Barcelona Days 2 & 3

It's the morning of Day 3 in Barcelona, and I'm actually a bit relieved it's raining. I'm a bit sunburnt from yesterday -- silly me forgot sunscreen.

BARCELONA – DAY 2

Woke up at the crack of dawn (naturally, fancy that!) and headed north up to the highest point in Barcelona, Tibidabo, to take the funicular to the top. I walked up this hill only to discover the funicular was closed on this particular day (the park and tower were shut), open again on the weekend. The days of the year it's open are posted right on the bus stop pole, if I'd taken a look! But the air was cooler, and I realized from that vantage point how poor the air quality really was. Reminded me of L.A. -- a brown haze hanging over the city.

Took the bus back down and headed to the other high point in Barcelona, the area named Montjuic, but stopped in the city centre to check out the Museu D'Historia de la Ciutat. Just before that, I came upon a political demonstration, but my Spanish isn't good enough to figure out anything more than it was something like "stop the corruption" – which of course is synonymous with government!

Underneath Plaça del Rei are underground excavations of the medieval Roman city of Barcino. The exhibitions are interesting, but you have to use your imagination as what you're looking at are archaeological remains, and only selected artifacts. One thing I did remember was that in the laundry, ash, lime, and URINE was used to bleach the clothes!

What a gorgeous day! I took the public funicular up to Montjuic, and a tourist tram up to the very top, where the military museum is. When I reached into my wallet to get change, I realized I had just enough... because I was pickpocketed!

Yup, first time ever... I'd read that Barcelona has the most skilled pickpocket thieves anywhere in Europe. I was pretty amazed, since accessing the wallet would require getting past three sets of buckle/velcro/zipper. The thief didn't take anything more than the cash, which I'd calculated was maybe around 30 euros or less. I make a point of carrying very little cash just for this reason. I'd taken out a little more than usual because I'd discovered a fair number of places only take cash, even -- and this was surprising -- the tourist office!

I was sitting in the tram, talking to my tram mate, when I checked my bag more thoroughly and confirmed this. I figured it had to be on the metro, because it's often crowded and I get a bit spaced out just standing there with all those people and little air. My tram mate was this Jewish guy, Ron, from D.C. He kindly offered to give me some change so I could get something to drink, but I thought I'd had enough to get some water. By this time it was REALLY warm, and I was thankful that Barcelona has vending machines all over the place to dispense water and soft drinks.

The view from the top of Montjuic was better than from Tibidabo -- clearer. I opted out of the Military Museum and spent some time checking out the different views of the city and the industrial and cruise ship ports. Ron showed up again and we spent some time chatting, but I think if he hadn't had to run off to catch his bus to Granada, we would've kept chatting so long we both would've fried to a crisp at the top of Montjuic.

After the heat of Montjuic I wanted to get inside again, and while sitting on the bus, which is more relaxing and like sightseeing compared to the metro, I happened upon the station near the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Where are all the skateboarders in Barcelona? They are ALL in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art. It's probably one of the only flat spaces where they're allowed to go. The Museum itself is in a lovely building, an attractive contrast to the Old World buildings around it. The interior of the building is a beautiful, angular white. The current exhibit is of a local abstract artist, Antoni Tapies (I'll have to check that name later). From there I headed back to Port Vell to breathe in the ocean air.

BARCELONA – DAY 3

It's really raining, so I tried for the second time to visit the Museum of Ethnology... alas, I guess it just wasn't meant to be, since yesterday they closed early not just for the day, but until they renovate for Barcelona Forum 2004! (Which starts May 9, so I just miss it.)

So, I jumped on the bus and headed just down the road to the former Olympic stadium from 1992. Somehow, it doesn't look all that big, which should be expected since the Olympics just gets bigger and bigger every year.

At the Foundaçion de Joan Miro there is a large collection of the works of Barcelona's famous surrealist artist. There were a few video installations there of other artists, most notably one that nearly made people sick... I won't get into graphic detail, since it will probably make you sick, too, but suffice to say it involved self-mutilation and excrement. Simultaneously. LOVELY! By the time the artist got around to his second (third? fourth? fifth) bout of drawing blood, people were practically running out of the room (me included). But, I did take some photos of some fantastic sculptures and breezed through the rooms -- since it was raining, the place was incredibly busy.

From there, it was down the hill to the Archaeology Museum, across from a beautiful theatre (photos forthcoming). By contrast to the Miro museum, I was the only person around, so I took advantage of this to snap photos of artifacts downstairs, and an interesting exhibit upstairs that juxtaposed pop culture items of the present day with Greek archaeological remains. For example, Barbie and a bust of an ancient Greek woman... wish I could post the photos now, they'd speak a thousand words, but you'll all just have to wait.

Plus, my stomach's growling, so I'm going to take off now and get some late-night tapas and sangria. I'll be heading south tomorrow, to cover at least part of the 1,000 kms between Barcelona and Malaga, where I'll be flying out to return to England. But I think I'll spend part of the day in Barcelona if the weather holds out.

Adios!