Barcelona, Spain: Day Three

It never fails that our last full day in any city is always peaceful.
It's as if we become familiar and comfortable with our surroundings the day before we leave any [new] city.
Almost like finding what you're looking for in the last place you look. 
That's a joke for my literal readers...

Day three in Barcelona was easy breezy. We visited a ton of fountains, a castle, and made a unplanned detour to a familiar place, which ended up being a first for us in Europe.

We didn't intentionally wake up early, but the incessant rambles of La Rambla wouldn't let us sleep in. Our day started around 8am, and once again a much needed coffee stop was in order! My main mission of the day was to get to Parc Ciutadella.

Early morning on La Rambla. You can actually see the pavement!

Random shot of a camera shop near our apartment

After hitting up Starbucks (the nearest coffee shop we could find), we stopped at the super neato La Boqueria Market, located off La Rambla. We had briefly stopped in the evening before, but around closing hours. 
In the early parts of the morning, the market is quiet, less crowded, everything is fresh, and vendors are eager to 'sell' you on anything. The vendors are also friendlier in the morning! 

This market has some of the BEST fresh fruit smoothies I have ever had in my life. Any flavor of any fruit can be found. Note if you buy a coconut smoothie, you may find coconut hair in it! Yes, it was coconut hair, I checked.
My kids LOVED these delicious fruit drinks, as did I! For €2, you can buy two drinks (or €1.50 per, individually). It's usually handy that our family is made of an even number...

The market is a must see if you are ever in the area. Lots of treats to eat, smoothies to drink, and interesting things to behold. It will sound terrible to animal activists, but my kids got a scare/kick out of the moving (alive) seafood laying out on the market shelves. I felt kind of bad for the sea creatures...seeing a fish out of water gasping for air is pretty sad. IMO.

Instead of taking a back street through the Gothic Quarter, we decided to hit up Parc Ciutadella a different way. We walked up La Rambla toward Plaça de Catalunya, a large square in the city that is a park like setting with fountains. Upon arrival, we had noticed that the fountains weren't turned on. Bummer. 
We took a quick detour into El Corte Inglés, which is a shopping mall/grocery store across the street. 
I was mad at myself for forgetting to bring a hair clip on our trip, and in desperate need of one. Sweaty neck sucks. 

 I finally found a few clips, purchased them, as well as [one of] my favorite facial moisturizers that isn't sold in Germany. We wandered the store, and goodness, it has anything and everything you would need. These types of stores in Europe are usually referred to as "Hypermarkets". You can buy a pair of socks, a head of lettuce, diapers, and Tom Ford perfume all in one stop. Or a hair clip :-) 
Hypermarkets are like a threesome between Nordstrom, Safeway, and Target.

I found my name again. Only this time, it's used to sell beef!

When we left El Corte Inglés, I noticed the fountains across the street were now flowing. Yay! As it turns out, most fountains in Barcelona are turned on around 10am, but I didn't learn this until after our trip. We walked back across the street, took a few pictures, and then were on our way again.

Early morning, half awake face.

After the fountains, I decided it'd be wise to put Parc Ciutadella on my phone's GPS. We had much in store for our last day, so I figured getting lost (to an extent) would compromise our list of places to visit.

On the way to the park, I was happily surprised to come upon the Cathedral of Barcelona. I did want to see it at some point during our trip to Barcelona, but wouldn't be devastated if I didn't.

Funny thing about cathedrals and holy places in some parts of Europe:

If you are not dressed appropriately, according to holy place standards, 

you cannot go inside.

When we visited La Sagrada Familia on day one, my daughters and I made sure to bring a cover-up for our shoulders, and we all wore long dresses that fell below our knees. The website for Sagrada Familia indicated that the dress code is highly enforced (No shorts or skirts above the knees. No tank tops, crop tops, or muscle tees for men or women). When we went through the line, and then the entrance, no one said a thing about putting on a cover-up. Women were walking around with ass short shorts; butt cheeks hanging out, and all. 

I was slightly pissed. Pissed because I was wearing a long black shirt on the hottest of days just to appease the church dress code and they didn't even enforce it!

