A Huge Cobblestone Maze: Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter

　I was taking a walk, thinking I’d head for the Picasso Museum, when the feel of the buildings suddenly changed completely. When I looked it up, I realized I had wandered into the Gothic Quarter, one of the most exceptionally beautiful parts of Barcelona.

　No matter where you walk along these labyrinthine streets, fairy-tale-like scenery unfolds before you, and simply wandering wherever the mood takes you is a delightful experience.

　If you lived in a place like this, I imagine you’d start to lose track of where dreams end and reality begins.

　There are shoes hanging from the power lines.

　It’s a sight you often see overseas, and there are all kinds of theories about it—gang territory, warnings about unsafe neighborhoods, and so on—but apparently most of the time it’s just meaningless mischief, so maybe it’s not worth worrying too much about. I saw it in Los Angeles too, though to be fair, that area actually just genuinely unsafe.

　Sturdy products.

　A cathedral.

　One amazing thing about Europe is that if you just wander around at random, you can end up at a castle or a church. I suppose that’s because the buildings there are made to last forever.

　I really liked the staircase beside the cathedral. If there were such a thing as the path of ascending to heaven, I could almost imagine it looking like this.

　Even in a place this lovely, it’s nice that it’s not actually all that crowded. It is, however, incredibly hot—even in late September.

　I relax in the shade of the trees in a beautiful courtyard.

　Every little alley makes a perfect picture.

　The streets really are tangled like a labyrinth, but at a certain point the destination stops mattering. No matter where you go, the best part is simply taking in this fairy-tale world, so you don’t even need a map. Just turn right or left as you like and follow whichever lovely path catches your eye.

　At one point I even forgot I had originally been trying to get to the Picasso Museum.

　Even a giant black eye floating there would somehow fit. It is the Gothic Quarter, after all.

　There are benches and cafés everywhere, so finding a place to rest is never a problem. Now and then I noticed graffiti that seemed colorful in a way that felt inspired by Picasso too. The Picasso Museum itself sits quietly in the middle of this maze, which makes it all the more amusing, like something out of a game. The kind of place you only occasionally stumble across while lost on a walk.

　Where would I end up if I crossed this stretch of cobblestones?

　It’s also nice that if you stray just a little from the main path, suddenly there’s almost no one around and everything becomes quiet.

　When I wandered too far off, I ended up at the sea.

　I was happy to be met with such a classic beach scene. The blue was so vivid it almost felt like a joke.

　What cheerful colors.

　I’m not good with things that are too bright, so I headed back to the Gothic Quarter once again.

　It was hot, so I took a break for a while. As I sat there gazing outside, the sun gradually began to set.

　Even the butcher shop feels like a scene from a story.

　The sky had grown pleasantly dim.

　After simply walking and walking, I finally arrived at the Picasso Museum.

　A flower.

　A vase.

　Even after tracing Picasso’s artistic evolution, I kept wandering around the Gothic Quarter. This time with even less of a destination than before.

　Books were scattered across the floor.

　Not just books, but even hammers and teapots. The way the items were arranged at random reminded me of Nook's Cranny, but in the end, I still don’t know what this is all about.

　The wind blows through the Gothic Quarter.

　What a beautifully colored pharmacy.

　The streets were gradually opening up, and I could tell I was returning from the Gothic Quarter to the center of Barcelona.

　If it were possible, I would have liked to stay lost in this place forever—but dreams always have to end eventually.

　Let’s leave the cobblestone maze behind and return to reality.