Our walking tour consists of following the footsteps of places where Pablo Picasso walked, lived and socialized. Following the walk we will visit the museum which holds more than 4000 of his works of art. (Not all displayed at once).
Waiting for our guide
These plaques in the sidewalk indicate buildings that are more than 100 years old. This building commemorates
"The Four Cats"), often written Els 4 Gats. It was a cafe which opened on 12 June 1897. It also operated as a hostel, a cabaret, a pub and a restaurant. Active until 1903, Els Quatre Gats became one of the main centers of Modernism in Barcelona. The artist Ramon Casas i Carbó largely financed this bar on the ground floor of Casa Martí (1896), a building by the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch in Carrer Montsió near the center of Barcelona. Els Quatre Gats was reconstructed during the transition to democracy in 1978.
Pablo Picasso visited this pub–restaurant often in his early art career.
“Four Cats” is a colloquial Catalan expression for “only a few people” and the name of Els Quatre Gats is derived from this saying. The four founders of the café—Pere Romeu, Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas, and Miguel Utrillo—also chose this name as a tribute to Le Chat Noir, “The Black Cat,” a celebrated Parisian café whose creator, Rodolphe Salis, had recently died. They modeled Els Quatre Gats largely after the Parisian café. 
A Pablo Picasso reproduction on the door of the cafe
We must come back and have a coffee here
The first time I saw this building, I thought this was graffiti. Oops come to find out it is Pablo Picasso around the three sides of the building. The ship represents the Mediterranean and then
Catalan dancers and musicians
This one depicts the Gegants (giants) and the Castellers (human towers) with children watching and waving fronds from the side
This side represents the bull fight and again the Mediterranean
The oldest chocolate shop in Barcelona. Alas our guide told us it is closing soon, because rents in this area have gone up so much the owners can no longer afford to stay here.
A little market of Catalan artists and their easels, all under the shadow of the church. There usually aren't more than about 15 artists but they cover every style and medium, from watercolors to oils, depicting market stalls to sweeping landscapes
Picasso lived here in the loft and painted many of his windows, roofs and scenes looking down on the street
a place where they made the giant heads
The Picasso shirt on one of the giant heads
It might be Picasso
Another place Picasso lived, again in the loft as they were cheaper rent and better light for painting. Probably why he painted roof tops and windows so much.
El Cap de Barcelona (1991–1992) is a surrealist sculpture created by American Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Its English title is "The Head".
The sculpture was Lichtenstein's first outdoor work using ceramic tile. It is said to acknowledge Antoni Gaudi and Barcelona's affinity for mosaics. Some say it brings together the colors of Miro, the tiles of Gaudi, the cubism of Picasso and the newsprint trademark of Lichtenstein. It was controversial at the time, but now accepted as a piece of Bacelona. It is 64 feet tall.
Santa Maria del Pi (Saint Mary of the Pine Tree) 14th Century Gothic)
stands in the Placa Pi
The Fossar de les Moreres is a place of great symbolic significance where the weight of history takes centre stage. Here, right in the centre of the Born neighbourhood, was the site of the graveyard for the fallen during the 1714 Siege of Barcelona. A monument stands on the site as a reminder. The place sometimes goes unnoticed by visitors. For the Catalans, the fossar is more than a memory. It is a homage.
The 1714 Siege of Barcelona lasted more than a year. It ended with the fall of Barcelona to the troops of Philip V. Catalonia had lent its support to Archduke Charles of Austria as the successor to the Spanish throne, while Castile was favourable to the accession of Philip of Anjou. The 11th September has become the National Day of Catalonia, La Diada. On this day in 1714, Barcelona surrendered to the Bourbons marking the beginning of a period of repression for the Catalans with the abolition of laws and institutions.
A little rest while we listen to our guide
No pictures in the museum
waiting for our tour guide to get our tickets
A little bar we stopped in after the tour for a drink and a bite to eat
We just meandered through the streets until we came to this square
and then Barcelona's Arc d' Triomphe. This beautiful arch was built on the occasion of the Exposición Universal de Barcelona - the universal exposition of 1888, which took place at the Parc de la Ciutadella. The triumphal arch was situated at the end of a wide promenade and served as the exposition's main entrance.
The design of the arch - by the Catalan architect and artist Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas - stands out from other well-known arches - in particular the Arc de Triomphe in Paris - by its colorful brickwork in Mudéjar style, a style which has its origins in Moorish architecture. We have walked our legs off, so we grabbed the metro here and headed home.
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