roadway above.

Note the angled columns here as it supports the roadway on a fairly steep hillside.

This is actually the ceiling of the road support. You can see the arched supports but the use of loose looking rocks to form the ceiling gives the impression of it being very rough hewn.

The same area from a short distance away.

The "Rosary Walk" Gaudi separated foot traffic from the cars and carriages by the use of these round stone balls. He laid them out in the correct sequence and relative size and number as a Catholic rosary.

This large plaza was to provide residents (and now tourists) with an area where they could gather to admire the view and to see whatever shows or spectacle was to be held there.

It also functioned as a rainwater gathering surface. The gravel and sand surface filtered the rainwater and the columns holding the whole plaza up were hollow and directed the filtered water into a very large underground cistern.

Clever and beautiful.

The area underneath the plaza was beautifully decorated with mosaics on the ceiling and a ceiling that was designed to direct any condensation down the hollow columns and into the cistern.

The gatehouse, and the gatekeepers lodge, were also built by Gaudi. I don't like his stuff, but you can't deny the skill and clever thinking that went into it all.

The steps down (or up if you've just arrived and are entering) are also gorgeously and weirdly decorated. This part of it shows a salamander - one of the images that is repeated in almost all Gaudi buildings.

More leaning columns and a curved wall designed to look like a wave.

This washerwoman image is reckoned to be the work of one of the workers who built a statue of his mother.

This image shows the Sagrada Familia in the background and then the Mediterranean beyond.

We walked down the hill, enjoying a delicious lunch on the way, to see the Sagrada Família. We had booked a tour there - it seemed to be the only way we could get in there in the time we had available.

It's a fantastical building that hasn't yet been completed. As we were early for our tour we took a walk around the outside first.

The detail of much of the building is stunning - check out these carvings below.

We joined the tour and walked inside.

We've seen a lot of cathedrals and churches, but nothing quite like this one.

The style of the carvings changes on the back of the church. They have been done nearly 100 years apart of they are distinctly different - no face details etc.

Could this be where Terry Pratchett got his idea for the Great A'Tuin carrying the world?

25 April 2026

We'd had enough of the city so today we took a bus to Montserrat. It's a couple of hours away but the trip there goes through some stunning countryside.

Montserrat itself is basically a monastery with a tourist shops/cafe/memorabilia construction around it.

It's pretty much perched on the side of a cliff as this pic shows.

The name Montserrat comes from the Spanish description of the area and it means "serrated mountain".

It's a magnificent set of buildings

The centrepiece of the pilgrim trade is the Black Madonna. This was said to have been found in a cave and when they went to carry it down to the city it grew heavier and heavier and impossible to cart away so they put it in a place where people could come and see it.

The amazing thing is that you can actually put your hand on it - you're even encouraged to do it although only on the ball in the infant's hand.

Yep -buy a candle and light it here.

27 April 2026

Today was preparing for our next stop - San Sebastián. We made our way to the railway station, bought a couple of Gold Cards which, as we are old farts, give us cheap rail tickets. Spend 5 euros and save 30 seems like a bargain.

So we bought tickets to San Sebastian and then went for another walk around the city to places we had missed before.

A Gaudi building. Beautifully done, but I don't like it.

From there we went into the old city

We stopped off for some lunch (delightful tapas) and a drink before continuing on out the other side of the old town and into a beautiful park,

The things you find in a park!

28 April 2026

We left Barcelona today - a few sad feelings because it's been a fun and interesting place, but it was time to move on.

We were able to get a late checkout from our apartment and then took a taxi to the railway station where we hung around for an hour.

The train eventually got under way and we had a five hour trip to San Sebastian. The train was a pleasant enough way to travel and much less stressful than driving.

We arrived, in the rain, in San Sebastian at about 7pm. We took a taxi to the hotel and checked in before heading out to get something to eat.

29 April 2026

San Sebastian is a large coastal town and a well set up place. We went for a walk around the town and bought a couple of things. Karen bought a lovely bag and I bought a nice sky blue linen flat cap.

We walked to the Old town and called into the Hertz office to pick up the keys to the car we had booked.

The old town is a lovely place, right at the mouth of the river that flows through the town. We had some lunch there, selecting a number of Pinxtos (that's Basque for tapas) which were delicious.

The river and the old town over on the left bank behind those imposing buildings.

The old town was not very busy (we were glad to see), but was beautifully laid out.

Then there's the church which was beautiful.

The restaurant we lunched in had these magnificent hams hanging from the ceiling.

The number of pinxtios to choose from was amazing. Tasty!

30 April 2026

We headed back to the Hertz car park and picked up our hire car.

