My Trip to Barcelona - The morning of the second day

On our second day we left the hotel heading to Plaza de España. We decided to take our breakfast on our way, at a local supermarket, they always offer nice cakes and cheap deals.

We arrived the Plaza de España and saw a refurbished bull fighting arena, we did not know our luck when we went to the top of the commercial centre Arena, it had opened one week before.

These are some of the photos we took from the Arena

View of the Plaza de España with the National Museum of Catalonia Art behind.

Zoomed view to the National Museum of Catalonia Art in Barcelona

Plaza de España

Parc de Joan Miró on the right, Carrer de Tarragona on the left.

View over Barcelona from the Arena top

Walking path around the last floor of the Arena

Swimming pool on one of the last floor of a building , with the Sagrada Familia on the background, on the right.

As you can see in some of these images, the trip to the Arena is worth the effort and definitely a place I highly recommend. Many sightseeing buses stop nearby, it is also a good place to eat and drink and it is between the Ramblas and the Montjuic.

After the Arena, we headed to the National Museum of Catalonia Art, walking through Av. Reina Maria Cristina where you can find benches if you want to rest a little.

View over Barcelona from the NMCA

From there you can walk in the parks and use the escalators to reach the higher levels. It is a nice place to walk with all the green area around you and the city so close.

On the area of the NMCA there are treadmills available for the public.

After some minutes walking you will reach the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Ring (Anella Olimpica), an area which was the main centre of the Olympic Games in 1992.

Plaza Europa in the Anella Olimpica

It is a wide open area where you can view the Sant Jordi Palace, the Montjuic Communications Tower, the Olympic Stadium and an excellent view to the south of Barcelona, where the Airport is located.

Palau Sant Jordi

Montjuic Communications Tower in Barcelona designed by Santiago Calatrava

Olympic Stadium

After seeing the Europa Plaza we headed for the Olympic Stadium to see the interior, open for the public for free.

Olympic Stadium

There was a little mistake in one of the boards in the Stadium

We had seen the stage of the Olympic Games, and we continued our journey to the top of the Montjuic, we decided to go by the Carer l'Estadi / Av. Miramar. On our way we stopped at the Estació de Funicular (Cable Railway Station) which has also the stop to go by cable car to the Montjuic Castle.

One of the overviews that you can see when on the cable car

If you are not afraid, it is worth to pay for the cable car ride. You get splendid views and it is a faster way to get to the top of Montjuic. We bought the return ticket.

You can also walk to the Castle, but if you want to walk there, you should be well prepared physically.

The Montjuic modern Cable Cars

Gardens around the Montjuic Castle

When you reach the top of the Montjuic Castle be prepared if you think you are going to be hungry, thirsty or with a strong will to use a bathroom, there are not much facilities there.

View of Barcelona from the Montjuic Castle

Montjuic Castle Collage

After enjoying the moment in the top of Montjuic it was time to go down, back to Barcelona, since we had the cable car return tickets, we used it and went to the Funicular Station, there we got the cable railway and ended in the Av. Paralel. It is not a great place to view, it is strange and I read that in the evening there are some signs of "illegal activities".

We headed to the Plaza Drassanes and then to monument to Columbus, after that we started our tour by the famous Ramblas.

It was time to eat, we decided to stop in sandwich restaurant. You have several choices in the Ramblas, from typical places to the big brands.