Barcelona - Part 2

We woke up early as we only have 1 day to venture the rest of Barcelona. Our 1st stop was of course, Sagrada Familia. This unfinished building is one of the many wonders of Antoni Gaudi, a brilliant Barca architect who has a thing for colors and organic touches to his designs. Sagrada Familia is said to be his last work before he passed on, and it remained unfinished till today because no one has the blue prints, or any decent idea on how to finish the building.

Barra Gotic (Gothic Quarters) is smacked in the old city of Barcelona near La Rambla with medieval designed buildings. Somehow I feel like walking in the streets of Barra Gotic is inspiring in terms of the street design and architectures that are housed in it.

Our next stop, despite not being a football enthusiast, the next place that you should visit is Camp Nou, located in Catalonia. It dated back to 1957, which homes the famous football club, FC Barcelona. Compared to Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the visitors who flocked at Camp Nou is significantly more. 

Hard core fans are seen around the stadium, as well as loads of merchandises that can be found here.

 

Our next stop was Parc Güell. With no reference whatsoever of how Parc Güell looks like, or what to expect, I was thinking luscious greens and garden benches around. I was wrong. Another Gaudi's treasure, Parc Güell is located on the hill of El Carmel, a rocky hill with little vegetation. And considering the hot summer in Barcelona, hiking up was indeed a challenge. Parc Güell won't disappoint you though. Casa Museu Gaudí is also another place of interest here, a historical artistic monument that has original works of Gaudi. Mosaic works, vivid colors and organic designs are abundant here. Don't forget to visit the iconic Dragon while you're here as well.

 

  

Other notable Gaudi architectures are Casa Battlo, Casa Mila and Palau Guell, all of which are world heritage buildings in Barcelona. Gaudi, the Catalan Architect renown for his unconventional designs was passionate for architecture, nature, religion and love for Catalonia, all of which are reflected in his works.

Given a chance, I would surely return to Barcelona and spend hours admiring his work one by one :)

Of course, if the heritage walk does not impress you much, you could always strip to your swimwear and indulge in the Barceloneta beach. Ladies in bikini, sand games, cool waves all found under the scorching sun of summer.

Our last stop of the day was The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, or the Palau Nacional to view the Fuente mágica de Montjuic, or the Magic Fountain. Once again, lack of preparation on our end and we were disappointed that the fountain was not operating on that day we went. Otherwise we would be viewing a spectacular fountain show, but too bad too sad for us. 

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Beautiful sunset in Barcelona

Torre Agbar is a magnificent view during the night, among a few things that kept us entertained on our way back to Sant Jordi. 

Torre Agbar night view

2 days in Barcelona was definitely short for us. But considering if you're into architectures, cultural city or simply a great party scene, this would be a place for you :)