Barcelona on a Sunday

April 21.

Since many if not most things are closed on Sunday and, since we needed a little down time ourselves, we had a leisurely breakfast and morning in the hotel. 

But the sun called us out eventually and before long we were on the Metro heading toward Montjuïc, an outdoor park and so much more. Home to the 1992 summer Olympics besides the village and stadium is also the Fundació de Joan Miró, as well as numerous gardens, paths, facilities of sone sort or another and at the very top the castle, an old fortress with incredible views of the city. That was our destination for the day.

The Metro line connected easily to the funicular that would take us midway up the mountain. From there we would be on our own.

Once we left the funicular station we strolled the park, or rather a series of loosely connected green spaces. There is a cable car that goes to the top but the queue was looooooooong.

to the left is the entrance to the cable car

part of the 1992 Olympic complex

From the Olympic village complex we walked back toward the funicular station. Since we weren't getting any truly serious views of the city we thought we'd make our way to the the castell at the very top. So we hopped on the no. 150 bus (the Metro tickets are good for busses as well) and rode to the top.

An old fort, the guns are now used for kids to play on and adults to write on. . .

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entrance to the castell

tunnel leading to the central parade ground

views from the top

central parade ground, now a cafe

a vast near-emptiness

looking north toward Costa Brava and France

Leaving the castell we made our way back down the mountain on bus no. 150 which dropped us off at Plaça d'Espanya.

Las Arenas in the background

From the bus stop we made our way toward Las Arenas in hopes of finding a place for a late lunch. Nestled up against the old bullfighting ring was Tapa-Tapa where we had to queue for a table inside. But we didn't have to wait long. We soon found ourselves seated in a peaceful corner and ordered some cava and tapas.

Our placemats doubled as the menu. We shared a plate of tomato bread and delicious wok veggies followed by a couple of different chicken tapas. Pretty tasty!

Leaving the restaurant we wandered into Las Arenas. Although most of the shops were closed, the food areas were all open as was the upper observation deck. 

Next: Parc Güell and more from the mind of Antonio Gaudi.

Back to the hotel for a light supper.