Wrapping Up Barcelona: A Little of Everything

Light show at the Magic Fountain.

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  It's the last day of vacation; what do you do?

  Do you get one last day of rest and relaxation? Or one more day out and about seeing the sights? It was our last day in Barcelona, so we planned a little of both.

  Anyone who has been out pounding the pavement, knows how tired your feet, back, and legs can get after just a few days of sightseeing. Who knew being a tourist is almost as tough on your body as playing professional basketball can be?

  So our plan for the last day in Barcelona was to relax, have an easy morning, and then get our final afternoon of sight seeing in on the hillside that overlooks the city, Montjuïc .

Linda and I in the Olympic Stadium!

  Linda and I had found a plaza in the El Born neighborhood the previous nights, that we thought had a fun atmosphere, and still was a little off the beaten path. We wanted to have lunch in this plaza.

  One of the things I try to avoid while traveling are tourist traps. I don't like visiting the TGI Fridays of the world, or settling for 'cardboard box meals' (you know, the meals that look like they could have come out of a box, or heated up in the microwave), or the like.

  Places like TGI Fridays, or the Hard Rock Cafe, are restaurants I used to crave in my first few years in Europe. I don't necessarily miss 'American' food anymore when I'm abroad. Instead I like finding little local restaurants or cafes, where you're more-likely to find some specialty food from the region.

  We picked out a little cafe that had a wide variety of food, and settled in for lunch outside in the plaza. Towards the end of our lunch, there was a group of neighborhood kids playing stick ball. As we finished lunch, we watched as they played. On one of the plays, there was a foul ball, and the ball popped up behind the kids, and got stuck in the window bars about 9 or 10 feet off the ground!

  It reminded me of the days playing whiffle ball in the front yard with my brother, only to lose the ball in the huge hedge that resembled the Green Monster.

Linda rescuing the ball for the neighborhood kids!

  The kids tried and tried to get the ball, but it was out of their reach! Lucky for them, Linda came to the rescue. She ran over, and helped them get the ball, so their afternoon of playing stick ball could continue!

  After a relaxing morning, and easy-paced lunch in El Born, Linda and I made our way up to Montjuïc .

  The hillside to the northwest of Barcelona was the site of most the 1992 Olympic games.

  The '92 games are the first Olympics that I really remember watching as a kid, so it was pretty special being able to see the grounds. We made our way to the Olympic Stadium, which happened to be prepping for a Bruce Springsteen concert.

  I was very tempted to run down onto the track and run a lap on the track famous by Gail Devers, Carl Lewis, and others. I might have made it around, but am pretty sure someone would have hauled me off before I crossed the finish line.

Montjuïc Castle.

  To my surprise, Montjuïc wasn't very busy. It was a nice change from the packed streets of Barcelona. We had a nice walk through the Olympic grounds, and around the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC), taking in the views.

  We took a tram ride further up the mountain to the castle overlooking the Port of Barcelona and the city.

  I had gotten a suggestion to watch the fountain show at Magic Fountain that started once the sun went down. So we had a several hours to kill before the fountain show would begin.

  Here's where the day turned a little bizarre, and definitely memorable. 

Atop Montjuïc Castle.

  There was an arena near MNAC that was shaped like a basketball arena. Naturally, we thought that might have been the arena that the Olympic games were played, and where BCN played hoops. So we wanted to explore. If it was indeed the arena where the Dream Team won the gold medal in 1992, that was something I wanted to see!

  As we approached the arena, it became clear it was not an athletics arena, but a mall!

  On the top of the mall, around the Arena, there were restaurants, and like many of the attractions in Barcelona, areas that provided you with fantastic views of the city. From the top, you could look up towards the MNAC, and see a little different perspective of the city. Not just the view looking down onto the water, like many of the other vistas provided.

  As we looked down, immediately in front of the mall, we noticed a group of guys playing a game on a field below. There was no ball, but it was obvious there was a pattern, and a game was being played. We stood atop the mall, a couple hundred feet above the field and watched. Linda and I tried to figure out the point of the game, but both of us had trouble figuring exactly what was going on.

Snack time!

  So we decided we needed a closer look. We headed down to the field to take a seat on the grass and watch. First, we stopped inside the mall's movie theater and bought some popcorn. We needed something to snack on while we watched!

  There were teams of four or five men. One team would surround an opposing player, and engage him in wrestling-like action. Whether it'd be an attempt to tackle his leg, or just a fake attack. Once a player was engaged in action, the chase was on -- for the attacked player to return to his team's end of the field before being tackled by his opponent.

