Hola! or Ohla! A Barcelona experience. Day 4/1

[Guest]

Day 4 – Part One) - 21/1/18 – In Gatwick Airport, no one can hear you scream!

Today we have most of the morning to ourselves. We have breakfast at Kairos again and then take the Metro to Barceloneta to visit Port Vell. Boy! If you want to see a Millionaire’s gin palace on the water this is the place to come.

We have a wander around and look at the new cable car that traverses the old port.

Funnily enough we are headed to a different cable car at Montjuic. So we jump in a taxi which whizzes us up to the station.

This will take up to the old fort from where you can get some amazing views.

Standing on a vantage point 173 metres above the port, Montjuïc Castle commands stunning views of the city. Now a peaceable place, the memory of this fortress endures in Barcelona as a symbol of repression but also of the city's struggles during different periods in its history.

The top of Montjuïc is the ideal place for a bastion of defence, with 360º views of the city below. However, this military enclave wasn't built until the Reapers' War in 1640. In 1652, the fortress, which stands on the site of a watchtower, came under royal ownership and, some 50 years later, was one of the key defence points in the War of the Spanish Succession, between 1705 and 1714.

In the middle of the 18th century, the military engineer, Juan Martín Cermeño, was commissioned to restore the castle which had been badly damaged during the war, and its current appearance dates from this time. The castle has launched bombing raids on the city on a number of occasions and it has also been used as a prison. On 15th October 1940, the president of the Catalan government, Lluís Companys, was executed by firing squad at the castle. The castle was used as a military prison until 1960 when it was given back to the city and used as an army base. Three years later, Franco opened a weapons museum in the castle. In 2007, the castle came under the ownership of Barcelona City Council and, as a result, now belongs to all the citizens of Barcelona.

Despite the history we decided not to visit inside. It’s €5 and has the stinkiest toilets in all Barcelona – just read the Trip Advisor reports.

We take in the sea and then return to the cable car.

This affords the most astonishing vista of the city. You can easily spot the Torre Glòries - headquarters of the Municipal Water Company – 30 stories high and a smaller of London’s Gherkin.

The Sagrada Familia stands out too. You also get a glimpse of the top of the Montjuïc Communications Tower popularly known as Torre Telefónica.

Down the other side of the mountain is the Stadio Olimpico (Olympic Stadium) built in 1929 for an Exposition and then adapted in 1992 for the Olympics. These days it is sadly underused with the odd concert taking place.

We now take the funicular railway down to the Para-lel area. It’s getting on for lunchtime. We want to enjoy another good meal and so we head back toward our hotel area. In the alleyway where the ceramic shop is, where they had the Westie, there is a Tapas restaurant. Darrin does a quick check on his phone and it gets good ratings.

It is called Taller Tapas. Their bar counter is beautifully dressed with ice compartments.

We settle down at our table and it’s not long before four Americans come in and sit at the table nearby. This is their sixth visit! They love it so much.

So prawns and aioli dip for Darrin and lemony Hummus with flatbreads for me.

I follow with salted cod balls with a parsley cream and Darrin has fried squid. We share a plate of patatas bravas.

Neither of us choose dessert and sit back to finish out Catalan red and a couple of coffees. It’s on then that Darrin discovers that he has a message on his phone to say our flight is cancelled! ………...

INDEX: https://DIBB.in/13036728

[Gryff]

A lovely morning and lunch then bam you get that a bet there were a few choice words

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Geoff. A nice day and some excellent sightseeing. All followed by a lovely lunch. The salted cod sounds nice.

Ahh, the cancelled flight. I remember well the text messages you were sending me! The next saga will be interesting.

[Eeyore rocks]

Another great day... except the end when Darrin gets the message.

Thanks for sharing.

[mick]

Another great day some fabulous views

Joan

[MrsBC]

All good stories end with a cliffhanger!

[Guest]

Cliffhanger to follow!

[Melvin Pearce]

Oh dear, sorry to hear about your flight, after such a nice day.

Can't wait to tomorrows report.

Lesley and Melvin

[Juliemack]

Oh no! ... after such a lovely morning too, I hate cliffhangers, hope you're feeling well enough to update today

[Gill H]

Lovely morning. I think that restaurant is one of a small chain - it was recommended to us by someone in our cruise FB group. We should definitely have gone there instead of the rather underwhelming place we ended up!

What a cliffhanger to end on!