And Finally my last day in Spain

My last day in Spain was kind of fun. We met up with this American kid that was doing an internship in Barcelona, who had explored the city extensively, he also spoke very good Spanish. So, he was able to show us the older part of the city, and was able to communicate with this expert on Barcelona antiquities -- I guess he was an expert, he showed us several things that were really interesting that Kyle didn't know and he had gone to the museums around the cathedral and in the castle. . .anyway.
He took us to this beautiful plaza that was just intimate -- we even had our picture taken here, at Plaza Royale. :)

 

This was the church where Columbus reported to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. It was also where the Indians were presented to them. Interesting fact, the people of this area call their region Catalonya, they don't really like being a part of Spain. They have their own language and write a lot of their documents n Catalonian. . ., but they believe that Columbus was really Catalonian, they just can't prove it. Needless to say, there is a lot about Columbus in Barcelona, including a HUGE statue that I didnt post looking toward the new world.

 

There are some Roman ruins in Barcelona. This is an old temple ruin that they have in a quiet building near an old castle in downtown Barcelona. . .this is where we met the expert. . .

 

Who took us outside and showed us many inscriptions on the sides of the cathedral and castle. He showed us where the markings for tradesmen were on the cathedral and how each trade had a window of sorts that when their leader, of the trade, would die they would be buried (kind of open the window and put the body in then close it again). He showed us where the Castle and the Cathedral had once a place where the Royalty was able to go undetected across to the temple. He also showed us where Napoleon's army sharpened their swords (see below) on the cathedral wall. We also saw on the castle walls where the Jewish settlement that was destroyed by the Christians, was recycled and put in the walls of the castle (there are Jewish markings on the castle walls). It was really fascinating, and my parents and Kyle both had no idea about any of that information.