Porto Barcelona Day 25 - Fourth Day in Barcelona

After a few days of commuting in the city of Barcelona we were quite familiar with its commuting system and here we were in a train heading to La Rambla again but this time without our bicycles.

Being an Asian, we used to see dragons very often back in the Far East but in Europe there are also dragons but the feature of the dragons is different. Apparently there are at least 400 dragons found in and around Barcelona. It is not a symbol of the underworld but rather an auspicious symbol for the locals. Barcelona indeed loves their dragons and this one was seen at La Rambla.

The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, often referred as La Boqueria, is a large public market in the Ciudad Vieja district. One of the city's most visited by tourists, with an entrance from La Rambla, not far from the Liceo Station.

The market was established back in the 13th Century as a local market. Over the centuries there were many changes and development to the market and finally transformed into this attractive Sant Josef Mercat.

You can get almost anything you desire in a market such as sweets, honey, cheese, refined oils, olives, local and exotic fruit and vegetables, meat, ham, fish, seafood. All are fresh and a huge selection.

After much of sight seeing and walking at La Rambla, we got back to Liceu Station for our next itinerary.

As we emerged from the underground Metro we could immediately recognise the landmark which we have cycled to this place before it's Plaça d'Espanya.

We went into Las Arenas de Barcelona to check out this shopping mall if there is anything spectacular. Upon entering the mall, the two ladies were having fun with the interactive graphic on the floor.

Jo & Fenn started some light shopping, trying to find something Spanish to bring back home. Jo was trying out the fresh orange juice from this machine.

 While the ladies checking places for shopping I excused myself to have an earlier lunch in the Arenas.

The ladies decided to stay back in the hostel waiting for Joseph to return from his visit to France, I took my bike out cruising around to look for used card boards for my bike packing preparation.

My random ride took me to an El Corte Inglés store which is the biggest department store group in Europe and ranks third worldwide. This one is at Avinguda Diagonal.

A bronze sculpture in front of Caixa Bank Headquarter and opposite it is Barcelona Corte Inglés GPS : 41.387812, 2.126920.

During the late 1980s Barcelona’s City Hall decided to tear down defunct industrial buildings in this neighbourhood at Sants to create space as public park.

At the start of Jardins de la Rambla de Sants there is this long stretch of suspended perforated ceiling .

Jardins de la Rambla de Sants is an elevated 20,000 square meter park over railway lines with an extruded box that contains over 160 trees and 85,000 plants and shrubs tucked at into different corners of the park.

From the elevated park I could see this street with rows of apartments together with creative street lighting design at Sants-Badal, which is a neighborhood in the Sants-Montjuïc district.

An unique structure that is elevated allowing pedestrians to view at the passing trains blended with greenery and plants

Creative structures like pergolas, benches and mural for the people to spend time and chill at the park.

Images of olden days of the railway lines and its trains displayed on screens at the park.

My favourite graffiti at the start of the Jardins de la Rambla de Sants 

An unique sculpture of a huge dragon where kids can climb and access into its interior. This dragon is constructed with big metal plates and it is so creative. The giant metal dragon was sculpted by Andrés Nagel. 

It is 32 metres wide by 12 metres high. My second dragon encounter for the day and obviously a good find. Located at GPS : 41.378824, 2.141798 which is near to Barcelona Sants Railway station.

Barcelona Sants is the main railway station in Barcelona. It has become the most important transport hub of the city. The station is named after Sants, the neighbourhood of Barcelona in which it is located at GPS : 41.378530, 2.139337

 Nearby the neighbourhood one could see the nine tall towers, like monumental lighthouses, standing at the top of the white steps which could lead into a pond. One can go down the pond to boat around it.

On the way back I came across this tower at this junction at Av. de Josep Tarrasellas and Carrer de Paris  GPS : 41.385884, 2.142679

Another one of the many stops while riding on the bicycle lanes in Barcelona.

Closer to Primavera is the Victory Square or locally known as The Plaza de Cinco de Oros, previously it was called Plaza de Juan Carlos I. It is located at the intersection of Avenida Diagonal and Paseo de Gracia .

The random spin into the neighbourhood of Barcelona Sants seeing park space over railway lines and interesting surrounding in the southern part of Barcelona. Formerly it was an industrial area known as Santa Maria de Sants, it is bordered by the district of Eixample to the northeast.