Barcelona Photo Diary - Days 6 and 7

Our penultimate day, we started off on the slopes of Montjuic. After just a short stroll from our hotel we ended up at Poble Espanyol. 

Literally translated, Poble Espanyol means the Spanish Village. You have to pay to get in but it's a small fee, and even cheaper with student discount!

It's an enclosed village, made up of narrow winding streets, beautifully tiled buildings, deliciously rustic restaurants...all coming together to make an incredibly authentic atmosphere!

We soaked ourselves under the Spanish sun all morning, then pushed on further round the mountain to see what the rest of the day had in store.

We slowly ascended Montjuic's easy slopes, and our next stop was the Olympic Village. The stadium itself was built all the way back in 1929, as an anti-fascist counterpart to the Berlin Olympics, 1936, but in 1992 the village played host to Summer Olympics!

This statue is meant to represent an Olympic winner, bowing to accept a medal.

This is Ally's alternative Olympic winner stance...

...And this is me cheering for an imaginary goal

Even further round (and up) the mountain, we found another beautiful view point. The trees act as the perfect frame, naturally capturing Barcelona's beauty!

At the very tip top of Montjuic you can find Montjuic Castle. It's still looking very proud, I think. Maybe it has something to do with its floruishing coat of lush green grass.

You had to pay to get in here too, a bit on the steep side if you ask me, so we gave it a miss. You can still trace the castle walls round the outside, and see all the same views!

Now it was time for what I'd been waiting for ALL week. The Cross Harbour Cable Car.

Have I mentioned my undying love for harbours and all things nautical?

I wasn't so much a fan of the rickety feel of the ride across, but the views are simply stunning.

This brings us to our last day. Since we had spent most of the week venturing far from our hotel, we decided to stay closer to home and explore the neighbourhood that was right on our doorstep.

We discovered a lovely little park just round the corner and sauntered slowly through its floral avenues and leafy realms.

After all our adventures in Barcelona's hustle and bustle, a lazy wander round this peaceful retreat was the perfect way to re-charge our batteries and say adiós to this brilliant and beautiful city!

Barcelona Photo Diary - Day 5

We woke up on the morning of our fifth day and...... it was raining. 

Resilient as we are, we were not deterred by a bit of drizzle and aimed for Catalonia's National Art Museum...

...Which turned out to be closed.

Not to worry, the stormy sky made the skyline all the more striking from this view point!

Our next port of call was Barcelona Cathedral. The rain persuaded us to cover up our limbs, which worked well as the dress code to get into the cathedral is very strict.

In typical Catalan style, the cathedral is luxuriously Gothic inside and out.

We wove our way through the narrow, winding streets and marveled some more at historic architecture. It's hard not to imagine this city and how it could have been all those centuries ago.

We took cover in a cute little cafe, and watched the world pass through Barcelona's twisting streets. 

We crossed our fingers and toes for the sun to shine... and it did! 

We ventured a little further afield than Barcelona's city center and spent the rest of the afternoon amongst the peculiar peaks of Montserrat.

Literally translated, Montserrat means 'the serrated mountain', accurately accounting for its unusually craggy rock formation. It looks as though it is moments away from tumbling down, but we were assured it is not!

The option was there to take a funicular up to the very very very tip top of the mountain, but the clouds gently ushered us away to find a clearer viewpoint.
The sprinkling of mist chilled us just slightly, but I think it would make the perfect backdrop for any horror narrative. 

Montserrat plays host to the Benedictine Abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat. There is an all boys choir school attached to the abbey, in which the boys live and learn. At 1pm and 7pm every day, the choir sings inside the church, which unfortunately we just missed, but you can just imagine how impressive it must be.

The abbey is Catalonia's most significant religious destination, housing the shrine of the Virgin of Montserrat (or the black Madonna,) and the grand decoration inside suggests no less.

Once we had finished exploring the abbey, we shoved our hiking boots on (not really), and began a twenty minute trek around the mountain. 

The view stretched on for miles and miles. All the towns below us looked like tiny toy villages, and the great rivers running through them were more like a little trickle from way up there.

The end of our ''hike'' was marked by St Michael's cross, which, against a sky of azure blue dotted with fluffy white clouds, just looked glorious!

Montserrat is absolutely enchanting. From its striking serrated form, to the marvelous views it offers, this renowned religious retreat was well worth a trip away from Barcelona's center.