GR8 2CU BCN: Honk if you love Jesus!

To me, one unique selling point for Christianity has got to be the promise of free wine at every service (or, if you're a hardline Protestant, some grape juice to wash down that stale cracker). Can you think of any other religions where refreshments come as standard, and gratis ones at that?

Queue up with the tourist crowds during the day for a look inside Barcelona's cathedral however and you'll be stung with a €5 cover charge. Although a bit cheaper than Sagrada Familia (which despite its prominence on the city's skyline isn't a cathedral), it is still rather a lot for entering a house of God. Take a tip and save your money for some cold cava instead (it's what Jesus would do, remember his first miracle?). Then, come back later in the early evening when the cathedral is free.

The particular evening we called into the cathedral was after sharing a bottle of cava at a tapas bar around the corner; to be honest the last thing we needed was more wine, so if the chalice came our way, we'd have to make excuses. Besides, maybe our Spanish friend José was right and we were heavy drinkers, why else would we be hallucinating about the gaggle of geese we thought we saw as soon as we stepped inside?

Actually, it's no illusion: for many centuries the cathedral cloister has been home to a gaggle of thirteen white geese. By one account this represents the age of Saint Eulalia at whose execution a sudden snowfall concealed her nakedness; the unfazed Romans proceeded regardless by nailing her inside a barrel, sticking knives in the side and rolling the barrel down the street (if you think they exaggerate the violence in Spartacus, read the history books sometime). Another tradition says this was only one of thirteen tortures the saint was subjected to, hence the number of geese kept inside the cathedral. And why geese? Who the heck knows. Blame it on too much cava.

Visiting at night not only means the cathedral is free to enter, but it is also lit mostly by candles and spotlights. The low lighting made it quite atmospheric, but photography was tricky.

As regular readers know, I am a big fan of kinetic or intentional movement photography, where the point is not to achieve pin-sharp results, but rather to take advantage of dim conditions by moving the camera and seeing what results from happy experimentation. It's remarkable what results can be achieved from focusing on the same subject in different ways.

Or blame it on too much cava!

I did manage some straightforward shots of the many highly decorated side chapels, some of which hold the tombs of medieval princes.

Click back again soon and we'll explore another of Barcelona's magnificent treasurehouses of religious artworks.