  The game we were watching had one stud in particular, who was quite the showman too -- he even did a back flip at the end for our benefit. They could see Linda and I watching and marveling at the newly discovered game, so I guess they wanted to make sure we were entertained. Here's a quick video of the action:

  The game is called Kabaddi. Google it. I'm sure there are aspects of the game we misinterpreted. 

Magic Fountain from MNAC.

  Our last dinner in Barcelona was less-than-stellar. We couldn't find anything that looked appealing in the vicinity of Magic Fountain. So we ended up in a hotel sports bar that happened to be showing the EuroLeague Championship (basketball).

  For those of you who don't know, the EuroLeague is considered the second best basketball league in the world (behind the NBA). The Champions League of basketball, if you will.

  While we were eating dinner and watching the game, a group of Americans gathered behind us. They immediately began ragging on the game being shown: insulting the players, the league, and in my opinion, the countries involved. They were very loud and obnoxious about it, and it quickly got on my nerves.

Magic Fountain behind.

  Not only did they have no idea about the particular game being played, or the EuroLeague in general, but they were extremely disrespectful. It's situations like that where I cringe because I know that's how we, as Americans, get our bad reputations abroad.

  I couldn't hold my tongue, and listen to the loud bashing for long. Unfortunately, I don't think my words were really heard, but at least I let my feelings known.

  It was finally dark, so Linda and I made the short walk back across Plaça d'Espanya to Magic Fountain for the light and water show. And what a way to finish our time in Barcelona!!

  The sidewalks and stairways were packed with people, as everyone took in the show. The display reminded me of a Disneyland laser light show combined with a water show in Las Vegas. It was a fun, colorful, unique, and memorable way to spend our last evening in Barcelona!

  Our final day in Barcelona certainly was a little out of the ordinary. If you had told me we would spend a couple hours sitting on the grass, eating popcorn, and watching a game I had never heard of, I would have said you were crazy.

  You can get a little bit of everything in Barcelona, and our last day there proved just that. But it was a memorable one to say the least.

  I enjoyed Barcelona, and all the variety and culture it had to offer. I hope to travel back one day, to further explore the things Linda and I did see, and to visit the places we didn't make it to this time around.

  As always, enjoy more pictures below! If you've been, what are the things you appreciated about Barcelona?

RELATED POSTS:

Finally Barcelona (Day 1) 

Barcelona: Day 2

Pretty palm tree!

MNAC

Montjuïc.

Looking down from MNAC.

Inside Olympic Stadium. The torch!

Linda's turn!

At the '92 Olympic Site.

Looking into Barcelona, from the tram.

Barcelona from the tram.

Barcelona from the tram.

Port of Barcelona, from Montjuïc Castle.

Linda atop Montjuïc Castle.

Looking onto Barcelona from Montjuïc Castle.

Atop Montjuïc Castle.

The Arena.

MNAC from the top of the Arena.

Watching the Kabaddi game from above.

Kabaddi training.

Magic Fountain.

At Magic Fountain.

Magic Fountain.

Barcelona Day 2 -- Las Ramblas and Busy Barceloneta

In front of Las Ramblas.

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  Onto day two in Barcelona!

  What had originally appealed to me about Barcelona was the fact that such a big, lively city can also located right on the shores of the Mediterranean. To me, this combination made Barcelona the perfect vacation spot.

  You have the historic sights of Gaudi Park, Las Ramblas, Montjuïc, while also being minutes away from relaxing on beautiful sandy beaches.

  And even though Linda and I had just spent four days on the incomparable beaches of Sardegna, both of us desperately wanted one last afternoon relaxing on the beach. We thought a Saturday in May would be perfect.

Tree-lined Passeig de Gràcia.

  But before we hit Barceloneta for the afternoon, Linda and I had a few sights we wanted to see first. We jumped on the metro, and headed in the direction of Passeig de Gràcia and Las Ramblas.

  We walked the entire length of Passeig de Gràcia (we affectionately nicknamed it P.G. to avoid and embarrassing pronunciation disasters). You could find a lot of high-end shopping, and more architecture by Antoni Gaudi along the tree-lined boulevard.

  Passeig de Gràcia is also considered the most expensive street in Barcelona. Since I'm one that can never pass-up the swoosh, one stop we had to make was at Nike Barcelona when we strolled by it.

