Archive for October 25th, 2013
Barcelona day 13 (Castell de Montjuïc, Barcelona Olympic Stadium, Poble Espanyol, Placa d’Espanya)
Posted on: October 25, 2013
We had about half day left to explore Barcelona since our flight to London was not until 4.40 pm. We booked the flight via Easy Jet and it cost us €115 in total since we chose to have one 20 kg luggage allowance per person. After getting ready, we checked out from the hotel and had our luggage stored in the hotel storage. At 10 am, we headed to Castell de Montjuïc that was not too far from the hotel. But the problem was that the castle was at the top of a hill. We could take a 40-minutes walk there. Another way to get to the castle was riding a cable car. In order to get to the cable car station (Parc de Montjuïc Station), there are 2 alternatives: you have to go to Paral·lel metro station (L2 and L3) and then transfer to Montjuïc Funicular (the funicular fare is included in metro pass, so you don’t have to pay extra but the cable car is EXTRA, so you must purchase a separate ticket) OR by bus# 50 or 55 (ref). Since we were nowhere near Paral.lel station, we decided to take a bus# 150 from Av Ferrer i Guàrdia-Mèxic – between the Magic Fountain & Poble Espanyol.
On the way to Castell de Montjuïc (taking bus #150)
The bus ride was about 5-10 minutes along a zig-zag uphilll road. We got off at the very last stop that was right in front of the castle. The entrance to Castell de Montjuïc is FREE! Sweet! From the front, this 17th century castle/fort didn’t look too appealing. The moat surrounded the castle is now a beautiful manicured lawn with an archery site nearby. There are some big cannons that were used in the battle scattered around the castle. Well… don’t judge the castle by its curb appeal! hahaha… Once we hiked up to the top of the fort, we saw a breathtaking 360° view of Barcelona! We saw the beautiful Balearic Sea with Port de Barcelona nearby. At the opposite side, we saw the small houses in Barcelona with the majestic Sagrada Familia standing among them. The security at the castle was pretty strict. A tourist climbed up to the fort wall to take a picture and the guard immediately came and forced them to go down. There wasn’t much too do here aside from enjoying the beautiful view of Barcelona.
Castell de Montjuïc
View of Barcelona from the top of Castell de Montjuïc
On our 2nd day in Barcelona, we designated that one special day to explore Gaudi’s masterpieces: Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell. I told my husband that the line up for Sagrada Familia is usually super long according to many websites. Since, we didn’t have lots of time in Barcelona, we decided to book Sagrada Familia tickets the day before via its website. We chose to buy Basilica & Torres/Tower ticket that costs € 19.30/ person. It is more expensive than if you buy the ticket onsite, but it’ll save you time for line up. When buying the ticket online, first you are required to choose which tower you’d like to go (Passió/ Passion or Naixement/ Nativity). After choosing the tower, you need to choose the time you’ll visit the tower: matí/ morning, migdia/ afternoon, or tarda/ evening. Once you select the time, the website will require you to choose the exact time to access the tower. Apparently, they have a quota on how many people can be at the top of the tower at once. We bought the ticket with the access to Nativity tower at 10 am.
When we got off at Sagrada Familia metro, we saw the line up was 1.5 blocks away (probably about 1-2 hours)!! Pfiuhhh… we felt so lucky! Remember, the line up is for those who want to buy the ticket on the spot. Since we already purchased the ticket and had the confirmation email, we walked straight to the entrance. We were in front of the gate at about 9.30 am and immediately stood in a short line to enter a special gate to redeem our ticket. There was a guard checking the confirmation email and he said that we couldn’t stand in line since we were 30 minutes too early!!!! WTH?!!!! We purposely got there earlier so we could have enough time to explore the church before going up to the tower! I was a bit angry as well as a group of American tourists who was in front of us. Anyway, we waited for 5 minutes outside the line and got back to the line as soon as the guard left. When we were at the ticket booth, the lady there didn’t have any problem redeeming our ticket. However, DO CHECK your ticket!!!! We booked the Nativity tower, but the lady at the ticket booth gave us Passion tower!!!! And we only realized it prior going up to the tower! Sucky…. Nativity tower is accessed by elevator going up but for going down, you must take the stairs. The Passion tower has an elevator to go up and down. However, many reviews suggested the Nativity tower since you can actually see the sculpture of Nativity fascade in front of church. So, in choosing which tower to visit considers how fit you are.
Passing the ticket booth, we entered church front yard where there was a small miniature model of the church. Next, we entered the church via Passion tower. But wait…. I just had to admire the doors!!!! The doors on this side contain the text of gospels from Matthew and John narrating the last day of Jesus’ life. The interesting thing is the gold painted 4×4 box containing numbers. Later, we found out from the museum downstairs that if we add up the numbers in certain way, the total is 33, Jesus’ age when he died.
The breath taking Sagrada Familia (Nativity fascade in the middle & Passion fascade at the right)
The door under the Passion fascade
AndromedHa 