Barcelona – Day Three

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Our mission today is to see some key sites on Montjuíc, a hill with a castle overlooking Barcelona, that has hosted the 1992 Olympics. We set our sights on three specific sites: Museu Najcional d’Art de Catalunya, the Jóan Miró Art Museum, and the cable car ride from the top of Montjuíc to the Barceloneta beach area. We grabbed a taxi and were off for another long and invigorating day.

The Catalan Art Museum is at an exceptional location for an eagle’s eye view, as seen in the photo above from the front entry landing.

The Catalan exhibit is exemplified by the following work that is an excellent example of the size of the works and the quality from the middle 15th century.

We spent a long time visiting the exhibits and touring the beautiful building. We rested on the uppermost deck, in the photo below, to enjoy the views, as seen in the picture below. These fountains are beautiful at night, but with preparations underway for the Spanish Gran Prix, we had no hope of getting near them after dark due to the crowds and festivities.

We then enjoyed the view from the landing at the top of the grand stairway where we could enjoy a cold drink along with the view.

We both enjoyed this beautiful knight, the emblem for the Ritter name.

The next stop is the Fundación Joán Miró. It was surprisingly crowded. Miró was a contemporary of Picasso and seemed to want to set the art world on its ear. Here is one of his works entitled “Smile of a Tear”.

Now onto the scenic cable car ride. It seems there is a cable car ride to the castle at the top of Montjuic, but there is not one from this area of Monjuic to the Barceloneta beach area. We had seen it swinging gaily over the bay, so we asked for directions and walked and walked looking for the access point. After much grinding of teeth and stomping of feet, we called a cab and returned to Hostal Grau for a rest break. Such is the life of the language challenged American tourist.

I immediately had the hotel check to see if we could get tickets for Casa Batlló later in the day, which was quickly accomplished. We rested and then took a cab to the greatest home designed by Antoni Gaudi. There will be many pictures, so I will continue that tour with the next blog.