El Barri Gótic, Barcelona

Last full day in Barcelona today -- probably just as well, as we are pretty much touristed-out. We started with a visit to the Fundacio Miro on Montjuic. I can take a certain amount of Miro, although he's by no means my favourite modern artist. I hadn't realised he did textiles  as well as paintings and sculptures, and some of his works are enormous. The temporary exhibition consisted of various works by different young artists on the theme of Europe, and was very, very underwhelming. I lost patience with it when I got to the pile of ripped up plasterboard.

We hadn't really planned anything else, so when we came out we took the metro back down into town and wandered around the Barri Gótic until we came across a likely looking restaurant for lunch. It turned out to be a good choice, a bit pricy, but we had fish that was perfectly cooked, and some lovely salads.

Afterwards we went on a slow amble through the narrow streets of the Call, the old Jewish quarter, back to the metro station. It was a lovely sunny bank holiday, so lots of other people were ambling about too, and we saw a small procession of chanting nuns and monks. At one point we passed through a very pretty square with a church in it whose walls were riddled with holes. It turned out to be the site of an Italian air raid in 1938, in which 42 people, mostly children, were killed. Hints of the painful past are all around if you care to look.

Alternate blip: my failure to catch a speeding dog.