"This is Chiu Weng, reporting live from München": May 2006

Last but not the least is Montjuïc, a hill on the opposite coast of Port Vell. Translated from medieval Catalanian into "Hill of the Jews", Montjuïc is the location of the 1992 Summer Olympics that was hosted by Barcelona. This is where most of the Olympic facilities are situated, along with the Olympic park.

We began at one side of the hill, the Placa de Espanya where we saw the magnificent Palau Nacional, currently used as the National Art Museum of Catalonia or Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya:

The twin bell towers that guard the entrance

The magnificent palace

The view of the square after just 1 flight of steps

It's really quite tourist-friendly: see the escalators?

View from even higher up

And the view from the top

I wasn't panting when I reached the top of this hill, thanks to all the escalators built. Very convenient indeed, especially in the hot sun.

Close-up of the view of the Sagrada Familia. It's so big you can see it from any high place in the region

The other side of the palace

Oh, I forgot, I went there the 2nd-last night:

The bell towers again

Magnificent, isn't it? No wonder they say that lighting is very important

Anyway, moving on, there is an Olympic statue:

I thought this sign was interesting

Guess what this is. No, it's not some palace... wrong again, it's not a castle... what? No no no! This is the Olympic stadium!

The Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys was originally built for the 1929 Expo in Barcelona and rebuilt in 1989 into a stadium to be used for the 1992 Summer Olympics. Named after Lluís Companys i Jover, a politician during the Second World War, the stadium houses 56,000 people (more than half of the 98,000-seater Camp Nou of FC Barcelona) and has been the home of RCD Espanyol since 1998.

The main facade

The facade from across the park

Inside the stadium...

And a view of the grand stand

The Palau Sant Jordi

A view of the castle further up the hill

View of the square from the main entrance to the stadium

A close-up of the Torre Telefónica or Montjuic Communications Tower. This was used to broadcast the Olympic games from here and is a symbol of an athlete holding the Olympic flame. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava

Photobucket: Montjuïc

Final Thoughts:
So that was it for the wonderful Barcelona. Too bad we had to catch a plane back to München and too bad I had to work, if not, I'd loved to stay there just to relax for another week or so. I'd say this is easily one of the best places I've been to so far. Anyone within a 500km-radius of Barcelona should go there, I say! It's worth the time, effort and communication barrier to drop by this beautiful and amazing city.

Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau
Next morning, we're off again! First stop of the day was Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau (Catalanian translation: Hospital of the Holy Cross and Saint Paul).

This hospital was built between 1901 and 1930 and is not only a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is still an active hospital!

The main facade as you approach

Close-up of the statue

And the clocktower

Where you can even catch a glimpse of the Sagrada Familia (see below)

Can you believe this is a hospital?

I honestly thought it was more of a castle

See that ambulance below? That's real

The other side of the main building

Ask yourself, would you like to stay here? I wouldn't mind

Photobucket: Hospital de Sant Pau

Antoni Gaudí
With regards to Barcelona, he is THE man. Antoni Gaudí (1852 - 1926) was an architect that designed many of Barcelona's iconic buildings with a very unique style that can only be attributed to him. His works have been categorised as Art Nouveau and has a blend of natural curves combined with lines.

Antoni Gaudí was an eccentric man in his later years, and was not even recognised by others when he was knocked down by a tram in 1926 because he dressed so sloppily, people were worried he couldn't pay the cab fare to the hospital. He died two days after the accident.

The Works of Antoni Gaudí are now preserved as United Nations World Heritage Sites.

Casa Terrades

Casa Milà
The Casa Milà (also known as La Pedrera or "The Quarry") was designed by Gaudí and built from 1905 to 1907 and is located along Passeig de Gràcia.

Park Güell
From Casa Milà, it was another Metro ride and a steep, long walk up to Park Güell. This is a garden complex situated on the El Carmel hill and built from 1900 to 1914.

Walking through the entrance

Reminds you of the gingerbread house, don't you think?

Leading up to the park on top

Which is beautiful, nonetheless

This is the famous iguana that everyone so desperately wants to take a photo of/with

Underneath the terrace, the details are not omitted either

Climbing the stairs to the terrace. Don't you get this tropical feeling?

Top of the terrace to see... a beach?

The "gingerbread houses"

That's only about 3% of the crowd there

But I must say, "beach on top of hill" is indeed a good design concept

Many performers there as well

Climbing to the top offers a good view of the Sagrada Familia (see below)

And the city, of course

But no one said the climb up was fun

This is pleasant to walk though

Gaudí's house, now a museum

Beautiful, isn't it?

Sagrada Familia
The last and most famous of Antoni Gaudí's works: the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (translation from Catalonian: Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family). Gaudí worked on it in his last years from 1883 until the fatal tram accident in 1926. Work was interrupted in 1935 and resumed in the 1950s. Funded by the public and tourists, the basilica is still under construction today using modern methods and is slated for completion in 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudí's death. When completed, it will have 18 towers symbolising the 12 apostles, the 4 evangelists, the Virgin Mary and the tallest of all, in the middle, Jesus Christ. The tallest tower, when completed, will make the Sagrada Familia the tallest basilica in the world. As of now, 8 of the towers have been completed (4 on each side, 2 sides complete) and elevators have been built into the towers for tourists to go up to take a look. Seeing the extremely long queues, I passed.