Monalia's World

View of Las Ramblas from inside the Columbus statue. From here it is easy to see how Las Ramblas was once a river dumping into the harbor.

Today Quixote and I are going to see if we can ride the rickety elevator to the top of the Cristopher Columbus statue at the end of Las Ramblas. We grab a bike and head to the statue, located near the port.

1) Photo of the Columbus statue, taken from Las Ramblas. There is an elevator inside and we want to ride it to the top. 2) Close-up of the base of the statue.

The elevator only holds 3 normal size people, maybe four if they’re all thin. Quixote and I squeeze in and ride it to the top. Although dogs aren’t allowed in the elevator, nobody notices him.

Views of the port from atop the Columbus statue:

1) In this shot you can see the funicular tower I was in and blogged about yesterday, as well as the Hotel W which is a featured backdrop in many of our beach photos. One day I will do a Hotel W blog, because I have its development, from it ambivalently received beginning to 2) Looking out over near where cruise ships dock and tourist helicopters take off from. Mark and I have a date to take helicopter ride tomorrow. How romantic!

View of Montjuic from statue. 2) Quixote and I look out the window of the Columbus statue onto the Las Ramblas view

I feel like a real tourist today.

1) View of tour busses and traffic taken from the Columbus statue. 2) View of port from the next window over.

) I love the gothic touches on the building below. Notice the griffins adorning the rooftop. 2) More pedestrialn and tour busses whizz by. Its much nicer to be above it all than it is to be in the thick of it.

We took he more circuitous bike route home, along the port and its alleyways instead of the more direct route past Circus Ralluy. I stop every so often to pose my dog because he’s so damn cute and attentive.

¥

†¥†

¥

I sign off on this little photo-travelogue with four recent shots taken on bike rides through my neighborhood:

1) Perfectly framed symmetry. The globe transparently floats.
2) I was riding my bike through this short cut route to my dog’s favorite park when my eye was caught by this palm tree reflection.

1) This is the duck pond where I throw sticks for Quixote. When he chased the ball into the water I caught the impressionist rippling water. 2) Poetic Geometry.