Montjuic

On Thursday, we arrived in Barcelona at 8:15 AM and by the time we made it to the hotel, it was just before 10. Of course our room(s) were not ready, so we had a few hours to fill before we could check in and rest. We knew that was a likelihood, so our plan for the day was to use the Bus Turistic for sightseeing and transportation. My pre-planning paid off as we knew where we wanted to stop and spend some time exploring.

Hop on, Hop off (or HOHO) bus tours are a great way to see and learn about a new city. This particular one has two routes, so we chose the Red route in order to go to Montjuic. I wanted us to ride the Telefuric (cable car) to the Castell de Montjuic. Our bus ticket came with a coupon book that had a 2€ discount off the usual 10€ price, so we used it to buy our tickets. There was no line or wait for the cable car, although we had been told that it can be pretty busy. I think because it was a weekday morning, that had a lot to do with it.

So the cable car takes you up to the Castell de Montjuic, and the views of Barcelona are pretty amazing along the way. And once you get there, the views of the Port area are pretty cool, too.

The Castell is a work in progress as they are making visitor information available. It started as a fort in the 1600s but was expanded to a castle by the end of the century. One of the boys remarked how much it reminded him of the fort in St. Augustine. I particularly liked the garden and the way the vegetation has grown along the side walls.

There are a couple of souvenir shops at the Castell as well as a small restaurant and a place to get cold drinks and snacks. Allow about an hour to see it. It's peaceful up there and was a great way to get outdoors for a bit before we returned to the hotel to check in.