The guide books advise tourists to “look up” when in Barcelona, and it’s good advice. There are many items visible on the rooftops from the sidewalks. Often these are plants, including trees, perhaps in pots. They are also various kinds of statues and what I can only describe as festive shapes. The edges of the roofs are often founded by ornamental railings, implying that they are spaces for relaxing or gathering, and occasionally you glimpse a person.

Architectural features on the upper levels of buildings are even more common and much more diverse, ranging from decorative stone reliefs and wrought-iron balustrades to fantastical creatures in vibrant colors and full-blown statuary launching into space. Spires and towers of all heights abound, most with decorative details.

Barcelona is ringed by mountains and highlands on the inland side, and includes Montjuic near the sea. Looking out from many vantage points within the city, these heights seem dotted with structures spired, domed, and both, as well as modern buildings and technology monuments such as windmills and antennas. This list implies a skyline cluttered with man’s works, but it’s instead quite a long skyline punctuated by a few scattered structures.

Not that Barcelona is a monument to nature. This is a 1.5 million person city and it’s quite dense, at least in zone one where we are staying. So far we’ve heard very few birds and identified only one: the monk parakeet. Here’s a deep dive for the birders among you: https://www.birdguides.com/articles/conservation/the-parakeets-of-barcelona/

Back to the rooftops, I spent a nice afternoon with one of our guests visiting the stunning Cathedral of Barcelona, built between 1298 and 1450. Our ticket included a trip to the roof, in an elevator rated to carry 800 kilograms/10 people. The patient gatekeeper counted 10 of us at a time from the line without weighing us. An average of 176 pounds per person seems low to me, but I am from America. On the return journey, there was no guide, so we obediently queued up and fed ourselves into the elevator, again 10 people at a time. It was a little cramped, but quite a short ride.

From there I got my first glimpse of Sagrada Familia. Do you see it? Hint: Look for the crane amid spires.