How to be a martyr

A number of gruesome ways to die are displayed on this panel. I admire the patience of the saint waiting for the two guys to saw him vertically in two.

We had a busy day today ... first stop was La Pedrera, the one major Gaudi monument in Barcelona that we haven't seen. I'm not blipping it because a) it's too obvious, and b) Arachne's Flickr photo of the wonderful brick structures in the attic is almost identical to one of mine ... I took dozens. We enjoyed the visit, but if I was only going to see one Gaudi domestic building, it would be the Casa Batllo, which is wonderful, a work of art from top to bottom. La Pedrera is positively sane in comparison.

It was 1:30 when we came out, and since our tickets gave us a 15% discount at the Pedrera restaurant, we decided to have lunch there. It was one of those 15-course meals where the majority of the cost is labour and crockery, rather than ingredients -- each course was a couple of mouthfuls. It wasn't bad, but we were glad we didn't pay the full whack for it.

After lunch, we took the funicular up to Montjuic and visited the National Art Museum. It's huge, but we only wanted to see the amazing Romanesque murals and altar panels which have been saved from tiny village churches in the Pyrenees and reconstructed here. They are beautifully presented. I love the Romanesque style of art, and I was spoilt for choice. Once more I took dozens of photos ... alternative blips are a chorus line and a somewhat mysterious scene featuring a Catalan flag, a devil, and a snake.

On the way down we stopped at the Mies pavilion, blipped yesterday, and it was open, so I insisted that we went inside. S: "Is there anything in it?" Me: "A chair." S: "Hmm." He did have to concede that although he'd dismissed it as boring, once you are inside it becomes more interesting the more you look at it.

Then we had to dash back to L'Hospitalet to move the car before the 24-hour parking ran out. Having done that, we sat in the Plaça de l'Ajuntament, along with half the population, enjoying a drink and a chat in the early evening sunshine while hordes of kids cycled, skateboarded, rollerbladed, or just ran about. Then back home for cava and jamón.