Thursday, September 29, 2005
Day 126: Barcelona
September 29: Unfortunately today´s weather was very awful - windy, overcast and the threat of a thunderstorm all day. Thankfully it only drizzled a little in the evening and that was it.
Today, I decided to do a hop on/ hop off tourist bus... three routes in all. Saw lots of Gaudi architecture along the way at buildings such as Casa Batllo, La Pedrera and Segrada Familia, before hopping off at Park Guell. There I saw the magnificent architecture of the porter´s house and lodge, staircase with fountains along the way, including a mosaic tiled dragon with water shooting out of its mouth (very famous), a platform with an underneath roof made of mosaics and above, great views of the city but from afar. Lots of viaduct architecture to take note of, as well as the house where Gaudi once lived which now includes a museum of his work, and furniture from his era.
By bus, I went passed the hip suburb of Gracia, the stop to get off and visit Tibidabo (the mountain with views of the city), the Saria area, Palau Real and Pavellons Guell, University of Barcelona, home stadium of Barcelona Football Club (it seats 100,000).
Swapped routes and saw the main train station nicely designed (Estacio de Sans), Avenue Diagonal, Place d´Espanya with buildings from fairs in the early 20th century and the national palace used in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games. Also went passed the national museum of Catalunya, the tall needle-like structure (Torre de Calatrava) which sometimes have light shows from it, and made a stop at the Olympic site nearby, viewing the swimming complex and main stadium from the outside.
Funnily enough, they´re actually having a UEFA Cup soccer match in the stadium later tonight: Spain vs Turkey.
Made another stop of Fundacio Joan Miro, an art gallery of Miro´s works including a famous tapestry made particularly for one wall of the museum. There´s also sculptures in the surrounding gardens.
Drove passed various gardens including Montjuic Park (the city´s main recreation park) and got a great view of the industrial port and various cruise ships as we returned to the main part of town, via the miliary museum, Columbus monument and Port Vell.
At the Olympic Port (used for sailing at the Olympics), I swapped bus routes and saw the waterfront, some of Barcelona´s beaches, the former Olympic village which is now residential housing (similar to Newington in Sydney), Parc Diagonal Mar, and the Forum area which hosted a huge 140 da international conference last year (2004) and is now being redeveloped into something big... shopping, entertainment etc.
Passed the zoo, Ciutadella Park and the Gothic area of town before returning to Placa de Catalunya.
Long day... but did lots of sightseeing as planned.
In the evening, headed back to the hostel to meet up with one of the other people there, Brian. Decided to grab dinner in the Gothic area and to find a bar with Brazillian music. Unfortunately the one we were hoping to go to had finished its music, but we ended up at the Harlem Jazz Club (coincidentally it´s recommended in the Lonely Planet guide), where we heard funky jazz mixed with a bit of everything including Brazillian style which made Brian happy.
Great day, looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully the sun will come back out too!
Today, I decided to do a hop on/ hop off tourist bus... three routes in all. Saw lots of Gaudi architecture along the way at buildings such as Casa Batllo, La Pedrera and Segrada Familia, before hopping off at Park Guell. There I saw the magnificent architecture of the porter´s house and lodge, staircase with fountains along the way, including a mosaic tiled dragon with water shooting out of its mouth (very famous), a platform with an underneath roof made of mosaics and above, great views of the city but from afar. Lots of viaduct architecture to take note of, as well as the house where Gaudi once lived which now includes a museum of his work, and furniture from his era.
By bus, I went passed the hip suburb of Gracia, the stop to get off and visit Tibidabo (the mountain with views of the city), the Saria area, Palau Real and Pavellons Guell, University of Barcelona, home stadium of Barcelona Football Club (it seats 100,000).
Swapped routes and saw the main train station nicely designed (Estacio de Sans), Avenue Diagonal, Place d´Espanya with buildings from fairs in the early 20th century and the national palace used in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games. Also went passed the national museum of Catalunya, the tall needle-like structure (Torre de Calatrava) which sometimes have light shows from it, and made a stop at the Olympic site nearby, viewing the swimming complex and main stadium from the outside.
Funnily enough, they´re actually having a UEFA Cup soccer match in the stadium later tonight: Spain vs Turkey.
Made another stop of Fundacio Joan Miro, an art gallery of Miro´s works including a famous tapestry made particularly for one wall of the museum. There´s also sculptures in the surrounding gardens.
Drove passed various gardens including Montjuic Park (the city´s main recreation park) and got a great view of the industrial port and various cruise ships as we returned to the main part of town, via the miliary museum, Columbus monument and Port Vell.
At the Olympic Port (used for sailing at the Olympics), I swapped bus routes and saw the waterfront, some of Barcelona´s beaches, the former Olympic village which is now residential housing (similar to Newington in Sydney), Parc Diagonal Mar, and the Forum area which hosted a huge 140 da international conference last year (2004) and is now being redeveloped into something big... shopping, entertainment etc.
Passed the zoo, Ciutadella Park and the Gothic area of town before returning to Placa de Catalunya.
Long day... but did lots of sightseeing as planned.
In the evening, headed back to the hostel to meet up with one of the other people there, Brian. Decided to grab dinner in the Gothic area and to find a bar with Brazillian music. Unfortunately the one we were hoping to go to had finished its music, but we ended up at the Harlem Jazz Club (coincidentally it´s recommended in the Lonely Planet guide), where we heard funky jazz mixed with a bit of everything including Brazillian style which made Brian happy.
Great day, looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully the sun will come back out too!
# posted by mishij @ 12:13 PM 
