Barcelona: Sit Back and Relax (City Tour, La Boqueria Mercat, Sagrada Familia, Montjuic)

Aaaahh….Friday. It’s Day 4 in Barcelona, and 10th day of our vacation. We decided to change things up a bit today. As I have previously mentioned, we’ve been nonstop considering that we have 2 little kids with us. Caitlin and Evan have been great to travel with. They’ve been truly “going along for the ride.” Not gonna lie to you, they would rather stay in the hotel and lounge, but there’s an adventurous side to them as well that they’re embracing all of these new experience. 

Nancy suggested that we do the Hop On Hop Off bus tour. I was actually not that thrilled. For me, I like the whole experience of taking the subway or the metro, the trams, the local buses. But I had to keep my mind open. I looked in to the details of the bus tour and it looked like we’d be covering a lot of tourist spots by taking this tour. So, tour bus it is then! We purchased our tickets online and printed our tickets.

We were out of the hotel 9:30am, grabbed a quick breakfast at Boheme on Rambla de Poblenou (just a few blocks away from our hotel). Grabbing morning pastries and a shot of espresso has been a thing to do on this vacation. 

We were picked up by the Green line of the Barcelona Turistic Bus near the beach. The tourist bus has 3 routes that take you around the city. The first bus took us close to the Port Olympic  this was one of the popular symbols when the Olympics were held in Barcelona in 1992, 24 years ago. 

We then switched over to the Red bus, this bus covered quite a few key tourist areas from Barceloneta, to the Gothic Quarters, to the Cathedral, Placa Catalunya, and the list goes on and on. We sat on top of the double decker and luckily moved our way up front. I had my GoPro with me so I was able to take lots of footage as the bus circled around Barcelona. We found ourselves  getting out of the bus near one of the local markets and decided to cool off by going to one of the local cafes. 

We boarded the bus once more after our little break, and it continued to circle around the city. It passed by more of the sites from the 1992 Olympics - the stadium, the site where they had the diving competition, and it also passed by the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, the ports in Barcelona where gigantic cruise ships were docked. It was great to just kick back and relax.

We decided to hop off near the Gothic District. We found our way through the Cathedral and made our way to Las Ramblas. We ended up going to iTapas that afternoon. We sampled their paella, the chicken wings, their meatballs, their soup…there were just too many to mention. While it was normally not our first choice to go to a buffet, this place happened to offer their tapas buffet-style. 

La Boqueria Mercat

A short walk away from iTapas was La Boqueria Mercat. Anyone who has been to Barcelona (locals, tourist, bloggers, or friends) mentioned going to La Boqueria. I had no idea what to expect. I mean, a market is a market. Well, not La Boqueria. It was a feast for the eyes, for the senses. First of all, the moment we walked in, we noticed a guy running fast with a backpack in tow. I could only assume that he stole that backpack. Someone must have left his/her backpack on the ground, and the eyes of a pickpocket caught its attention. Shortly after that, I noticed a few “tourists” carried their backpack in front instead of carrying it on their back.

There was so much to see and eat at La Boqueria. Fruit juices, meat stalls, assortment of seafood fresh catch, sweets, pastries, just about anything that will appeal to anyone’s senses. Part of me regret having tapas prior to my visit to the market. Maybe it was a good thing that I entered the market quite full. Otherwise, I would have done unbelievable gastronomic damage.

Visiting Sagrada Familia

We hopped on the Blue bus that then took us to Sagrada Familia. Unlike our first visit the other day when we just got a glimpse from the outside, we decided to buy tickets to enter the Basilica. Our tickets were scheduled to get us in at 7:15pm. The advice was to either enter early in the morning or later in the afternoon. That’s exactly what we did. While there was still a bit of a crowd, by the time we entered at 7pm, there was no longer a line outside. We didn’t have to wait in a long queue. 

People of different cultures were inside the Sagrada, people of different languages, different faith. For some it was about being there for the religious experience, for others, it was probably out of appreciating the architectural detail of this unfinished basilica that was started in the late 1800s. Of course, others were there out of curiosity. It was a living art form. The carvings, the workmanship, the details, the lighting, the towering height of this basilica, and I was also surprised to see an underground room that seemed like another place to have their mass. Those were my takeaways. 

