Where: Barcelona, Spain
When: May 12, 2013
With: Suzannah
On the first day of our Spanish adventure, Suzannah's and my brains synced up pre-trip and thought the best way to kick things off was at Parc de Montjuïc. Montjuïc is a mountain on the water at one end of Barcelona, and its park contains a ton of museums, gardens, and sights.
After lots of attempts of how to correctly pronounce Montjuïc (mont-jew-eek), we were off on the aerial tram that takes you right to the top, overlooking Barcelona on our way. The view from the tram also allowed us to see the array of buildings, gardens, trails and staircases leading up to the top of the mountain.
Sitting at the very top of the mountain is the Castle of Montjuïc. Overlooking Barcelona since the late 1700s, it now is a shell of bricks and stone providing great views of the ocean and city.
Another building on the mountain is the Olympic stadium, host to the 1992 Summer Games. Beautiful from the outside, but its interior was undergoing a bit of demolition to make way for the Summer X-Games.
At this point, we continued down the mountain, but we were no longer in the official Parc. As we left though, the architecture and musical vibe didn't quite leave us, particularly was we stumbled upon three guys messing around with their saxophones behind an old building.
Making it extra surreal were the neon glowsticks that were flying via slingshot through the air around the plaza. I've seen these many times before, but when mixed with the lights and sounds of the fountains, they seemed even more fun. Suzannah even had a go.
When: May 12, 2013
With: Suzannah
On the first day of our Spanish adventure, Suzannah's and my brains synced up pre-trip and thought the best way to kick things off was at Parc de Montjuïc. Montjuïc is a mountain on the water at one end of Barcelona, and its park contains a ton of museums, gardens, and sights.
After lots of attempts of how to correctly pronounce Montjuïc (mont-jew-eek), we were off on the aerial tram that takes you right to the top, overlooking Barcelona on our way. The view from the tram also allowed us to see the array of buildings, gardens, trails and staircases leading up to the top of the mountain.
Sitting at the very top of the mountain is the Castle of Montjuïc. Overlooking Barcelona since the late 1700s, it now is a shell of bricks and stone providing great views of the ocean and city.
Continuing down the slopes of the mountain, it's easier to get lost than you would think. After a few failed attempts to get out of a giant parking lot that the trails led us to, we escaped and found ourselves in the midst of a beautiful and peaceful garden.
In the park are several famous museums, including the Fundació Joan Miró and the Catalan Art Museum. Sadly, these are all closed on Sundays, so we didn't get to peek inside, but we did get to enjoy some of the statues and artwork that pop up around the park.
Another building on the mountain is the Olympic stadium, host to the 1992 Summer Games. Beautiful from the outside, but its interior was undergoing a bit of demolition to make way for the Summer X-Games.
One of the best vantage points we found was at the Palau Nacional (or National Palace). Now the site of the Catalan Art Museum, it had a long, epic staircase that led down to the site of the 1929 World's Fair. Tons of people were sat out at the top of the stairs in the dwindling sunlight enjoying sangria and music. We decided to join the locals and take it all in.
At this point, we continued down the mountain, but we were no longer in the official Parc. As we left though, the architecture and musical vibe didn't quite leave us, particularly was we stumbled upon three guys messing around with their saxophones behind an old building.
We spent the rest of the early evening on a tapas filled street called Poble Sec. The decision for which restaurant to start in was a tough one to make. We sampled a few places and dishes and tried our best to move along, thoroughly enjoying the food and drink. One word of warning though - pickpocketing in Barcelona is no joke. Just ask my Kindle, snatched from my purse while my knee was resting on top of it! Sneaky sneaky.
To end our time around Montjuïc, we went for a show at the Font Màgica (Magic Fountains!) Constructed as part of the 1929 World's Fair, it has a show every 30 minutes from 9pm to 11pm on Thursdays through Sundays in the summer. Music blasts through the plaza, while the lights and water blaze through the sky. It was really surreal to watch, especially with about a jug of sangria running through my veins.
Making it extra surreal were the neon glowsticks that were flying via slingshot through the air around the plaza. I've seen these many times before, but when mixed with the lights and sounds of the fountains, they seemed even more fun. Suzannah even had a go.
The Parc de Montjuïc could easily take up an entire day in Barcelona, and was definitely a great way to start the trip off in Spain.
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