Barcelona Guided Tour (September 21, 2025)
WARNING: This is one of my longest posts. Violet & I did a lot today, so feel free to skim / scroll past anything that doesn’t grab your attention. Lot’s to read about, images to see and videos to watch in this post.
Violet and I have been in Barcelona for a full week and are very happy with the balance we’ve struck between sight seeing, night life, culinary delights and resting up for our next phase of our adventures with Elena (my wife) who we will be meeting in Italy in less than a week’s time. All the same, I reached out on LinkedIn and connected with Elena Stepanova, who agreed to meet up with us today and show us around.
The wonderful Elena Stepanova shows Violet and Bill more of Barcelona
The thing to know is that Elena Stepanova lived in Barcelona for about 15 years when she was single and then married without kids. She has since moved to the suburbs so that her son can go to German School, but she still knows her way around the city like she never left. And boy did we have a fun adventure today!
Violet feeding a Monk Parrot in Barcelona (Park de la Ciutadella to be precise)
Yes, in this post I’m giving myself permission to jump around and show you what we did by order of “WOW!” factor. Now in Venice, Italy, I know you can pay $5 Euros and get a bag of seed, pour it over your arms and have about 100 pigeons feast on top of you. But then again, we all agree pigeons are rats with wings, right? So getting a wild (monk) parrot to eat out of your hand is way, way cooler, wouldn’t you agree?
I think this is a wonderful way to generate a few extra bucks on the weekend. These bird trainers go to the same spot every weekend and feed the birds out of their own hands. Once a few birds trust them, more flock to get fed. Then the guy just hands the seed and birds over to tourists like us. We tipped him well and thanked him for the experience.
I hear you, this isn’t so much a tour of Barcelona … yet. So bare with me. It was a unique experience and Violet was having a blast so I thought I’d share that part first. For context, we were in the Parc de la Ciutadella which you might have recognized if I started with its most iconic image:
Main Fountain in the Parc de la Ciutadella aka “Cascada Monumental,”
I asked Elena what the deal with this fountain was as it’s clearly “over the top” and someone put a ton of thought into the design. While she could have easily made up a story, she admitted that she didn’t know so I told her I’d ask Uncle Google when I got back to my computer. So here’s what I learned:
The fountain in Barcelona's Parc de la Ciutadella, known as the Cascada Monumental, was designed by Josep Fontserè for the 1888 Universal Exposition, with assistance from a young, then-unknown Antoni Gaudí. Inspired by Rome's Trevi Fountain, it features a monumental waterfall, a classical design with a triumphal arch and crab-pincer staircases, and mythological sculptures including a statue of Venus and the Golden Chariot of Aurora at its peak.
Thanks, Uncle Google! By the way, I’m starting to trust your AI summary at the top of your page a lot more. I used to click on all the corresponding links, but after my own due dilligence, I’m now trusting what you’re surfacing much to the shagrin of my kids who warn me “NEVER DO THAT! Google uses the Onion, ReddIt and even people’s blogs as reliable sources!” And perhaps that’s true, but every one I’ve taken the time to check has checked out. I’m rolling with this answer (unverified … cue the horror film soundtrack).
As this is one of the more iconic locations, I figured this was as good a place as any to adorn my banana hat and pose with Elena. She was a good sport about it. And then just after all that, the clock struck noon and the fountain turned on.
Elena treated Violet and I to lunch and Violet needed to adjust her water bottle so I ended up with this lovely shot:
Not Violet’s best or proudest picture from today … but I’ll take it.
After a relaxing lunch and pictures in front of the iconic fountain, we took a few more shots of the most iconic scenes from Parc de la Ciutadella and continued on our way to explore more of the historical district of Barcelona.
Near the park is the old marketplace where an excavation revealed the remains of the oldest parts of Barcelona and, once discovered, are now preserved and on display. As legend has it, there have been many more discoveries in the private home sector, but nobody wants to admit there are Roman-era buildings buried in their backyards.
I mean, what a mess, right? You buy your dream home in Barcelona and begin to do some work to renovate only to find that your house was built over a historic sight when you begin to dig in your own back yard. What do most people do? Rumor has it they quietly replace the dirt they dug up, say nothing and fail to disclose their “discovery” as it would fundamentally change the value of the home they bought. Makes sense to me. If Barcelona ever wants these homeowners to come forward, they’ll have to change the laws to ensure homebuyers are able to secure the value of their homes and not be penalized for sharing their backyard findings.