We then drove to the funicular to the west of the town which takes you to the top of the headland.

it's a weird place with an aged amusement park at the top as well as a hotel. it is also an old lighthouse and you can climb to the top of that building for a spectacular view out over the town.

There are lots of small cars here, but this single seat Smart car was the smallest we have seen.

The view from the top!

That castle looking tower is the old lighthouse.

Note the "Casa de Terror"

0 April 2026

Time for an international border! So we drove to Biarritz.

Rainy trip until we crossed into France - then gorgeous.

We walked around the town, lovely place, and checked out the justly famous beach before lunching there and heading back to San Sebasian.

1 May 2026

Departing San Sebastian with few regrets (it was time to move on) we drove to Pamplona where we lunched and then on Santo Domingo de le Calzada.

Today was a public holiday and Pamplona had a heap of marches planned while most shops etc were closed.

Fantastic road system in this part of Spain and gorgeous scenery. Mountains and gorges with tunnels and bridges as appropriate

Logrono was another stop on the way - coffee time!

Most of the way there we saw pilgrims walking one of the Caminos to Santiago de le Compostela.

We were booked into the Paradore in Santo Domingo de le Calzada and it's a hotel built in a 12th century hospital that had been built to service the pilgrims walking the Camino.

We had some trouble finding the place as it is in the heart of the medieval old town and the streets are very narrow, but we managed.

We dined at a local restaurant and loved it.

This is the front door of the Paradore. It looks amazing considering it is over 900 years old!

Inside the Paradore is just amazing.

Our room looked out over the inner courtyard. This picture just shows the ancient stonework that has been so beautifully looked after.

2 May 2026

We headed out to check out the local landmarks. As is usual in Spain, these include the Cathedral, the clock tower and a convent church

The first stop was the cathedral which included a Cistercian monastery.

The monastery - the road on the left is actually part of the main Camino do Santiago.

The whole old town, and it's quite large, is beautifully preserved.

The cathedral pictures follow:

For the choir!

And in the crypt:

Next on the list was the Bell Tower

A great view over the old city

Then on to the convent church - the Convento de San Francisco

What a beautiful ceiling showing all the Spanish colonies.

Carved from elephant ivory

Yep - Jesus in a skirt!

We tired of the ecclesiastical sights and went on a pilgrimage to Haro to join a tour of the C.V.N.E winery.

Not only an interesting sight for any Rioja lover, but this building was designed by Gustave Eiffel.

White Rioja is aged in pottery.

The wine tasting included some of the most gorgeous ham and cheese.

3 May 2026

The drive to Leon was amazing at times. We drove through the mountains and the road was a series of tunnel then bridge sections which was fantastic. They really know how to build roads here!

At other times we drove along the plain behind the mountains and this section saw us driving parallel to the main Camino de Santiago walking route so we could see fairly large numbers of people walking along.

They are braver than we are - it's a long way to Compostela!

We found our fantastic little apartment in Leon and it was just 40 metres away from the walls of the old town. We had secure undercover parking as part of the AirBnB deal and we were happy to leave the car there for the duration.

We found the apartment cold, but the owners helped with the central heating and all was good.

We were able to do a little clothes washing and the washing line was outside the window of our (third storey) apartment. Interesting to see and use.

Spanish cities continue to surprise too - across the road was an almost hidden supermarket that stocked everything you could need (including beer and wine) and nearby was a stunning butcher.

Dinner that night was sorted!

4 May 2026

Leon cathedral was the focus of today's efforts and it is a stunning place. It has over 1,800 square metres of stained glass windows and that gives the whole building a feel of being half glasshouse.

We took a tour around the building, it's so big that you need the tour, and it took us through all the amazing spots including the crypt and the walkway at the back of the choir stalls (themselves a fantastic assembly of carved wooden seats) to the back of the statue of St James. It is traditional that you hug the saint from the back which we all did.

Access to almost everything is permitted which, given that it is over 800 years old, is surprising.

We ate lunch at a tapas bar and were amazed at the ease of life here.

The pictures below are in no particular order, but I have put some explanation against a few of them

Taken from the original spire on the first iteration of this cathedral, this was the weather vane.

This is in the museum section and the display is of a Roman decorative device.

Roman!

Some of the original frescoes have been saved and restored,

It wouldn't be a Catholic cathedral without a display of gold chalices and other wealth.

They have kept a number of books, some dating back to the 13th century and none newer than the 16th century, Some of them have been carefully restored, but they still have quite a lot that are awaiting restoration. These were one of the few things we weren't allowed to handle.

We were told that the reason they had such large books is not that they didn't have reading glasses as I imagined, but rather that two people could read the same book at the same time.