6 may morning and afternoon in Barcelona parks, funiculars,castles and Gaudi

Woke up early and went looking for a restaurant. The hotel had a breakfast room which looked very nice but at 18 euros we thought we might be able to do better. the restaurant across the street which advertised breakfast was not open and we were early.  We continued around the block and found a little coffee shop/ restaurant that was open and had some very nice breakfast sandwiches and coffee for 5 euros each. Much better price for breakfast.

Went to find the ho ho bus (Hop on Hop off) and we were too early by 45 minutes so went for a walk through the Venetian Towers and down the lovely Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina lane towards the park. We passed some people lined up outside a large conventions center like building. Maybe it was a comic book convention. There was a large robotic spider like crab machine in the parking lot which we thought might be part of the convention. A Robotics convention? Margie- I think it                                                           was a comic con or anime convention.

We passed lots of pools that when they were turned on might be fountains. We were early. They probably don't get turned on till 10 or eleven maybe. Across  little pedestrian foot bridge and into the park with more turned off fountains and gardens and out door escalators.  Great! I love Barcelona! Outdoor escalators!
Margie- the tile work on the stairs was wonderfully done and very beautiful!

A pause for photos of each other and the stairs we would not have to walk at each level as the escalator phenomenom continued for a few more levels. Then we were at the end of the escalators by a large building which I believe was the art gallery or a museum of some sort. (one of Catalonia's finest museums, the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC). which of course .... was not open.... we were too early. there was however a Great view of Barcelona.

 The park continued and we found our way to the Olympic stadium which we had seen on the HO Ho bus yesterday. If the weather was not clear at least it as not hot or crowded.  there was odd art installations although they also may have been lighting for the evening we were not sure. the stadium itself was impressive but smaller that I would have thought. We picked up a few souvenirs at the gift shop which was open (Finally something was open) and continued on to find the ho ho bus stop.

After wandering through a few more small but interesting gardens named after famous people we found the stop for the ho ho bus.
We hopped on but only stayed on for a few stops as we wanted to go to the fernicular to ride up to the castle Montjuic. We found the vernacular and there was no line so we just went right up  and Margie was not even worried a little as the ride was assmooth as silk

 " Wikipedia says "Barcelona's Montjuïc is a broad shallow hill with a relatively flat top overlooking the harbour, to the southwest of the city centre. The eastern side of the hill is almost a sheer cliff, giving it a commanding view over the city's harbour immediately below. The top of the hill (a height of 184,8 m) was the site of several fortifications, the latest of which (the Castle of Montjuïc) remains today. 

The fortress largely dates from the 17th century, with 18th-century additions. In 1842, the garrison (loyal to the Madrid government) shelled parts of the city. It served as a prison, often holding political prisoners, until the time of General Franco. The castle was also the site of numerous executions. In 1897, an incident popularly known as Els processos de Montjuïc prompted the execution of anarchist  supporters, which then led to a severe repression of the workers' struggle for their rights. On different occasions during the Spanish Civil War both Nationalists and Republicans were executed there, each at the time when the site was held by their opponents. The Catalan nationalist leader Luis Comanys i Jover was also executed there in 1940, having been extradited to the Franco government by the Nazis"

 Of course we did not know all that we we went there. It was just a lovely castle on a hill with an exceptional view of Barcelona.

During the course of my reading about Mountjuic I discovered that things that happened there that affect my life and most people on the planet every day. In June 1792 the French astronomers  Jean Delambre and Pierre Mechain began their attempt to measure the distance between Dunkirk and Barcelona with the fortress on Montjuïc chosen as the reference point in Barcelona. After much ado since France and Spain were technically at war Méchain made his measurements from the  fortress on 16 March 1794.

Using this measurement and the latitudes of the two cities they could calculate the distance between the North Pole and the Equator Equator in units of length and hence produce the first prototype  metre which was defined as being one ten millionth of that distance. The the origin of the Metre.  Who knew? Marvellous what those people of old times accomplished was truly amazing. I love learning things this way.

After the castle we took the vernicular down and just missed the HOHO bus so walked down through the park to what we thought would be the next stop. We did in fact go on an adventure through areas most tourists do not see. they were nice areas though with lots of steps down and then this one hill we had to walk back up which reminded us both of a hill  in our youth we used to call the devil's dip which was so steep who would even think to build on it. Really tuckered us out. 

We ended up back in the garden but a new one this time and then down through some schools, cooking and music I think and then to the plaza Espana where we grabbed some lunch from our little coffee shop restaurant and then caught the HO Ho bus to the Sagrada Familia the church that Gaudi is still building even though he is dead.

Wikipedia says "The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família  (or in english the Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family ) is a large  Roman Catholic Church designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi (1852–1926). Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrated and proclaimed it a minor basilica as distinct from a cathedral which must be the seat of a bishop.

Construction of Sagrada Família commenced in 1882 and Gaudí became involved in 1883 , taking over the project and transforming it with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted his last years to the project, and at the time of his death at age 73 in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete.

Sagrada Família's construction relied on private donations and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Construction passed the midpoint in 2010 with some of the project's greatest challenges remaining and an anticipated completion date of 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death.

The basílica has a long history of dividing the citizens of Barcelona: over the initial possibility it might compete with Barcelona's Cathedral over Gaudí's design itself, over the possibility that work after Gaudí's death disregarded his design, and the 2007 proposal to build an underground tunnel of Spain's  high speed rail link to France which could disturb its stability. Describing Sagrada Família, art critic Rainer Zerbst said, "It is probably impossible to find a church building anything like it in the entire history of art" and Paul Goldberger called it, "The most extraordinary personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages."

We thought that it being a church we could just go in but no the tickets were all sold out for that day. how many tickets do they sell a day? We walked around the outside and took a few photos and then decided to go to the Guell park which is Gaudi's park.  while we waited for the ho ho bus I sprinkled Mom and Dad in the park across the street from the Sagrada. A nice park with a great view.

We caught the ho ho and ended up walking a good distance up another hillbefore finding out that quell park was also sold out of tickets until 830 that night and since we had plans already for the eying we decided t just wander around the park that was open.It was very cool and we saw lots of his things that he designed. My Mom would have loved Gaudi for all I know she did knew about him  and did love him. his claim to fame is mosaics. crazy mosaics.