Barcelona, Spain: Second Day

Barcelona, Spain

View of the Castle Montjuic on Montjuic Hill overlooking the city. (Click to enlarge.) Originally the castle was just a watch tower on top of the hill used to identify approaching enemy ships. Over the years it has increased in size and has had many uses including a military prison and presently a museum about Spanish history. 

 The cruise was scheduled for two days at Barcelona. Many younger, more adventuresome passengers took advantage of the renowned night life. Since the pub and tapas cruising didn't get started until midnight we didn't participate. 

 While wondering what to do on day two, I went to the balcony. Close by was the cable car tower. "Let's go ride the cable car".

 It was a nice walk to the tower. However, upon arrival, we discovered that the tower close to the ship was the terminal tower--not the beginning.

 As the beginning of the cable ride was way up the hill, a taxi ride was now part of our adventure. The Noordam is in the background and we will see the pink building again later.

 Tickets for the ride were scheduled by group and time so we walked around the grounds. There were a lot of good bird's eye views.

 Lots of people appear to have chosen to go to the piers and just watch the boats go by.

 Take your pick. Swim in your hotel pool or go to the beach.

 The beach always seems to be crowded. If one remembers our bicycle ride close to the beach, it was crowded then also.

 Finally our time and group were next and we prepared to board. Barcelona has two cable cars. One goes to the Montjuic Castle and was built in 1929. The other starts from Montjuic Hill and was built in 1992. We took the 1992 one.

 Views from the car were as impressive as from the cable car entrance grounds.

 The end of one half of the ride was the tower we could see from the ship. The 360 degree observation tower provided an excellent panorama of the city--most of which I had already taken pictures of and displayed here and previously from the bicycle ride.

 I do not recall showing a picture of the town circle.

To the right of the tall building is the Columbus statue from a different angle. Even from this angle, he is still pointing the wrong direction.

 Montjuic Hill which we led off the story.

Necessary draw bridge to let the sail boats with their high masts in and out of the berthing places.

 Finally it was time to return to the entrance.

 Walking the grounds once more while awaiting a taxi, we came across a statue of a girl with grapes in her hands. I am sure it commemorates the wine industry, but at present it appears she is feeding the bird.

 Not really knowing the city, it was reassuring to peep through the fence and see our ship in the distance. We knew the taxi driver was heading the right direction.

And as we passed the pink building, we were further assured that we were going the correct direction. We wouldn't want to miss the boat as we had another bicycle tour lined up for the next day at Palma De Mallorca, Spain.