Day 4 (February 16, 2020): From Beach to Mount

Today was set aside to really criss-cross the city and to explore from the famous beaches to the heights of Montjuic. And that's exactly what we accomplished. We set out from the hotel at exactly 10AM and walked south to the beach, where we came up against the annual Barcelona Half'Marathon, which has capacity for 17,000 runners. Just crossing the street to get the beach was like running across Highway 401 through Toronto! And an appropriate thing that we did intersect with the half-marathon because, little did we know, we would actually walk close to a half-marathon distance in this day: when we returned to the hotel tonight, we had logged 26,289 steps, or 20.41KM!

After walking a good stretch of the pristine Barcelona beachfront, we headed to Place d'Espanya, with its former bull-ring, never-ending exhibition-convention space, and grand avenue leading up to the decadent National Museum of Art of Catalunya. The fountains aren't operational in wintertime, but we could only imagine how over-the-top the ascent to the Museum would be in summertime, with the fountains in operation. We didn't have the time to take in the collection, but we did pay to enter the building, explore the National Palace within the complex, and tour the rooftop of the massive structure.

From there, we continued our exploration of Montjuic, with its castle (fortress) and its 1992 Olympic Stadium. To conclude the afternoon, we did a Lonely Planet-suggested walking tour of the many squares of the Gracia neighbourhood.

Arriving back at our hotel room at 6:45PM, we wondered if we might be able to catch a flamenco show at the last minute. Sure enough, one was listed for 7:30PM in the heart of the city! We ran out the door and made it to the theatre at 7:29! The show was truly beyond-the-beyond, the flamenco was world class. Left almost stunned by what we had seen, we set out to find a place to eat on La Rambla, the famous pedestrian strip. We were on the hunt for a good Spanish paella and tapas, and found both in a great little spot.

Closing night of ILUM BCN 2020 was in full swing as we made it back to our Saint Martin neighbourhood at 10PM, so we took in a couple of the short shows before calling it a night.

A very full day three in Barcelona. And a lot of exercise in the process! Hard to believe we head home tomorrow evening.

Enroute to the beach... You don-t see a lot of Spanish flags here. But you sure see a LOT of Catalan flags! They hang from many a balcony, proof of how alive the autonomous spirit of Catalonia is.

A few of the 17,000-ish runners in the Barcelona Half Marathon 2020! They made crossing the road to get to the beach like crossing a freeway.

The stunning beachfront of Barcelona.

A beach volleyballer´s paradise, all year round.

A view of Bogatel Beach, one of many sections of beach that form the city's coastline.

Kids are in kid heaven on this rope climbing installation on Nova Icaria Beach.

Yachts and super-yachts are in great supply here!

Monument constructed for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics

Torres Venecianes (Venetian Towers) are two towers from the 1920s which suspiciously resemble the Saint Marks Bell Tower in Venice.

The Barcelona Arena is a former bull-ring turned shopping mall! The Catalan people, as part of their drive to be independent, have taken a stand against bull-flighting and have all but put an end to it. Turning their bull-ring into a mall is proof of how the sport has died in Catalonia.

The view from the National Museum of Art of Catalunya looking down the wide Avenue of Queen Maria Chistina, towards the Venetian Towers.

The National Museum of Art of Catalunya behind us.

The National Palace within the National Museum of Art of Cataluyna is one of Europe's largest meeting spaces. it was built for the opening of the Universal Exhibition in 1929.