The First Sunday of the Month

Today is the first Sunday of the month and all of the museums have free admission. We decided to take advantage of this offer but what museum should we see? There are more than 80 museums in Barcelona! We decided to go to the Montjuic (Mount of the Jews) Park. There is a fortress there, set atop Barcelona’s highest point (173m), with great views.

First, I should tell you that today is sunny but there is a cold wind blowing. We put our layers on and they didn’t come off at all today.

Very close to our hotel is the Sant Antoni metro/subway stop. A couple we met recommended that we buy 10 metro tickets and use them to go anywhere in the city by metro or bus. So we did.

We took the Green Line metro to the Paral-lel stop and then transferred to the Montjuic funicular tram that is included in the metro ticket. The funicular is a little cable car that runs up a steep slope.

Then we had a choice of walking up a steep path to the castle or taking a pleasant ride on the Montjuic cable car. We opted to go by the cable car, just for fun and the excellent views. When we got to the top, we had to cross a drawbridge over a moat that has been converted into a garden. Entry was free today but we still had to wait in a small line to get in.

The castle, which is pretty empty, was worthwhile to see because of the great city and harbour views from its ramparts. It was built in the 18th century and used to watch the city as well as to imprison, torture and execute political prisoners. Not a nice history but now it is a park with lovely gardens.

There were several things to see on our way down but we chose to go into the National Museum of Catalan Art. This huge museum showcases Catalan art from the 10th to mid-20th century. The art is housed in the grand National Palace that also has great views over Barcelona.

The museum is huge and was easy to get lost in! Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and more modern art from village churches in a remote valley in the Pyrenees. As time went on, the place started filling up and we left to walk back to the hotel.

We were pretty tired and cold but stopped in at a little restaurant for a Menu del Dia, meal of the day. Lots of places were closed due to it being a holiday weekend and Sunday.
Chris picked up a few little treats to eat for later tonight and we both enjoyed a hot shower when we got back.

Tomorrow, we are booked in to see the Sagrada Familia cathedral.Read more