Back in Barcelona. After Morocco, the Gothic Quarters weren't that interesting. Narrow they were, but in their straightness and levelness, they seemed rather quaint - and in the off-season - so quiet and empty and forlorn. All of my Minotaur comparisons that I had used for Morocco seemed more adequate to the tall, graffiti strewn walls of inner-Barcelona, with all the garage doors closed, shops waiting for periods of better traffic. Or maybe they were only open for two hours of the day - it was impossible to tell as Spaniards do like their siestas. And by siestas, I mean, their long periods of not working. The Spanish clock seems to start at 11 am, lunch at 2, resume work at 6 and off at 8 pm. Then they sleep, have dinner at 11 pm and are out until 6 or 7 in the morning. It's amazing that they even have time for anything with such a rigorous schedule.
We had no time for siesta though, we had things to see in our final two day tour. On this end of our vacation, we would check out Montjuic, Casa Batllo, and a flamenco concert. The first was chosen by myself, Casa Batllo was chosen collectively after standing outside it the last time we were in Barcelona and only narrowly deciding not to see it, and the flamenco concert was on the wife's bucket list, so that was a must.
The first then was Montjuic. This weird name is either derived from the Catalan for "Jew Mountain" or from the Latin for "The Mountain of Jupiter." Since the pagan European gods often lived up on mountains, I'm more inclined to believe the latter, as the Abramic God only burned bushes while being about a mountainside. And there's certainly no way that any medieval or ancient Europeans would have given Jews such a tremendously nice slab of strategic land either, since Europeans have never exactly been known for their pro-Semitism. But whatever the origin, Montjuic has been the site of a castle for almost as long a time as there's been a settlement in Barcelona, which is a pretty long time, all they way back since it was founded by its namesake, Hannibal Barca, in the 6th century BC, along with his hordes of Phoenicians, Berbers and Carthaginians.
The current Castle Montjuic exists from the 17th century and has been the home of the armies of the Spanish king and at a different point, Catalan anarchists and the French, and has defended Barcelona from pirates and the armies of the Spanish king. It houses several large and now defunct canons, a big glass mirror ball, a cafe, and a museum. One enters through a drawbridge and can see the basic groundwork for a 17th century coastal citadel. Just for that, and it's amazing views of Barcelona, it's worth the trip.
Getting to the castle was a bit tricky though. There is - or was - a funicular that runs from the Paral-lel metro station to the gondola that serves the castle. However, when we were there at the January of 2015, the funicular was out of service and there wasn't much activity going on there. We got out of the metro and searched the neighborhood for the funicular. After about an hour of going up and down streets - indeed, neither the metro map nor Google maps is much clear on where the funicular starts - we finally asked somebody. "Donde esta el funicular, hombre?"
"Funicular no trabaja, muchacho," an old man answered. He was clearly peering at us disapprovingly through his reflective aviator sunglasses. He tilted his white straw fedora back to get a better view of us.
"Ah," I said, then racked my brain for some more Spanish. "Como a Montjuic?"
No answer. A cocked head. I was mispronouncing something. I then realized I really had no idea how to pronounce Montjuic. I was just saying "mont" and "juice" as they are spelled, in the custom of English speakers. So then, different word. "Como a el castel?"
"Autobus trabaja, numero 150." Then he proceeded to say many words in Spanish which I assumed were the directions to the bus stop. Many "izquierdas" and certainly at least one "dereche" had been said.
"Gracias," I said. And then we found our way to the bus stop and then to the gondola - there is a bus stop for this bus both at Paral-lel and even at Universitat. When we found the price of the gondola, roundtrip for 15 euros each, I felt as if someone had shivved me with a screwdriver in the gut - it was not a good feeling. But since we were there, we went ahead and shelled out the price. Chances are, we'd only be in Barcelona once and really, this was our chance to see Montjuic, however it was pronounced.
As I said, the views are worth it. The ride up the gondola is filled with gratuitous sightseeing, and from the castle itself, both the sea and the city can be viewed. And then there's that killer glass mirrorball in the center of the citadel. Can't miss that, naturally.
We had no time for siesta though, we had things to see in our final two day tour. On this end of our vacation, we would check out Montjuic, Casa Batllo, and a flamenco concert. The first was chosen by myself, Casa Batllo was chosen collectively after standing outside it the last time we were in Barcelona and only narrowly deciding not to see it, and the flamenco concert was on the wife's bucket list, so that was a must.
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| The entry of Monjuic |
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| The Great Ball of Selfie |
Getting to the castle was a bit tricky though. There is - or was - a funicular that runs from the Paral-lel metro station to the gondola that serves the castle. However, when we were there at the January of 2015, the funicular was out of service and there wasn't much activity going on there. We got out of the metro and searched the neighborhood for the funicular. After about an hour of going up and down streets - indeed, neither the metro map nor Google maps is much clear on where the funicular starts - we finally asked somebody. "Donde esta el funicular, hombre?"
"Funicular no trabaja, muchacho," an old man answered. He was clearly peering at us disapprovingly through his reflective aviator sunglasses. He tilted his white straw fedora back to get a better view of us.
"Ah," I said, then racked my brain for some more Spanish. "Como a Montjuic?"
No answer. A cocked head. I was mispronouncing something. I then realized I really had no idea how to pronounce Montjuic. I was just saying "mont" and "juice" as they are spelled, in the custom of English speakers. So then, different word. "Como a el castel?"
"Autobus trabaja, numero 150." Then he proceeded to say many words in Spanish which I assumed were the directions to the bus stop. Many "izquierdas" and certainly at least one "dereche" had been said.
"Gracias," I said. And then we found our way to the bus stop and then to the gondola - there is a bus stop for this bus both at Paral-lel and even at Universitat. When we found the price of the gondola, roundtrip for 15 euros each, I felt as if someone had shivved me with a screwdriver in the gut - it was not a good feeling. But since we were there, we went ahead and shelled out the price. Chances are, we'd only be in Barcelona once and really, this was our chance to see Montjuic, however it was pronounced.
As I said, the views are worth it. The ride up the gondola is filled with gratuitous sightseeing, and from the castle itself, both the sea and the city can be viewed. And then there's that killer glass mirrorball in the center of the citadel. Can't miss that, naturally.
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| View from the gondola |
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| View of Barcelona from Montjuic |
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| View of the Barcelona coast from Montjuic |
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| View of the sea and some fortifications |
Wish you would have commented more on "The Great Ball of Selfie".
ReplyDeleteThere's really not much too it. They have one misshapen one in Chicago. And some big ones in random other places. In general, I hate this form of corporate art, but yeah.
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