Montjuic

view of Barcelona, with La Sagrada Familia cathedral 

We headed off on the metro to the neighborhood of Poble Sec, then climbed Montjuic Hill to get sweeping views of the city.  

The real goal was to reach Castell Monjuic, the fort atop the hill.  

view of the port from Castell Montjuic

When Scott visited Barcelona in 1976, he had reached the entrance to the fort, but didn’t get to go in.  (Then the fort was in the hands of Francisco Franco and not open to the public.  He was using it to house political prisoners and to hold military courts martial to get rid of enemies.)  Scott remembered the fort because one of the sailors stole the tri-cornered hat off a member of the Guardia Civil (the VERY serious police) outside the fort.  Not a smart move… La Guardia simply drove down the hill and waited for the sailor to show up at fleet landing trying to get back to his ship.

We explored the fort and the gardens, then walked back to the B&B stopping briefly at the most famous of the city’s many open-air markets.  La Boqueria is located just off the pedestrian boulevard called La Rambla which runs from the port area to Plaza Catalunya.  It’s a mix of meat, seafood, and vegetable stands, with restaurants thrown in… and wall to wall people!  Iberian hams were hung everywhere… still on the hoof!

Check out the mushrooms, Jill!

After a little siesta to recover from the hike up and down the hill, we finished off the day with dinner at FISHOP, a seafood restaurant where you pick your fish from the display and they grill it to order.