Barcelona - Hop on/ hop off bus

2 September 2011

What an amazing city Barcelona is with so many things to do and such a wide range of attractions. We decided to try a hop on hop off bus in barcelona as it was such a big city and we hadnt done one yet. We basically sat on the bus and plugged into some headphone which gave us a running commentary about the places and sights we were passing and if they looked interested you could jump off visit the sight then jump back on the next bus.

Despite the busy day on the buses and it great to get some history about the city and be dropped off at the doorsteps of all the sights.

We visited and saw a lot of Antoni Gaudis work with the most famous being Sagrada Familia. Park Guell is another Gaudi creation which was like you were walking through a fairytale. We also spend most of the afternoon visiting the impressive Olympic Park from the 1992 Olympic Games.



The Sagrada Familia - started in 1880 and isnt even finished yet (they say it should be finished in 2020).


Looking up at the nave. This was such a crazy yet amazing place.


The ceiling. It is meant to look like a giant forest with the beams as the tree trucks and the ceiling as the leaves


Gaudi's wanted the cathedral to capture the light really well which made it even more mystical and exciting


Really bright and colourful stained glass windows


The crypt was so massive underneath the main nave with see through windows into it


Some bizarre yet incredibly detailed sculture and shapes in the stone at the front of the church


One of the many large realistic scultures on the Sagrada Familia


We even were allowed to climb one the towers you can see in the first picture where several workers were shaping stones and building another tower


We could see the whole of barcelona from the top of the tower. We took an elevator to the top and walked down. This is looking through one of the openings in the tower


Everyone linign up to get in from the bottom. We were a long way up and they had they overhanging platforms with shear drops to the bottom which was a bit scary


Casa Mila - another of Gaudis works near the main square


Quell Park was the strangest and most fascinating park we have been to. It felt like we were in a fairy tale and that this was Hansel and Gretyls house


A mozaic tiled lizard statue


There were many of these stone structures throughout the park


View of barcelons from the cross at the highest point of the park


We caught a tram up to the top of the hills above barcelona


Our open air top bus


Every city we go to we seem to come across protests. These students caused a massive traffic jam as they marched down the main street. I think our bus driver got a little lost trying to find his way back on the route


The Olympic park with the Montjuic Communications tower towering over the top


The Olympic stadium built in 1927 for the 1929 world fair and 1936 Olympics, however the war posponed the Olympics being held here until 1992


We had a look through the Olympic Mueseum which had exhibitions about the history, records, best athletes, medals etc


The olympic torch on the edge of the stadium.

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