  Passeig de Gràcia eventually runs into Plaça de Catalunya, the square where old Barcelona, and the newer city converge. From Plaça de Catalunya, Las Ramblas begins. The kilometer-long avenue might be Barcelona's most well-known attraction.

  We walked from Plaça de Catalunya towards the harbor, stopped in at a Starbucks, and then continued people-watching and perusing through the kiosks as we made our way through the pedestrian mall.

The entrance of La Boqueria.

  There's a large public market called La Boqueria where we stopped to find some food to take with us to Barceloneta. The market has a long standing history in Barcelona, as it originally dates all the way back to the 1200s.

  Beautiful fruit and vegetable stands, flower shops, and makeshift-restaurants run throughout the jam-packed covered market.

  We were enjoying exploring the maze that was the market, until we came across the meat stand and encountered the lamb head with its eyes peering right at us. That was our cue to take our fresh fruit, and head towards the beach.

  If the Alghero beaches were relaxing and peaceful, Barceloneta was the polar opposite. I have never been on a beach so jam-packed and busy. We tried to find a spot that was off the beaten path, but that proved to be impossible.

Busy Barceloneta.

  Eventually, we settled on a spot smack in the middle of all the action -- since there really was no spot OFF the beaten path. We tried to relax, but the constant hassling from vendors trying to sell cold drinks, scarves, hats, and anything else imaginable, made relaxing a little difficult.

  Linda and I both were quickly annoyed, but we made-do, and tried to enjoy the sunshine and the water.

  That was an interesting beach to sit on for the afternoon. Saw a couple things I didn't care to see, such as both men and women turning Barceloneta into a nude beach. Yikes!

Linda in the water.

  Needless to say, we didn't last too long on Barceloneta, and set back out onto Las Ramblas. I found some pretty jewelry made by a local woman, that I bought for myself and brought a pair of earrings home for my mom as well.

  Evening came, and it was time for dinner! Once again, tapas and sangria were on tap. Linda and I enjoyed the neighborhood we had eaten at the night before, so we head back down to Barri Gòtic to find another restaurant to try out. We wanted to find a place to sit outside, but unfortunately everywhere we went the patios were full.

Got some gelato!

  We settled on semi-hole-in-the-wall, that had a wide variety of things on the menu. I had a traditional Spanish Tortilla and, after days of tapas, sandwiches, pizza, and pasta, a much-needed salad. The sangria, as could be expected, was awesome!

  Linda was determined to taste the Spanish beer, but was having difficulty finding the list on the the menu. She asked our waitress, 'donde esta el beer?' as I died laughing at our attempt to speak a little Spanish.

  We wandered in and out of the streets, looking for a second cafe/bar to stop in, but weren't having much luck finding one that caught our eye. I must have been having a particularly tall night that night, because the constant comments from strangers quickly got on my nerves.

  As we continued walking, ice cream was starting to appeal to me. And since we couldn't find a cafe that enticed us, we settled on some gelato -- never a bad way to end a night!

  Day two in Barcelona was a little wacky, but we saw some fun sights on Las Ramblas, and some unfortunately unforgettable things in Barceloneta. But wacky makes for memorable, which is exactly what you want vacations to be!

  RELATED POSTS:

Barcelona Day 1

 

A short Barceloneta video -- so you can see the madness. And more pictures below!

Gaudi architecture along Passeig de Gràcia.

Plaça de Catalunya

Linda along Las Ramblas.

Inside the market.

Barcelona Harbor.

Sitting on Barceloneta.

Streets of Barri Gòtic neighborhood.

Barcelona at night.

Finally Barcelona

Gaudi Park.

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  Of all the big cities in Europe, Barcelona was the one that had always managed to escape my travel itineraries. It wasn't on purpose however. So it was only a matter of time before I got there. After four flawless days on Sardegna, I was finally on my way to Barcelona.

  That Friday morning was the epitome of breakfast on the go. We had, at the last minute, decided that the best way to get our bearings in the city and see a few major sites, was to join a bike tour. But in order to make the bike tour, Linda and I needed to be in the city center by 10 am.

  We grabbed a few things at the market below our hotel, and made our way to the subway.

  Little did we know, however, that we needed to make a reservation for the bike tour. So when we got to the meeting point, there was no one from the tour company to be found! The bike tour was supposed to last for four hours, so we had planned for our morning and afternoon to be occupied riding bikes and learning the lay of the land in Barcelona.

Beautiful boat in the harbor.

  Guess we had to go with Plan B. Plan B that we didn't have! Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket.

