Sadly, we came to our last full day in Barcelona. We were no longer living in the charming neighborhood of Barri Gotic and since there was nothing of interest to keep us where we were, we had breakfast at the hotel (of far less quality than anywhere else in Spain) and quickly left to begin our day. We walked down to the Metro stop to find the Red Route Tour Bus for the Hop On Hop Off City Tour run by the Barcelona Transport Company - TMB. Not an easy task. We were approached by a few other confused tourists looking for the same bus and since we had scoped it out the night before, we were able to help.
We wanted to cover more ground in Barcelona before we left, and since the Hop On Hop Off Bus was included in our cruise we thought this would be a great way to begin. The Red Route covers the city center, more or less. Both the Red and Green Lines intersect at Catalunya Plaza but there are no convenient loops to catch if you want to get off at the far end of the Green
Line. We chose the Red Route Bus at Estacio de Sants (near that huge metro station we had found last night) heading to Catalunya Plaza where we picked up the Green Route Bus to take us down to Port Vell. Sitting on the top of a double decker bus gave us a different perspective of the areas we had seen before.
The bus left for Avenue Diagonal, at once familiar territory. We passed the Casa Mila, Casa Battlo and upscale shops and the wonderful architecture along this famous street. The bus stopped at Catalunya Plaza but looking at the map we decided to stay on the Red Line taking us past the Arc de Triumph and El Born to get off at Columbus Plaza in Port Vell, areas we hadnt covered on foot.
We got off at the foot of the statue of Columbus pointing the way erected in 1888 for the Universal Exposition. I had a good laugh when I heard he was pointing not towards the Americas as was intended, but instead towards Mallorca. I later found out that for 6 Euros we could have gone up to the top of the statue for a better
The beautiful harbor was inviting so we took a short walk around Port Vell to get a better look at some of the famous statues like the colorful mosaic 90 ton El Cap by Roy Lichtenstein, surely an homage to Gaudi and Picasso, and the architecture dating back to the 13th century here at this port. At the waters edge we saw the controversial modern W Hotel, shaped like a large sail, it provides a sharp contrasts to the medieval buildings in the port. These contrasts got me thinking again of the fictional characters Fermin and Daniel to this port at night, the ship builders working at the Royal Shipyards, or the fishermen in the middle ages trying to eke out a living here, it was quite to what we are seeing here today. Barceloneta wharf would be unrecognizable to people only years ago, as it was to me since my last visit in 1970.
The Maritime Museum of Barcelona faced Port Vell and the statue of Columbus and we were eager to explore the exhibits. The
museum is dedicated to providing information about shipbuilding between the 13th and 18th centuries and is located inside the Barcelona Royal Shipyard, the Drassanes Redials de Barcelona, or royal arsenal of Barcelona which is over 700 years old. Constructed in the 13th century it was a place to build and maintain the galleys and vessels of war for King of Aragon Pere the Great. This also served to encourage the important expansion of the Catalan shipping industry.
The construction of the royal shipyard started between 1280 and 1300. Originally, the shipyards consisted of a walled area without a roof. resembled a fortress, there was a watchtower on each corner, two of which are still preserved today. The shipyard halls with roof in 1381. After the the Gothic shipyard consisted of a total of eight halls, in each of which a ship could be built. In 1571, the La Real was built in the Drassanes.
