Another beautiful day – sunny, but hazy, so no sense going all the way up to Tibado (the amusement park on top of the mountain) for the vistas. Just as well – today we plan to take it easy and ride the Hop on Hop off bus all over town, stopping in Park Guell for a mid-morning stroll.
We’re up and off early – as usual – and walking to the World Trade Center to pick up the HoHo bus. We’re at the first terminal, so we’re happy we’re so close to the bridge, but as it turns out we have to walk back to the 2nd terminal to get up to the pedestrian walk. Bummer. We’ve also forgotten how long a walk this is! Oh well, our 2nd morning exercise – we could have taken the ship shuttle for $5, but it said city center and we don’t know where they will drop off. The Port bus (which we totally forgot about!) is only 3E round trip – and 2E one way. Oh well, we’ll probably take the port bus back – but for now – we’re hoofing it.
Takes about 25-30 minutes to walk to the HoHo bus stop- they aren’t supposed to start until 9am, so we figure we’ll be on the first bus. But as we get closer, we see a bus already leaving. Hmmmm, must have started early for the cruise ship. And, lo and behold, the “city center” cruise line shuttle bus stops here at the World Trade Center. Not exactly city center in our minds. Just another reason to explore all your options above and beyond the cruise line’s.
We’ve already purchased our tickets online, so we just exchange them for the bus tickets at the stop. We’re first in line, and a new bus pulls up, so we get the cat bird seats – up top, and right up front under the wind screen. Perfect! Because, while it’s sunny and gorgeous, it’s still chilly and that wind is still mighty brisk.
We also luck out being first in line, because a shuttle arrives and tons of people line up to get on our bus. Since we’re riding the whole route to get to the transfer point to go to Park Guell, we’ve really lucked out.
Finally, we’re off, listening to a good commentary about the route, Mountjuic, the Olympic Stadium, Poble Espanyol, etc. It’s nice up front here, and relaxing. We get a couple of good picture opps at the Placa Espanya square, as we head up to the train station and then onto the Diagnonal.
The bus is perfect for us today – Ed gets a vacation from driving, and we can spend a leisurely day just seeing the sights. Plus they have discount coupons which are really great – including free beer at a couple places and tons of discounts to restaurants and sights around the city. One of which is a discount at the Pavellons Guell. This is something new to us, so we decide to hop off at Diagonal and walk over.
Turns out this is a small section of garden from the original Eusebi Guell residential estate. Guell, and incredibly rich businessman, gave Gaudi his first architectural commission in Barcelona with the construction of the garden gatehouses to the Guell’s summer home. Only a very small portion of the garden is open – the rest of the area seems to be the existing Palace grounds. But here, there are great examples of Gaudi’s first mosaic works and a wrought iron dragon statue on the gate that is astonishing for its detail – and because it seems to be the beginning dragon design, of which Gaudi repeats often throughout his career.
Really great, and unexpected, stop. Since we are so close, we go ahead and walk over to the Palau Reial de Pedralbes gardens. The palace now houses a museum (well, used to house a museum, there is a big sign saying they are moving the museum – how do you move a museum? Talk about a big job!) so we can’t go in, but walking through the gardens is lovely and peaceful and we’ve not been here before.
Back to the bus – we ride down the Diagonal, onto Passeig Gracia and past La Pedrera (another Gaudi great)…
…to Placa Catalunya, where we will switch to the green route of the HoHo. But it’s noon, so we’re heading to lunch. We’re going to Montaditos, where we get 2 free beers and they have those cute little bocadillo sandwiches for 1E each. Bargain! Ordering is a bit of a challenge, since I’m being dumb and can’t remember I’m in Spain and can now speak Spanish. Geez. We have to order by number – and I can’t remember how to say 88 – basically because I’m trying to remember it in Italian! Stupido comes to mind! Anyhow, we finally manage it, and end up with 2 chorizo, 1 calamari and 1 goat cheese and pesto bocadillo – plus the 2 baby beers and a glass of wine. Perfect little snack for us!
Back on the bus, no way we’re getting the good seats this time, but it’s so lovely out now, it’s ok sitting up top in the back. The fresh air feels great along with the sun. We pass the old bull ring – now a shopping center, the old port, the Olympic village and that awful bullet building down by the water, along with great old building facades as we head back into town.
Then of course, it is on to Sagrada Familia. Under construction, as always, but more so today it seems. Lots of cranes and scaffolding. And people. Holy cow – the people! And school kids – it’s either a national school holiday or national school field trip day –we’ve seen scads and scads of school groups all over the city.
It’s still amazing, nonetheless. Even as we just sit on the bus and gaze up at the spires and the detail….Gaudi was incredible – a strange sort of incredible.
We continue on with the route, passing the hospital, which is uncommonly beautiful, but I can’t quite capture it in pictures. On up the hill to Park Guell where we decide not to stop, because it is getting late and we don’t want to get stuck up here. Then down through the high income residential district and back to Passeig Grace and Placa Cataluña.
Good sightseeing day! We decide to stroll down La Rambla to get back to the port bus. It’s a beautiful day and its always a great people watching stroll. The vendors are different this year too – no more shell game or 3 card monte – now it’s guys selling Asian fans, then the guys selling knock off purses. They are all bunched up together, all in one area, and all have the purses on a big blanket that has ropes attached to each corner. They are holding the ropes in their hands. Initially we thought they were tied to the purses, so they couldn’t be stolen, but upon further inspection, they are using the ropes on the blankets so that if they have to run from the police, they just pull the ropes together, and the blanket acts like a huge bag, pulling all the purses up in the sack so they can run. Enterprising!
As we near the Columbus Circle statue, we decide to stop for a wine and beer. No sissy beers here! And this is the small beer!
Not very economical, but then again, we’re on La Rambla, and the people watching makes up for it. We finish up, hit the Port bus for 2E each and arrive safely and restfully to the ship (that is until I lost Ed on the steps coming up to the room…but that is another story!).
Sail away on the balcony – and we are off to Valencia in the cool evening air.
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