Eixample & Montjuic

The lack of sleep definitely caught up with Boyd this morning. Although we originally woke up at 8am, he easily fell back to sleep (which for him is virtually impossible). We didn’t leave the room until 1pm, and by that time, my empty stomach was growling intensely. Barcelona is made up of three main areas: Old Town (the city center and heart of Barcelona - where we are staying), Eixample (where the greatest assortment of Art Nouveau/Modernist buildings are located), and Montjuic (the hill which overlooks Barcelona’s commercial port and is home to the Parc de Montjuic). Since we spent yesterday exploring practically all of the main sights in Old Town, we decided to head towards Eixample and see firsthand the unique architecture that sets Barcelona apart from the rest of the world. The southwest corner of Eixample borders Old Town, so we walked towards Casa Batlio, and found the restaurant Madrid Barcelona (recommended by my DK Barcelona Eyewitness Travel Guide). As always, the recommendation did not disappoint. The restaurant specializes in “New Catalan” cuisine, a more modern take on traditional Catalan cuisine. Boyd ordered the meat-stuffed cannelloni and I had the tomato basil soup and sea bass in cava cream sauce. The portions were perfect and the meal was scrumptious. We now had the energy to start exploring the Eixample region.
Our first stop was Casa Batlio, one of Antoni Gaudi’s most famous architectural masterpieces. The building was completely converted in an Art Nouveau style in 1906. There are no straight edges anywhere in the interior or exterior of the building and it is a typical example of Gaudi’s distinctive architectural style. We spent over an hour in there, listening to the audio guide explain the historical background of the building and the design details. It was quite interesting to see how very different the Art Nouveau style of architecture is and how prevalent it is throughout Barcelona’s Eixample district. Once finished, we took the metro to Sagrada Familia (Gaudi’s most impressive design and the world’s most unconventional church). Original construction began in 1883, and still continues today. The complexity and intricacy of the design does not lend itself to quick completion however. Although there was no indication of a completion date, Boyd guessed that it would take at least another 50 or so years depending on the funding. The entire interior looks like a construction site, but the exterior façade is unmistakably Gaudi. The Passion Façade is located at the entrance of Sagrada Familia and the Nativity Façade is at the rear. Future construction still includes the Central Tower and four smaller towers representing the Evangelists. It is an amazing structure and like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The places, where the old construction meets the new, reveal just how much time has passed since construction first started.
We hopped back on the metro and headed toward Parallel - the main Montjuic stop on the green L3 line. Once at Parallel, we took the funicular and teleferic (cable car) to the top of the Parc de Montjuic. As the cable car continued to rise, the panoramic views of the entire city of Barcelona came into sight. At the very top sits the Castell de Montjuic, originally built in the 1600s as a castle, later a prison, and now a military museum. Boyd and I sat on the top of one of the fortified walls and enjoyed the view of the huge port below. Instead of taking the cable car and funicular back down (my choice not Boyd’s), we passed the Estadi Olympic (1992 Olympic Stadium) and a number of museums. Once we reached the MNAC (Museum of National Art of Catalonia), we finally saw the view of Placa d’Espanya (where at night the “magic fountain” lights up and provides an amazing view of Barcelona’s city lights). After hours and hours of walking, we were ready to head back to the hotel to relax, siesta, and then get ready for a Friday night in Barcelona.
Since Andrea was batting 1.000, we decided to ask her for another dinner recommendation. 7 Portes restaurant in the Barrier Gotic area within Old Town was her suggestion. We took the cab down there and waited for about 15 minutes until we were seated in the non-smoking section. There were a lot of foreigners in our section, but a lot of locals in the restaurant as well. Boyd ordered a steak dish and I had the seafood paella again. Since Hawaii has no Spanish restaurants to speak of, I need to get my fix of paella in during our short trip in Spain. Although Boyd’s steak was more rare than he typically prefers, my paella was very tasty. The house red wine from the Penedes region was actually pretty good as well. The service was terrible, but improved as the dinner progressed. Overall, it definitely wasn’t as good as either Posit or Cuitat Comdal, but it was still decent nonetheless. Without a map or guidebook in hand, we walked towards the main Cathedral area and found a small wine bar in Barrier Gotic. There were countless people out and about and some still eating dinner after midnight (that’s Spain for ya!). The smoke was a little too intense in the cramped bar Taverna del Bisbe, so we took a cab back to catch the final set at the Jazz Bar down the street from our hotel, Bel Luna Jazz Club. A live jazz band quartet was playing and they were actually really good. The rooftop bar in the Hotel Pulitzer where we are staying was our final stop of the night. It is actually a really cool, open-air, loungy bar complete with comfortable sofas and mellow music. We closed the place down and called it a night.

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