Well, as it turns out, the Cathedral of Barcelona actually enforces their dress code. Guards turned away any visitor from entering that had shorts on that rose above the knee. Even a centimeter above the knee was a no-go. Same for people wearing tank tops. Unfortunately for me, I had on a hoochie mama romper on this day, therefore I knew getting into the cathedral was not happening! 

Lesson learned: Always throw a long skirt and cover-up into your day travel bag (purse, backpack, etc,.). It's a quick change option. Skirts are easily pulled over shorts, and a simple bolero can be thrown over a tank top.

I wasn't mad at myself about not being able to visit the inside, but I definitely took advantage of exploring the outside.

The square surrounding the Cathedral of Barcelona (named 'Placa Nova') is where one can find the famous "Barcino" letters. I totally forgot about this existing until seeing it in person. 
Barcino is the Roman name for Barcelona, and actually what Barcelona was called many, many years ago. Many years meaning when Caesar Augustus walked this earth, you know, in 14 AD.

 There was an outdoor flea market occurring on the left side of the "B" during my visit, so getting an angle without people and tents was difficult. The morning sunshine also made it a pain, but sometimes I just roll with the elements. I actually dig the sun flare.

An outdoor mini art exhibit near the cathedral. There were a few sculptures, but this was my favorite.

Conjunt Monumental de la Plaça del Rei: Behind this building sits some of the oldest streets in the world. I wish we had the time to visit, but it will have to wait until we return someday. 

Check out http://museuhistoria.bcn.cat/en/node/647 to read all about it.

We finally arrived to Parc Ciutadella! There are quite a few crappy reviews of this park online, most from bored travelers who seem to know everything, yet nothing: 

"It's dusty and boring" or "Nothing special here". 

After my own visit, I can confirm that I am glad ignorant reviews didn't stop me from seeing for myself.

This park is beautiful.

Castle of the Three Dragons in Parc Ciutadella.

Demon infant fountain. Creepy and silly babies. I don't know the actual name, but yeahhh.

An ice cream at 11am. Why not?

Wild parrots among pigeons can be found in Barcelona

The floral backpack is mine, but matches his outfit.

My wanna-be sexy face as I got down.

He did it better.

We stumbled upon the Barcelona Zoo, located at the far side of the park we were in. I knew Barcelona had a zoo, as do most major cities, but zoos aren't really my thing. 

My husband looked at me with his "Should we?" eyes, and the kids asked if we were going in. Our actual plans were to go back to the hotel and change for a beach afternoon, but we decided to let the kids choose. They chose the zoo, thus plans changed.

We had yet to visit a zoo in Europe, so this was a first for us! I typically avoid them, not only because I hate seeing animals in jail, but also because zoos are usually all similar, if not the same: Animals, over priced food, and lots of walking. My ideal visit to a European city involves seeing sites that we cannot see in the United States, so zoos do not get put on our travel plans here in Europe.

We paid about €89 for our six person family admission, and we were in. 

Don't believe I have ever seen a female peacock (technically, a female peacock is called a "peahen") or a peachick before!

The Barcelona Zoo was everything I expected a zoo to be. I'll say that much. The only thing I didn't expect was that visitors have the ability to rent golf carts to buzz around the zoo in them. It kind of bothered me, in a way. If the people who rented them were handicap, I'd be 100% for the idea, but the golf cart renters were folks who had zero disabilities. Come on. 

The majority of the cart drivers didn't know how to 'drive', so we watched our backs quite often.

After our zoo detour, we walked back to our apartment so that we could rinse the day off in the shower and take a break. I had a few final things on the list for the evening, but needed a cool down moment before taking on the next set of adventures. I mention this because you'll notice a wardrobe change in the next round of photos. Also, it is important to know that the summer heat in Europe can 'kill your will' after awhile. I recommend a hotel break during some point in the day (if possible) to anyone. It's nice to change out of sweaty clothing if you still have a long evening ahead. And a cool mid-day shower is a refreshing bonus.

The next thing on our list was Barcelona's castle: Montjuïc.

