June 19, 2009:Montjuic, Pedrera, Sagrada Familia, and Palau de Pedrables

[Kirsten]

Bus Tourístic

Surprisingly, I was really amped for the tour bus – although I can’t tell you how many times I have privately made fun of people sitting atop those awkward, lumbering vehicles, for some reason it just seemed like the ONLY thing that made sense to do first. And I’m happy to report, this gut feeling turned out to be correct!

[Brian]

I have to admit that I wasn’t too excited about riding a tourist bus. Tickets were about $30 for the day but after consideration I figured this was the best way to get the layout of the city quickly. It was worth it – but barely.

[Kirsten]

Brian and I bought our tickets (good for one full day of bus riding) in the morning and promptly walked outside to wait for the next bus to pick us up. We had gotten a later start than we wanted to, and we weren’t sure how much that was going to affect our bus-riding experience (i.e., would all the seats on the top be full?) Sure enough, the next bus to pull up was….completely full on top. We were bummed, but we boarded anyhow and took our backwards-facing seats inside. We began to tour. Two stops later we had had it – we decided to disembark and take our chances that the next bus would be less crowded. As it turns out, that was the right decision. We got the two very last seats on the top and were happy as clams.

Brian and I enjoy the bus tour - note the cool teal earpiece that came as part of the audio guide

We first rode up to Montjuic, saw the Olympic Stadium and took in some great views of Barcelona and its environs. We descended on the opposite side of the hill and had our first look at Barcelona’s harbors; it was kind of a magical moment, what with all the sun sparkling off the water down below our perch on the rooftop bus. We drove past the famous statue of Columbus pointing to the New World (although he’s really not) which is perched at the base of the Ramblas, then took a detour to the piers which divide one harbor from the next.

[Kirsten]

After this we explored the outskirts of the southern parts of Bari Gotic and the neighborhood of Ribera as we headed for Barceloneta, which is the city’s recently spoofed-up and now somewhat overcrowded public beach. We learned on our audio guide that only recently was this beach paid any serious attention – in the early 90s, impending Olympics activity drove the government to clean up and renovate the beach to accommodate tourists. We turned north, drove through some fantastic plazas, turned left again to go back towards Ribera and drove down the side of it. This rode was bi-sected by tons of long and narrow streets. As I remember it, this was our first view of Barcelona’s tiny little streets, which really make this city the unique place that it is. We then took a rode that sliced through the Bari Gotic – we endured a few more stops before we got off ourselves, at one of the many famous Gaudi attractions in the city – Casa Mila, or La Pedrera.

[Brian]

Casa Mila (La Pedrera)

I got some great pictures in the Casa Mila, where I almost busted my ass on the numerous, randomly placed steps which navigated the undulating rooftop. Gaudi’s work makes taking pictures, especially macro-shots, pleasant. You can check out some pictures below.

Different Chimneys

A couple of windows facing the interior

Lunch was awesome as usual. It included tortellini with goat cheese, steak and fries (wow, I think I am eating too much fried food but the tannins in the red wine may make up for part of it). These huge lunches are really pleasing but it would be nice to have our hotel in an area of town close enough so we could enjoy the delights of the siesta.

[Brian]

Sagrada Familia

This is one of Barcelona’s landmark sites but it’s not even completed yet. It’s over 100 years old (construction started in 1883); I felt like I was visiting a construction site at times: One of the reasons construction isn't complete is that it has been constructed with all private funding. The 2.50 euro tickets we bought for a ride to the top as well as the entrance fees of around 10 euros were our contribution. Lines for the escalators are up to 1.5 hours long; what a miserable tourist experience. Instead of waiting so long, we opted for the slightly lower of the two escalators, which cost the same, didn’t face the ocean, and had a wait time of only 5 min.

We wrapped up the day with a nice, unexpected visit to Palau de Pedrables where there was a fantastic park in which to unwind.