Barcelona Day 2 and 3

Sorry for the length of the Day 1 post.  I'll combine the next two days in Barcelona into one.  We spent a ton of time the next two days walking around.  If we had a fit bit, we'd have surely clocked 20 or 30 000 steps.

The day started out again early, with a breakfast on the go (hot sandwiches with local ham mainly).

We set our sights on climbing Mont Juic.  It forms the western border of the old part of the city, includes Castell de Montjuic, and many of the Barcelona 1992 Olympic venues; but we'll get to that.

We started the first part of the trek on a cable car that carries passengers from the harbour about 1-1.5 kms towards the hill, and drops us off maybe 1/3 of the way.  We took some great photos of the harbour area and Las Ramblas from above as we made our way across.

Here comes our car

The Barcelona Beach.  Sadly we didn't stop by.... next time when the Mediterranean isn't 10 degrees

These yachts floating mansions are in drydock completely covered during the work

So many lovely sail boats

Las Ramblas from the Sky

At the end of the gondola, we managed to find another geocache, and began the trek of our first European Travel Bug.  We picked up a keychain in Barcelona, and will carry him for a bit before releasing him into the wild.

Tin man, Earl Numbers, and El Toro Canadian

Gaudi'esq mosaics

The climb up to the Castle was ... well uphill.  We really got our workout today.  There were many places to stop along the way for a rest or to see various fountains, and artistically designed palaces.

Finally we arrived at the castle.  This particular castle has played an important role throughout the modern history of Barcelona. It has been fought for and over since its first stone was placed.  More recently it was central to the rule of General Franco, and his control over the Catalan region.  The moat around the castle was the site where the leader of the Catalan'government' was executed when Franco took control of Barcelona.  There is so much history beyond this, I haven't even brushed the surface.

A panorama from the corner wall lookout on the castle wall.

After visiting the castle, we made our way down the far side of Mont Juic, which led us surprisingly to this slide.  I can't imagine small kids sliding down this, as I literally shot off the end when we went down.

Not safe for kids, adults, animals, work.... really anything.

We, almost by accident stumbled across the Barcelona 1992 Olympic venue.  The stadium is still used as a sporting arena, and they have renovated the pool next door recently to ensure it continues to serve the residents.
The plaza was particularly impressive still to this day.

We continued walking down Mont Juic, and made our way to Pobla Espanya, which, like St. Fagans in Cardiff, is set up as a living museum to showcase the various architectural and cultural elements of Spain and Catalonia.  They have collected examples of different types of buildings throughout Spanish history, and brought them here to preserve it for future generations to see.  The really interesting thing they have done here, is that it's also set up as a small city, complete with many varieties of tourist shops, dozens of restaurants, and typical workshops of leather makers, glass blowers, and other artistic works.  Unfortunately for us, many of the shops were closed, as it was a Monday, and we were there just between a busier afternoon, and busier night period, so it was rather quite at the time we were there.

The end of our first day involved walking by the second christmas market in Barcelona, which unfortunately was still being set up when we were there, getting ready for opening the day after we left Spain. :(

Day 3 in Spain was all Gaudi, all the time.
We began our day by going to visit La Sagrada Familia, considered Gaudi's greatest work.  It's a catholic church located in the centre of Barcelona.  Construction began in the late 1800's, and is now expected to be completed by 2026.  It presently comprises of the nativity and passion facades, the main sanctuary, and 8, of what will be 18 spires that rise above the church, and will command the Barcelona skyline.  It's really impossible to say how remarkable the design is, so I'll not try to do so here.  Rather, I'll leave the pictures to speak for themselves.

We also climbed up one of the towers, and walked back down.  It was unfortunately not all that exciting, as the areas haven't been designed for that many tourists to pass through.  Besides the view, which was stunning, the most interesting part for me was noticing that many of the colourful elements on the exterior appear to be using mosaic glass, and as we were told when we were in Venice, Orsoni is the primary provider of mosaic glass to La Sagrada Familia.  It was the first time that it really hit me how the various places that we're visiting throughout this year, all have a history that is intertwined, and spans centuries.  I cannot be certain, but these are a few of the best examples I was able to catch.

Not from Orsoni Glass....

Following Sagrada Familia, we stopped into the third market, next door to the church.  Aside from some Churros in chocolate sauce, we left empty-handed.

Our next step on our all Gaudi tour was to Park Guell (same patron as Palace Guell).
This park rests on a hill overlooking Barcelona from the North.  Originally planned as a community for many of Barcelona's elite, but once the first three homes were completed, no buyers materialized, so Gaudi and Guell themselves moved in, but the remainder of the park was developed for the enjoyment of the citizens of Barcelona.  It still has many elements that are pure Gaudi, as the photos below will show.  The weather was warm, the sun shining, and everywhere we looked there seemed to be another photo-worthy experience.

Steel Drum Players

At Dr. Keenan's recommendation, we stopped briefly in to the Mercado de la Boqueria, a local market specializing in seafood and fruits and vegetables.  There are six or eight restaurants located INSIDE the market, to ensure they have the freshest source possible.  We enjoyed a short late lunch while we watched the mayhem of the local market around us.

We decided to cap our Barcelona trip by going to a turkish bath, similar to a Scandanavian bath (i.e. La Nordik).  This one was in the basement of a 200-300 year old building.  The baths (hot, warm, cold, salt water, jacuzzi) and steam room were the perfect way to soothe our sore feet and cast away our stress.  Unfortunately no pictures, but the website is here:  Aire de Barcelona  

On our way out, we started chatting with two other British tourists who were also visiting Barcelona, and we ended up having a very lively late night snack with them.  We shared some of both of our experiences in Barcelona, and enjoyed each others company for the next few hours.