Barcelona (Day 2, March 3) : Blue Line Tour

Salam..

Day 2 of our Catalan city tour started off quite late.. We only left our hotel at around 10am.. The morning was not particularly cold, but the breeze was chill enough that later I had to buy a sweater to warm myself.. Other than that, the sky was not too bright too, but not too gloomy as well to affect the pictures.. Just slightly on the cloudy side.. All in due time, the story will unveil..

Blue Line

We started off with a quick stroll down La Ramblas, finding ourselves a cosy restaurant for our buffet breakfast.. In all fairness, it was quite cheap.. We spent 20euros for the buffet - scrambled eggs, toasts, coffee, tea, juice and Ina got herself a hard-boiled egg which she had thought to be a half-boiled one.. We noticed that people here don't do 'coffee-to-go' mornings, like in English or Irish cities.. Hence, it was also quite hard for us to find hot drinks to take away..

We headed back towards Placa de Catalunya and boarded the Barcelona Bus Turistic (the Barcelone Bus Tour), just like the popular open-top double-decker bus in most major cities in the world.. Needless to say, we never board the lower deck!

Headed northbound, we passed the great Gaudi's magnificent work of art - the Casa Lleo Morera, Casa Amatller and Casa Batllo.. These buildings are in such a class of their own that they stand out even amidst the tall modern buildings around them.. We did not stop there but continued our journey onwards and stopped at Casa Mila, or La Pedrera, another work by Gaudi.. Oh, by the way, Antoni Gaudi i Cornet (1852-1926) was a genius architect who brought modernism into the eyes of Barcelona and Spain..

We spent over an hour inside Casa Mila, amazed by the majestic and meticulous work of this man.. We took loads of photos, including one picture of us which was taken by a fellow visitor.. This particular photo pictures us sitting in a nice cosy couch in the late apartment, of which no visitor should sit on! How lucky were we to get that picture just in time before we were told that! In our defence, there was no panel saying "Do Not Sit"..

Casa Mila from outside

At the entrance of Casa Mila

The 'forbidden' picture in Casa Mila living room

Casa Mila rooftop - more work by Gaudi

After Casa Mila, we passed several places but we did not stop, including the Estacio de Sants (Barcelona's main train station).. Our next stop was Placa de Espanya, where we took more pictures and it was there I realised the breeze was getting on to me.. I had to find myself a jacket.. I did not bring my big jacket as I knew it would have made me roasted in them.. But not having a long-sleeve shirt was another option all to unwell too.. We walked down Creu Coberta - a long market road.. I managed to find a Puma sweater just nice for comfort and not too expensive.. In fact, most of the products that we have seen here are way cheaper than back in Ireland.. And with a 20% discount, that Puma jacket was mine!

We boarded the bus again.. We passed CaixaForum, Poble Espanyol, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Anella Olimpica, Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic and Teatre Grec.. All of these places were in Montjuic, or the Jewish Mountain, where once this place was the home of a Jewish community with their own temple.. Estadi Olimpic is the stadium which hosted the 1992 Olympic.. This was the event that changed the face of Montjuic and Barcelona as a whole.. Today, this stadium is the home ground of a local football club..

Cable Car Craze

We had a light lunch of sandwich and coffee at Teatre Grec, an art museum.. After that, we took the cable car Teleferic de Montjuic and headed towards the Castell de Montjuic.. The ride was short but undoubtedly with fascinating view, to see the Barcelona laying peacefully from a distance and the sea further to one side.. At the top, we spent half an hour being fascinated and awed by the view..

From there, we headed towards Miramar, where we took another cable car moving down the hill of Montjuic and flying over the main roads by the port towards Torre de Jaume I.. Unfortunate for us, the ride was only up to Torre de Jaume I, which was practically halfway of the length of the cable car line.. The reason was the Torre de St Sebastia was closed.. Otherwise, we would have journeyed across and over the port and sea, stopping at the opposite side of the port itself!

Teleferic cable car and Ina inside the car (Montjuic)

On board the next cable car down Montjuic - Barcelona in the background

From Torre de Jaume I, we walked back towards Port Vell, passed the World Trade Centre and the Colom-Museu Maritim and back at the foot of La Ramblas.. We walked upward the boulevard and decided to have our dinner early.. We had our tapas again and filled ourselves with seven different dishes!

Our early dinner was not without reason.. We had planned to take the bus again to view the city at night.. After a quick break at our hotel room, we boarded the last bus for the day and headed down the Blue Line route again.. The majestic view of Barcelona under the lights of sky was just indescribable.. At the top of Montjuic, the castle at the tip of Mount Tibidabo lit up like a magical shrine..

The other half of the Blue Line route that we did not take during the day we finished tonight.. We passed Port Olimpic (the Olympic Village, which served home to the athletes in 1992), Parc de la Ciutadella-Zoo, Pla de Palau, Catedral and Barri Gotic.. After all that, we arrived back at Placa de Catalunya where we started.. We got ourselves some coffee from a nearby Starbucks and headed back to our hotel..

Placa de Espanya at night

Subhanallah, the view of the city is just breathtaking..

Tomorrow, Red Line! Adeu-siau!

Salam..