All around (above) the historical site were statues of various “dragons” and “beasts” that had recently been entered into a competition to show who had the best imagination for “Barcelona’s Best Beast” to represent it and the stories and lore associated the dragons that are now a cultural symbol of Catalonia.
For the back story, dragons are deeply linked to the legend of Saint George, the patron saint of Catalonia, who is said to have slain a dragon to save a princess. This legend makes the dragon a symbol of Catalan identity and courage. So here’s what we saw today (not sure who “won”):
I particularly liked the “mosquito dragon” even if I’ve have yet to see one this size. Small and irritable, I could see how someone could imagine a giant version in full “beast” form sucking the very life out of it’s prey. And by the way, this was just a sampling. There were many others that were covered up with plastic for some reason. Didn’t mess with any of them, but sharing these were just the uncovered dragons that I took pictures of.
Elena also took us into one of the more famous churches in Barcelona — Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar (built between 1329 and 1383). Not quite as impressive as Sagrada Familia, but still quite awe inspiring.
Check out that last picture of “modern” stain glass! The second to last picture contrasts the “old” style and this new, modern version. The blues are striking and the whole look is modern. It has you pause as everything else in this building screams 1300s except this single pane of stained glass. Couldn’t make out why this one was allowed to be modern and updated, but it certainly stood out.
And before we packed it in, we stopped to see a modern artist show off his work. And then went upstairs to see a second artist we liked even better combining snakes and reptiles with faces in such a fascinating way. See for yourself. Art is always fascinating to view especially in other countries.
Oh, wait, I almost forgot to share the solved mystery of this guy that you see virtually EVERYWHERE you find gift shops in Barcelona:
Spanish farmer fertilizing his field and is now a famous icon for … Christmas!?!
Um, yeah. What now? Every country has its quirks and I’m not one to poke fun or judge, but what the hell? You see this farmer taking a dump in every gift shop in Barcelona. Then you see ENTIRE GIFT SHOPS of nothing but this guy being sold and celebrities doing the same thing. WTF? I finally got the answer:
Add this to your nativity scene or you’ll invite “misfortune” the following year!!!
Tip of the hat to whatever marketing genius convinced the whole of Catalan that this “Caganer” farmer taking a dump in his field was a “must have” in your nativity scene. I personally think this guy was atheist and just wanted to have a bit of fun with the traditional nativity scenes, but what do I know? Now it’s everywhere and entire franchised stores dedicated to this … icon?
If I haven’t lost you at this point, you’re amazing for staying with me. Normally I don’t share this kind of stuff but it was too bizarre not to highlight. If you saw the number of stores dedicated to this thing, you’d be curious too.
As we were walking Elena to her metro station, we came across one final element that I wanted to share. This is with respect to the giant parades that Barcelona throws. They train acrobats to balance giant statues that rest on top of their shoulders and then they walk in the streets with them. When you see how big they are, it’s impressive:
Where the “dark patch” is located on the figure is about head-size so that a person standing tall would have this thing on their shoulders and look through that smallish window. In the first picture (top-left) you can see the size of a 6 foot person standing next to the “king” and another total of 18 foot statue when worn in the streets. Look at the queen’s knee area and you’ll see the window to see through that I’m talking about. These things are HUGE!
All in all, Violet and I really appreciated Elena Stepanova taking us around and showing us many parts of Barcelona that we had not yet seen. The only thing I didn’t get to show Violet on this trip was the multi-century old marketplace where generational families sell their honey, cheese, and Jamón Ibérico (one of Spain's most prized culinary treasures). I did grab a picture from the outside:
Central family market for Barcelona (not open on Sundays)
When I was here years ago, our tour guide took us here and shared that many of the families selling their wares are 8th or 9th generation (or longer). The market has been going strong for hundreds of years and the same families reside in the same spots generation after generation. It’s impressive. But, as Elena and I shared with Violet, “You can’t expect to see everything in one trip … now you have something to come back and see next time.” Indeed.
Finally, I got up early today as it’s our last day in Barcelona. I got more than 12,000 steps in as I toured the highest points in the city before the sun came up. Here are a few more pictures from the highest elevations in Barcelona:
Ending on the last shots of Sagrada Familia and showing how it “pops” around all the other buildings in Barcelona. I mean seriously. You’re scanning the Barcelona skyline and BANG it’s right there — exponentially larger than anything around it. And that was the point.
Violet and I have enjoyed our time in Barcelona. We’re off to Geneva tomorrow to spend time with my cousin, Brent McLean. More to come!
