Day 2 in Barcelona

Day 2 was just as beautiful as Day 1. Shiri masterfully navigated us to the correct bus station and after having a difficult conversation in broken Catalan and English with a very sweet old man, we boarded the bus to Montjuic. Literally translated, it means Mountain of the Jews, as there used to be a Jewish cemetery up on top of the mountain. Now there are stadiums, parks, lots of gardens, a castle, museums and fountains.

Our first stop was the Barcelona Olympic Stadium from the 1992 Olympics. Both of us were too young to remember much about those Olympics but there were some fun pictures and you could go and wander around the stadium. There were also large grounds in front of the stadiums that you could picture filled with people excited about what was about to happen in the stadiums. We could also see the pool and there were some beautiful views of the city.

We wandered through some gardens, walked up and down lots of steps, before coming to the Catalan Art Museum. It was housed in this gorgeous building but we didn't end up going in. We did walk to the other side of the museum and went down stairs and escalators (that was nice!) to the bottom, which had a large, gorgeous fountain. There was just a lot going on at the bottom of this park, including a large shopping center and a large convention center.

There was a free museum in the area as well, mostly dedicated to Modern Art. It was housed in this gorgeous building made of brick and stone and although almost nothing was in English, there were some lovely exhibits (and of course, some odd ones that we didn't understanding in the slightest....)

 

Before heading back up the stair and escalators to investigate more of Montjuic, we had to stop and get some churros. Catalan churros don't have cinnamon on them but they have the same crunchy outside and soft, warm insides. A very friendly vendor gave us some sugar to put with it, which just totally hit the spot.

 We wandered through many beautiful gardens, marveling at the views and foliage before hiking up a very large hill (kind of like when getting to Dover Castle but with more twists and turns) to get to the castle. The castle boasted some absolutely incredible views of the city and of the Mediterranean Sea but was sadly lacking in information. There was one room with a bit of info but that was in. Luckily, the views on either side made up for it. The sun was nice and warm and we sat for awhile reading "In the Garden of the Beasts" for me and "The Chaperone" for Shiri.

From the castle, we headed back down and took the bus back to La Rambla. By that point, we were starving so we found a little restaurant where we got pizza and some appetizers (chicken croquettes) and Diet Coke that totally hit the spot.