Day 3 - Barcelona: Parq de Monjuic, MNAC

Got a late start today -- didn't even leave the hotel until after noon. AND I stayed out until after 6pm. Spaniard FAIL on my part.  Oh well, all was good and I got some final outdoor Barcelona tourism in before the rain comes (it's supposed to rain Sunday and Monday, so I was strategic about my outdoor sightseeing.  My legs and feet are not happy with me for all this excessive walking, though).

Left my hotel with the plan of catching the subway to the Paral-lel stop (yes, not Parallel, but Paral-lel) and taking the funicular on up to Parc de Monjuic.  I wanted to see that sweet looking castle and the funicular is supposed to afford sweet panoramic views of the city.  Ran into a bit of a snafu at the subway stop as I attempted to buy a package of Chips Ahoy from a vending machine (lol why?! -- I never eat crap like this...) -- I put in my 1,20 Euros and the bag of cookies got stuck!  Started pounding on the machine and security rolls up on me telling me that the little bistro place across the way owns the máquina and that I need to go there for help (i.e. stop effing up the machine lol).  So I go into bistro place and try to take the situation seriously as the manager walks with me back to the machine where she inserts another 1,20 Euros to purchase a second bag of Chips Ahoy -- lo' and behold, both pre-purchased and newly-purchased bags pop out.  She was friendly though -- and I continue to be surprised with the extent to which I can carry a conversation en español.  Or perhaps it's the Catalunyan humoring of my poor verb conjugations and sometimes stumbling for the words missing from my current vocabulary.

With breakfast in hand, I board the metro -- and realize after the train leaves that I am headed in the wrong direccion.  But of course.  Easy fix though, I get off at next stop and cross over to the other side to go the right way.  I get off at the Paral-lel stop and purposely don't take the direct walkway connection to the Funicular, but rather come up to street level to check out the climate.  The day's weather, while dry, called for windy conditions, and I wasn't too keen on an extra-bouncy cable ride in an 8-person deathtrap up the hillside to the Parc.  Decided to foot it to the top, and was glad I did. Got to see some gardens...

A few different sites from the 1992 Summer World Olympics (had "lunch" in the little "cafe" at this stadium)...

And the best part: knew that I wanted to see the cool looking castle at the top of the hill -- turned out it houses the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya -- and admission was free on Saturdays after 3pm! Checked my watch and the time was 2:52... So I spent the next 10 minutes or so zoning out on an awesome view of the city.

Spent about 1.5 hours in the Museu. Bought some souvenirs. Trekked down to the Plaça de Espanya (circular area in the photo above), y caught the metro back to my hotel 'hood. Got back to the room and was out cold again for like 2 hours. Got up, got out for a late night stroll and some 4th meal eats (albeit only 2nd meal for me). Ay, the panging to live in a big city...