I swear there is a small herd of elephants living in the apartment upstairs.  I can’t figure out how they can stomp so much in such a small space. But I digress …

We took advantage of our two day bus ticket to return to Montjuic, the hill that overlooks Barcelona’s port. There is plenty to see here and we figured it would take half a day to explore. We planned to get on and off the bus as it made its way up, but ended up walking most of the way.

First stop was the Arena, which used to be a bullring but is now a shopping centre with a 360 degree view from its roof terrace. A vast improvement on the original use in my opinion.  Originating from the early 1900s, it was gutted and rebuilt between 2005 and 2010.

Venetian towers and former bullring

Convention hall

Placa d”Espanya from the Arena roof terrace

From there we strolled past the Venetian towers and convention hall, to the base of the Magic Fountains (so called because they are illuminated at night).  Steps lead up the hill to the top of the fountains and the terrace of the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC). Ian spied something better – a set of escalators. So we took these instead of the bus, as we could stop at each terrace and look back at the views.  There was a rather good busker, as well as the usual assortment of sellers of cheap souvenirs.  We found a seat in the shade on the highest terrace, and amused ourselves watching people engrossed in their phones, ignoring the amazing scenery.

Magic fountains

Cascade

Views from the terrace where we had lunch

National Museum of Catalan Art

We continued up as far as the Olympic precinct.  We looked at the big white pointy thing which you can see from all over the city; a stadium that looked like an alien space ship but was probably the swimming pool (or the velodrome); and the athletics stadium, still with cauldron, and the 100 metre running lanes marked out even though it is a soccer stadium these days (as it was before 1992).  The Olympics did wonders for Barcelona – it became a tourist drawcard after the world saw it on their TV screens, and much of the development that has made the city so attractive was Olympics driven. I have never seen a more pedestrian friendly place – there is always space to walk safely, and mobility impairment is not a problem.

Impressive pointy Olympic thingy

Olympic stadium exterior

100 metre track, where Linford Christie won gold

There are several ways to descend Montjuic, but I think the one we chose is the most fun. You can walk, take a bus, take the funicular, or board the Port Teleferic as we did.  A 7 minute ride glides effortlessly downwards, offering wonderful views of the city, the mountains, the port and the beach.  All too soon you are past the enormous mid-point tower and back at sea level.

View from Miramar

Port Vell

Cable car tower

Looking back towards Montjuic

We’ll be sailing out here in a couple of days

From here we walked back to our bus, then rode it to the Sagrada, arriving in time for our booked entry.  The interior of Gaudi’s masterpiece was absolutely stunning, and deserving of its own entry, so I will do that tomorrow.

It seems the elephants have finally gone to bed. I will leave you with an observation.

This digital floor with its high tech projected images keeps the kids entertained for hours, thanks to its constantly changing shapes and colours

So do these bubbles