  We had to adjust on the fly, and come up with something to do without really knowing where we were, or where we were going. So we started walking, to see what we would come across.

  We ended up at the Port (I guess we couldn't get enough of the beach, after all), and made our way through Barceloneta.

  There was a lot of action in Barceloneta. Hoards of guys working out on bars on the beach, roller-bladers, runners, fishermen, boats coming in and out of port, and of course, tourists. But we had just spent four days on the beaches of Sardegna, so it was time to see something different.

Barceloneta.

  Linda and I planned to go back before our time in Barcelona was up though. Because both of us needed one more relax day at the beach before our vacation was over.

  We decided La Sagrada Familia would be our first stop.

  We must have taken the wrong exit out of the subway, because when we set foot onto the street, there was nothing in sight that resembled anything as breathtaking as La Sagrada Familia was supposed to be.

  OR, we were just facing the wrong direction. After looking at our map, and trying to figure out which way we were supposed to go, Linda looked up behind us, and said 'whoa, what is THAT?'

  There was La Sagrada Familia!

La Sagrada Familia.

  You can call that our American tourist moment. Not knowing where we were, what we were supposed to be looking for, or what it even looked like.

  The temple was crawling with sight-seers and tourists. And with good reason. The cathedral, designed by Antoni Gaudi in the late 1800s and early 1900s, is incomparable to any other church I've ever seen. A very spectacular sight.

  La Sagrada Famlia actually, remains unfinished. It was less than a quarter complete when Gaudi died in 1926. Then, construction was interrupted during the Spanish Civil War. Now it's progressing slowly towards completion, and the year 2026 is the target date -- the centennial of Gaudi's death.

  Don't get mad, but we didn't go inside the church. Too many people, and too long of a line for my liking. But it certainly was amazing to see.

  After a quick bite to eat, our attempt at being tourists continued. So we walked, and walked, and walked. First to the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, and then on up the hill to Gaudi Park (Parc Güell).

Kids playing hoops in the Gràcia district. 

  Since there didn't seem to be a subway stop that was very close to the park's entrance, we decided to walk the entire way. About two miles (mostly up a steep hill) and an hour later, Linda and I finally arrived at the entrance of the famous park, sweaty, hot, and tired.

  Through our walk, we did get to see a different side to Barcelona. We were definitely off the beaten tourist path. It was where locals lived, and where kids were walking home from school. They probably wondered what we were doing walking through their streets. It was a long and tiring walk. Both Linda and I were hoping the park would be worth it.

  Gaudi Park was worth that long, tiring walk...and then some.

  What a spectacular place! Another design by Antoni Gaudi, the 42-acre park is made up of gardens, unique structures, fountains, and since it sits atop the hills of the Gràcia district, incredible views of Barcelona.

Gaudi Park.

  We walked through the grounds of Gaudi Park, though we hardly covered it all. It's the kind of place that you could go to every day for a month, and still see something new every time you visited. Something unique and beautiful at every turn.

  After exploring the park, Linda and I were in desperate need of a little rest before heading back out for some famous Spanish tapas. So we made our way back to our hotel in the Sant Martí district.

   For tapas that night, we took a friend's suggestion and went to Princessa 23 in Barri Gotic. While we were there a little earlier than the Spaniards usually eat dinner, the atmosphere was still fun, and the food was good.

Tapas!

  I tried salmon (smoked) for the very first time (and was surprised when I actually liked it). Of course, Linda and I tested out the sangria as well. One fun thing to note: though there is music playing, old cartoons are shown on the TVs throughout the restaurant.

  Though we were unprepared, day numero uno in Barcelona turned out to be a pretty good one, thanks to the brilliance of architect Gaudi! La Sagrada Familia and Gaudi Park can make any day a productive one as a tourist.

  Stay tuned for the rest of our trip to Barcelona! Enjoy more pictures from day one below!

Hanging at Barceloneta.

Linda at Barceloneta.

Me at La Sagrada Familia.

Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau.

Gaudi Park.

Barcelona from Gaudi Park.

Barcelona from Gaudi Park.

Me in Gaudi Park.

Barcelona from Gaudi Park.

Barcelona from Gaudi Park.

Looking the backside of Gaudi Park.

Looking into Gaudi Park, with Barcelona behind.

Gaudi Park.

Gaudi Park.

Gaudi Park.

Gaudi Park.

Gaudi Park.

Entrance of Gaudi Park.

No, I'm not in Paris.

Arc de Triomf.