Upon leaving Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium, Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, my sister and I boarded the hop-on/hop-off bus and made our way to Port Olímpic. Before arriving, we passed the Mirador de Colom at the lower end of La Rambla.
This statue of Christopher Columbus (which is said to be the largest in the world) was built in time for the Universal Exposition of Barcelona in 1888, which payed tribute to Columbus’s first trip to the Americas. Seeing as he reported back to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in Barcelona after the trip, it is fitting for the statue to be placed here.
The statue has Columbus pointed with his right hand to the New World, as he holds a scroll in his left hand. However, instead of pointing west, Columbus is actually pointing southeast, which is the direction of his home in Genoa.
As we the bus tour continued, we passed “Gambrinus,” a thirty-two foot lobster, which inspired the mascot for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. We also passed “The Head,” which is a 50 foot sculpture, also designed in time for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
We then drove past La Vila Olímpica del Poblenou by Port Olímpic, which was a residential area the Olympic Village where the olympians stayed during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The area has since been turned into apartment complexes alongside the port (which are much more expensive now than when they were first built for the olympics).
hurdlestohappiness 