Today is my final full day in Barcelona and it was a pretty laid back kind of day. I had a 2-day hop-on/hop-off bus ticket so I decided to do the second route. Yesterday's route took me to the north and outskirts of the city. Today was about seeing the south and Montjuïc ("Mount of the Jew") which overlooks the port of Barcelona and derives its name from the Jewish cemetery that is located on the mountain.
I jumped on the bus in the city center and rode it around until reaching Montjuïc. There's much to see and do up on the 'mountain' but still not feeling 100%, I limited myself to touring the Catalan Art Museum. Interestingly, or maybe not so interestingly, when they say "Catalan" they mean all artists showcased are Catalan artists. There were absolutely no artists outside of the Catalan region of Spain. Which means that I had no idea who any of the artists were. The museum showcases artwork from the 10th century until about the mid-20th century. There is only 1 Picasso painting in the whole museum, which I found a little bizarre. They have a huge collection of Romanesque frescoes which I find amazing how they transfer the frescoes - I watched a video on how it's done. The modern art section was differently arranged than most art museums. Instead of putting the modern art into categories, they arranged the art by subject matter. For example, self-portraits are all in one salon. Another salon housed landscapes, etc. I would often find photography next to paintings because they were grouped by subject matter. It's a unique way of arranging the artwork and I kind of liked it. I also went up to the roof terrace and took some photographs of the city. It is a stunning view.
On my way back down Montjuïc, the bus passed by the Olympic Stadium that was used during the 1992 Olympics. Then the bus went by the waterfront. I decided to do something slightly different and went to the Aquarium. It was a nice relaxing hour watching fish float by and seeing sharks and penguins and stingrays - not in the same tank, mind you. I also needed to stop by the shopping mall next to the Aquarium. I stopped to buy a crepe for a snack and got it with banana filling, which ended up being banana syrup. Next thing I knew, I was wearing banana syrup all down the front of me. I figured instead of trying to clean up the syrup, which was horrendously sticky, I'd just stop in a store a purchase a new fleece. Man, that was annoying.
After visiting the Aquarium, I hopped back on the bus which took me by the beach. I got off to snap a few photos of the Mediterranean Sea. Mostly I lucked out in that it was a pretty day. The weather said rain today, but it managed to hold off and was rather warm. I jumped back on the bus after visiting the beach and rode it all the way back to the Eixample and my hostel. See, a pretty laid back kind of day. It's just past 5:00 pm and I'm not certain what else I can do. I certainly feel like I have seen just about everything there is to see in Barcelona.
Tomorrow, I head for Milan. It will probably be another lost day as my 7:00 am flight was cancelled and rebooked for 3:00 pm. Check out my Day 39 photos on my GToE photo site.
2 comments:
Now, first, I would have requested them to place the Penguins, etc. with the Sharks. Nothing spells entertainment better than an aquatic feeding frenzy. Also, what was annoying purchasing the fleece or the banana syrup decoration on your clothes or that there were no bananas in your snack? "Yes, we have no bananas, we have no"...you know the rest.
The banana syrup decoration was the most annoying. It hit my camera, the straps on my purse and camera bag, all over my fleece and some on my pants. It pissed me off. The purchase was fine. 10 euros for a fleece that I actually like better than what I was wearing. And the gloopy banana sauce was annoying, but I threw the whole thing away the minute it dumped down the front of me.
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