We got out of the Sagrada Familia by 8pm, and fortunately, there was a tour bus that passed by to pick us up. It was our last chance to get on this bus. We’ve really taken advantage of this Hop On Hop Off bus. This time, the bus went up to Park Guell, also towards Tibidabo, and lots of nice homes up on the hill. It was a warm evening, it was perfect enough for us to stay on top of the bus. It was not even cold.

Montjuic

Somehow Nancy found a way for us to find the nearest stop that would take us Placa Espanya and back towards Montjuic. We were here the other night, the difference though, we were able to catch the Font Magic….or the Magic Fountain show. I didn’t realize how big of a spectacle this was in Barcelona until we saw the thousands of people who watched show. There were rows of regular fountains that led the to bigger main fountain all decked in colorful lights that danced along with the loud music. It was just gorgeous.

And that was it….that was our Friday in Barcelona.

Let's go to a hospital in Barcelona #SaidNoOneEver

It's now Wednesday, our 2nd day in Barcelona.  We had an issue with our 5th floor room the night before. When we came back from our walk the night before, all I could think of was to walk to our air-conditioned room and relax. However, the A/C issue that I reported around 3pm was never fixed. Since it was already late in the evening to rectify things, I told the front desk that I will require a different room to move in to. While the room wasn't "hot" per se, it definitely did not feel like it fully worked at all. To help us get through the evening, the front desk clerk offered a portable fan and I accepted it.

When I woke up, I called the front desk receptionist immediately and was assured that they will move us to a different room. By 10:30am, when we were ready to leave the room, Angelica from the front desk had our new room ready, a better room, higher floor, better views, a more panoramic view of the city with the Sagrada Familia to our left. Angelica also suggested that we go to Raco de la Vila, a local restaurant. So we did.

Raco de la Vila
We walked to this restaurant which was about a 15-20 minute walk from our hotel. We were the first ones to come in. We ordered Paella Costa Brava and a "side" order of steamed mussels. Our dishes came after 15 minutes of waiting. Our first paella in Spain did not disappoint. it was loaded with shrimp, clams, mussels, baby-looking lobster. I've cooked paella myself, so I had an idea of what to expect. As long as the seafood was served hot and not chewy, then we're in business. Nancy had a very generous serving of mussels. There must have been 15-20 mussels. She had quite a bit that we decided to add her mussels to my paella...great idea!

Let's go the hospital
After reading a few tips on TripAdvisor, one of the places to check out was Hospital de Sant Pau. We were not exactly thrilled about going to a hospital while on vacation, but the pictures of the hospital grounds made us curious enough to go there. From Raco de la Vila, we then took a cab to the hospital and the cab driver drove us directly to the entry of the hospital. Come to find out, the information desk told us that we needed to walk down a few minutes to get to the tourist area of the hospital. No problem. It was a downhill walks so that was easy.

The facade of Hospital de Sant Pau was one that was eye catching. I couldn't get over it. It was breath taking....a hospital! A hospital. We went in and got our tickets. We paid around $10 euros each. The kids got in free. There were tunnels to go in to. The buildings reminded me of an Ivy league school. It was just beautiful. There was a wing that we went to and it showed how it was used in years past - for surgery. Other rooms were preserved. The tile work was just exquisite. This tourist section of Sant Pau is no longer used as a hospital but it's now a place for concerts. It became a UNESCO heritage site in 2009.











Sagrada Familia
Another reason why I wanted us to go to Hospital de Sant Pau was due to its close proximity to Sagrada Familia Basilica. We could see Sagrada Familia a few blocks. We just couldn't miss it. We didn't have tickets to go in to the Basilica but we walked the grounds and admired building and the construction that's currently taking place. Hundreds of people were circling the grounds. Pictures just don't do justice. It was definitely masterpiece, a Gaudi masterpiece that is projected to be completed in 2026.

Musee Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
We left Sagrada Familia and took a couple of train rides and headed over to Placa Espanya. Once we got out of the Metro, we saw the roundabout monument, the Barcelona arena, and bam, the majestic Musee Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.....it sat on top of a hill. It was hard not to miss. It was like looking at the United State Capitol building, but this one was not in white. There were fountains that led to the building. It was a vast space. Being there during sunset added to the magic. We had a great view of the city, but to sit on top of this hill felt like we were a world away.

That's it....that was our Day 2 in Barcelona....thank you for following along!