My 2nd Day in Barcelona will bring you to explore hill and mountain side of Barcelona , discover the architectural and cultural wealth of whole Spain in Poble Espanyol, and another masterpiece of Antoni Gaudi. Our Day 2 tour started with:
BARCELONA ITINERARY
Day 2
- Montjuic Park
Barcelona has many beautiful parks and gardens scattered throughout the city and one of them is Parc De Montjuic. The park is located in a prominent hill overlooking the Barcelona harbour and it played an important role as a strategic part in the defense of the city.
If you are adventurous, besides getting a car or bus to reach to the top of the hill, you can also take a cable car. The cable car station is just next to the funicular railway station and the cable car will bring you direct to the castle of Montjuic. You can enjoy the stunning view of Barcelona from the cable car.. isn’t it fun??
Once you’ve reached Montjuic hill, you’ll be mesmerized by the stunning view of Barcelona city and the harbour. Take your time to enjoy the beautiful scenery and take as many photos as you can as every different point of the hill offers equally beautiful panorama.
By the way, before we head to the hill, we actually stopped by at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Company, the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona. Here's some photos taken during our short visit to the stadium:
- La Pedrera (Casa Mila)
From Montjuic, we travelled back to the central Barcelona and visited Casa Mila which is also known as La Pedrera or I called it the Wavy Building, because of the wavy façade of the building. La Pedrera is the last building of Antoni Gaudi before he devoted himself completely to the construction of Sagrada Familia.
La Pedrera is very unique in a sense that there is no right angle you can find anywhere in the building. The main highlight of this building is the rooftop.
When you reach to the rooftop, you will get not only beautiful view of the city but you will also be surprised with the designs of the rooftop. The designs of the chimneys, ventilation shafts and the staircases are simply unique and out of the box.
Make sure that you also visit the museum and learn more about the building’s construction and Gaudi’s basic perceptions of architecture as a whole.
At the Museum
The attic is where the exhibition rooms are located. In these rooms, you will get an insight into the everyday life of Gaudi and people who lives there.
- Lunch @ Montjuic El Xalet
In the afternoon, we had our lunch at Montjuic El Xalet restaurant. This restaurant is located on top of Montjuic Hill and offers you spectacular view of the city.
We had pre-selected food and I would say the food offered tasted good and the service was fast.
- Montserrat
We left Barcelona City and headed to a Montserrat, a multi-peaked rocky mountain range 50km from Barcelona. Montserrat is the most spectacular natural parks and spiritual spots in Catalonia. To reach to the mountain's main observation platform, you can take a 5-minute cable car ride.
Sitting atop the mountain range is Santa Maria de Montserrat, a Benedictine monastery. Inside of the monastery is one of the few black madonnas of Europe, the statue of the of the Virgin of Montserrat. People all over the world come to worship here and see this miracle-working sculpture. It is believed that it has a mystic healing power and protects people from the negative energy.
After spending around 3 hours at the Montserrat, we drove back to the main city of Barcelona and took a simple dinner before we heads back to the hotel.
Have you read my Part 1 of my Barcelona trip? If the answer is NO, feel free to click on the link below:
Stay tuned for the final part of my Barcelona trip!
Till then...
