Wandering Ruth: Barcelona - Parc Montjuïc

Saturday 19 November 2022

It was Parc Montjuïc day today. JC wanted to see both the Fundació Joan Miró and the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) and I had espied a botanical garden, a funicular and a cable car so I was game!

We took the metro to the funicular, then trundled up on that to the Parc Monjuïc hill. These things get me far more excited than JC.

First off was the Fundació Joan Miró, definitely a choice of JC's as I'd never even heard of the artist (bad me). I think I know why I hadn't heard of him as I don't really like his pictures it turns out. I'm obviously uncultured. Well, to be fair, some of them were nice.

But I couldn't get my head around these ones.

Once JC had had his fill of JM, we thought we'd go for a spin in the cable car. However we decided against it as (a) it would either take us too far across the mountain, with a long walk back, and it was quite pricey for a return ticket (b) the queues were big and (c) we'd forgotten our face masks which were mandatory. So instead we headed down to find Teatre Grec for a change of scenery.

And a few sparkly fountains with something Romany behind them.

We had timed (free!) tickets for MNAC so headed for the botanical gardens. We somehow weren't charged for entry, but, to be fair, November in the Northern Hemisphere is hardly a fantastic time to see a botantical garden. It was pleasant stroll though.

And then it was time for the MNAC.

On JC's itinerary were the Romanesque frescos. This collection is the largest in the world, with numerous paintings lifted (as in, peeled off the walls) from dilapidated buildings around Spain.

The MNAC had been built for the International Exposition of 1929 so had an amazing hall complete with organ (and coffee shop).

We now had 1.5 hours left to view the modern art and it was a rush! I enjoyed this section, although I always get more enthralled the more arc deco/stained glass there is.