This castle is more like a fortress. Crazy high walls and not much else going on. There weren't any room tours, just sweet views from around the complex. If opulence is what a visitor seeks, they will be disappointed.

I honestly wanted to visit the castle because of the views, and for the sheer fact that if a castle is in my vicinity, I cannot rest until I have touched it. 

It's become a sickness of mine since I moved abroad.

Where's my hair clip???

Sorry, but this maternity dress is one of my recent favorite buys. I had to have a few pics wearing it. Ha! Yes, it is really a maternity dress. No, I am not pregnant.

The castle is worth a quick visit for it's 360 degree views of the Barcelona area. I had searched long and hard online for a place to get sunset views and found them here. 

Okay, I didn't stay for the sunset (other plans), but the sun was setting behind the mountains which were clearly visible from this place. Not a single person's blog or a travel forum online that I had read mentioned Montjuic as a spot to catch a sunset. If there is someone out there who has noted it, I must've missed it.

 Most people assume the sun sets over the sea, but because of Barcelona's location, a sunset across the water is not something you will find.

After wandering the castle, we caught a city bus down the winding road, and stopped at Placa d'Espanya. From Pl. Espanya, we found some dinner (doner kebabs) and headed toward the Font Màgica de Montjuïc, or in English it's simply dubbed as The Magic Fountain.

The Magic Fountain is a similar concept to the Bellagio Hotel's fountain show in Las Vegas, NV, USA. The only differences are that the fountain in Barcelona is round and there's the addition of colored lights that 'dance' with the water. Bellagio's is a quite bigger, though.

The Magic Fountain only hosts it's color/music show Thursday through Sunday evenings and starts at 21:00. We arrived in Barcelona on a Monday, so this day (Thursday) was the first and only day possible for us to see the show.

Unfortunately, the sun hadn't set just yet, so all we were able to admire was the fountain show with music, but no color. We could have caught a later showing, but waking up early for our flight home the following morning was a little more important!

Not the Magic Fountain. Just a fountain in the center of Placa d'Espanya's round about. Pretty, though!

The Palau Nacional building, where the Magic Fountain sits in front of.

The Magic Fountain show was not the highlight of my day, but worth the stop. I KNOW that if we would have been able to experience the show during the darker hours that I would have more to write home about. I recommend to anyone who plans to visit the fountain to opt for a later showing to get the most out of it. You can easily google photos of the Magic Fountain at night to see what I mean!

Our evening and last day in Barcelona had came to an end. so we walked back to Placa d'Espanya to catch our metro ride (where I captured my last photo in Barcelona, as seen below), and to our apartment we went.

In all, Barcelona was a pretty fun place to explore. Lots to see and do, and we didn't even touch half of what the city had to offer! I knew we would need much more time to do everything, but our few days spent in this city allowed us to grasp an essence of Spain. I have no plans to return right away, as I felt that this was more of a party (younger) crowd city, but I would love to eventually see some of the things we had missed. Maybe not stay in Barcelona, but plan a day trip from elsewhere in Spain to visit again.

I'd also like to add that MANY of the American reviews of this city are unfair. Sure, lots of people have great things to say, but after my first visit to Barcelona, I feel that most people from America write about the things they hate without little thought behind them. I had read countless TripAdvisor reviews and 'mom blogs' about the "Terrible beaches" or "All of the food is fish" or "Hot, dusty, and boring parks". 

Okay.

The beaches are not terrible, they're just not what most Americans expect of a beach. And yes, there is food other than fish; most travelers and tourists aren't willing to find it or look past McDonald's. And the parks are beautiful in their own right. 

Just my opinions, but I am also a very open-minded person, parent, and traveler. 

Each city is what you make of it, and negative reviews usually indicate negative people. Every city and tourist attraction that I have visited in Europe does have at least one nice thing I can say! 

Something to ponder.

Barcelona was our last major 'vacation' of the summer. Rather than spending two full weeks in one place, we separated many smaller trips over the season. I wouldn't have done it any other way. As for the upcoming fall season around the corner, I've got a few getaways planned!