Barcelona -Exploring Montijuic

the view of the mediterranean

On our second day in Barcelona, we decided to visit Monitjuic. We discovered  a cable car on the first day which  goes all the way up from the pier but that was too busy and only takes cash. How dumb is that? Why be a tourist attraction that only take cash? Especially when it’s almost 100 euros for 4 people. Anyway, when we got back to the hotel on the first night, we worked out another way which was cheaper and discovered the tram up the side of the mountain.

After breakfast on Sunday we walked through the streets for about a mile and found the tram, navigated the ticket system and jumped on. We didn’t know this was all the tram did, so when everyone got off we thought it wasn’t our stop, then we saw the wall. That tram was not going anywhere else baby! So off we jumped and followed the crowd out. We arrived right at the entrance to another cable car which takes you the rest of the way up to the Castle. This one was much more reasonable in price and so, for 30 Euros the 4 of us were off on our way to see the castle. The weather was beautiful and the day was so clear we could see forever!

Once we got to the top we headed in the castle. It’s a free attraction. I love these kind of places. I’m an avid history novel reader and so these places help me imagine life back when Kings and Queens roamed the halls.The only thing it lacked was actual people dressed in period costume walking around. That would have been way cool.

We spent several hours just wandering around, taking in the views and imagining a bygone era. We  slowly worked our way down the Mountain, through picnic gardens, satellite bars and lunch spots. The kids had a great time running through the trees. At the bottom of the mountain we came across the Estadio Olimpic where the 1992 Barcelona Olympics were held.

We continued walking into the city and found the centre and stopped off for a drink and some Tapas at the Arenas de Barcelona which was once the venue of the Bullfights. It has been restored for sporting events and concert, with Restaurants and viewing on the top deck. When we arrived there was a beer festival going on. It was a huge day of walking. We finally arrived home for a rest around 6pm after 12 kms walking from the Montijuic to La Ramblas. We had another spectacular day adventuring.

Comments 2

  1. Too bad about the cable car! We visited Spain last year (but didn’t go to Montjuic). We did visit a castle near Madrid, the Manzanares El Real. Your photos bring back nice memories of our trip. Thanks! (TALU)

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