Decorative mail slot

Friday
We had a really early start this morning, leaving the house at about 4.40 am, to get to Charles de Gaulle for a 7.30 am flight to Barcelona. At least there wasn't much traffic on the roads at that time in the morning! Traffic was also pretty light in Barcelona as we drove in a taxi to our hotel, since it was a holiday. Although it was still before 10 am we were fortunate to be able to check into our room and have a shower, then have a coffee and a mini croissant before starting out on our sightseeing. We headed first for Sagrada Familia. I had read before we left that you should get tickets on the web ahead of time as the lines are so long, but I had never got round to doing so. We decided to go and check it out anyway, thinking that it's out of peak season, and at least I could take some pictures of the outside. However, the line, as predicted, extended most of the way around the building, so we decided we would have to try and get tickets online at the hotel and, after taking some pictures, headed to La Rambla, a wide pedestrian avenue, popular with locals and tourists, lined with side-walk cafes and restaurants, kiosks selling newspapers and souvenirs, flower sellers and street performers. We just walked a short stretch of it, before heading into the Gothic Quarter and the wonderful Gothic Cathedral. In the cloister we were surprised and intrigued to find a flock of geese - never did work out the significance! We also went up onto the roof and admired the view over the city. Close to the cathedral is the Casa L'Ardaca, a 12th century building in Gothic style with Italian Renaissance details, which has this unusual ornamented mail slot, adorned with swallows and a tortoise, said to represent the swiftness of truth and the plodding pace of justice. The building now houses the city archives. Having wandered around the Gothic Quarter for a while, we walked down to the port, which we reached just as the sun was setting. We then walked back up La Rambla and came across the Placa Reial, an immense rectangular square, located on the site of a former Capuchin convent, with uniform houses around the perimeter set above fine ground-floor arches that echo the cloisters of the former church. It's focal point is a decorative fountain, and it is dotted with palm trees, and lined around the edge with restaurants and bars. It was still relatively early in the evening, but after our early start this morning, we were beginning to feel tired, so decided this would be a good place to eat. We enjoyed a paella, with a glass of sangria while we were waiting. Then it was time to find the nearest metro station and return to our hotel. It didn't take us long to fall asleep that night!