This part is about the harbour district. After going through the whole La Rambla to the south, we come to the harbour(where there is an extension called La Rambla del Mar). First we reached Port Vell (the old harbour, totally refurbished and rebuilt for the Olympics in 1992) and then La Barceloneta and Port Olímpic (the new harbour, built for the Olympics) were Barcelona's 2 tallest buildings stand.
Port Vell
At one of the harbours modern piers, there are two famous structures; World
Trade Center and Torre Jaumei. World Trade Center was built as late as in 1999
and except for stores, offices and the 4-star Gran Marina Hotel, there is a courtyard
in the middle of WTC with a rhythmic fountain. Torre Jaumei was built in 1931(reconstructed
1995) as a tower for the cableways from the Montjüic mountain that goes down to
the harbour so that people can take the elevator down if they don´t want to ride
the whole way. The tower is 107m tall.
WTC:s rhythmic fountain is cool!
The cableway to Montjüic is a thrilling, but expensive way to get high. We
wanted to ride, but decided it was too expensive(about €8 one way).
Some sculptures in the harbour, WTC and Torre Jaumei at one of Port Vell´s
two piers.
Rambla
del Mar. This is an extension of La Rambla with wooden floor, that goes above
the water down to the harbour, all built for the Olympics in 1992. Note the wave
shaped decorations.
More decorations at Port Vell.
Port Vell is the old harbour. Despite that it looks very modern. Port Vell has
two piers.
This is were people go to nightclubs and bars at night. Unfortunately
they mostly play techno and not much rock.
Port Vell has L´Aquarium, Europe´s 2nd largest aquarium(right, Valencia's
is larger) and an IMAX (3D movie theatre).
Maremagnum shopping center. On the backside of this large building is Icária
Yelmo Cineplex, a huge movie theatre complex with cinemas showing non-dubbed movies.
The silhouette
of Port Vell with Icária Yelmo Cineplex. In the background you can see Hotel Arts.
This is the eastern
end of Port Vell. As you can see it is 33 degrees at the moment.
From there you can see another majestic building.
Placa de Antoni Lopez. From this square, were Passeig de Colom ends, you can
see Montjüic and the Columbus monument.
Place de Pau Vila. Despite the Miró sculpture, this square is not more famous.
It is situated were the piers of Port Vell ends and Barceloneta begins.
Museu de Historica de Catalunya (the Catalonian historical museum). To the
right, the district La Barceloneta begins.
La Barceloneta
La Barceloneta. This is a residential harbour district with picturesque small
lanes. The strand promenade is very nice.
I consider Barceloneta to be one of
Barcelona's nicest districts.
The beach of Barceloneta. The sculpture, called L'estel ferit (the damaged star)
looks like a falling mini skyscraper!
We walked through La Barceloneta district to the beach. A long walk to the east is Barcelona´s 2 tallest buildings and the Olympic village. On the way we passed some other towers. But this is showed at the Port Olímpic page. We also visited Parc de la Ciutadella, the only park in the city center. It is very beautiful and is situated next to Barceloneta.