people in front of the mnac on montjüic watching la font mágica

my best friend and i visited barcelona for a week last october. the city is full of art, color, modernista architecture, and a general joie de vivre; basically, barcelona captured my heart. i could not possibly write about the city in one post, so i’ve decided to break it out into two separate posts: this devoted to the best tourist sites and another (next week) devoted to local flavor.

during our first day, we wanted to get our bearings. i thought that meant walking a lot. kim had another idea: the double-decker tourist bus. i gawked, she won, and it turned out to be ridiculously fun. we took the green route, which drove us through the modernista sights of the city: la sagrada familia, la pedrera, casa batlló, and park güell. the modernista movement was the art movement that occurred in the early 20th century that mirrors the art nouveau movement of paris. the man affiliated most with this movement in barcelona is antoni gaudí, who designed all of the sights listed above. his style is completely unique, and the joy and inspiration in his work is evident.  i had never seen anything like it.

the torre agbar in barcelona

a rickshaw ride down the waterfront of the beach (in an area known as la barceloneta) was one of our favorites, as it allowed us to see huge lengths of the waterfront in a short amount of time. we passed public art, modern architecture, seafood restaurants, underground clubs accessible via elevators on the boardwalk (spain knows how to have a good time), and the olympic village from the 1992 summer olympics. additionally, the city allows drinking on the beach, so we enjoyed sipping sangrías while michael, our rickshaw pedaler from liverpool, tried to coax some more dinero out of us.

we ended one friday night in montjüic, a hill overlooking the city. a giant fountain dubbed la font màgica stands at the base of the national museum of catalunian art (mnac) and, at certain times throughout the week, gives a series of 30 minute shows that start with classical music, move towards katy perry, and end with freddie mercury singing barcelona.

the sheer amount of people there was unreal. tourists and locals alike crowded the area surrounding the fountain, stood on columns for better views, danced in groups to the music, and cheered with the catalan anthem. we drank cava from the stall in front of the mnac at the top of the stairs, and men walked around selling individual cans of beer (didn’t seem strange at the time).  i’m not going to lie: when kim suggested this, i was not at all interested. fountain shows aren’t really my thing. word of advice: just do what kim says.

who should go: art and architecture lovers
other sights of interest: the cathedral, la rambla
what to read: the wallpaper guide to barcelona,
what to wear: comfortable walking shoes, appropriate clothes for cathedrals (no short shorts or tank tops)

the altar of la sagrada familia, gaudí’s cathedral masterpiece

view from the rickshaw of la barceloneta

gaudí’s park güell in barcelona

lucha libre-esque figures atop caso batlló, aka la pedrera