In November I made a short trip to Barcelona with my friend and textile designer Ella De Vos.  We both visited the city a couple of times already, so our plan was to do absolutely nothing but relax.  We needed a few days to escape our busy lives in Antwerp and a few days where nothing was planned but drinking coffee or wine and eating tapas seemed perfect to us.

One particular day, we decided to be a little more adventurous, so we followed this book‘s advice and rented bikes to ride up to Montjuic.  Maybe Definitely a little too ambitious for someone who doesn’t work out regularly (the hill is really steep), so we decided to make stops on the way up instead of on the way down, like our city guide recommended.   This still is quite an effort, but the views you get along the way definitely make up for it.

Our first stop was the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, which was built for the International Expo of 1929.  Eyecatcher of the site (where you can also find Museu Olímpic i de L’Esport Joan Antoni Samaranch, a museum devoted to sports) is the Telecommunications Tower designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Our next and favorite stop was the Jardí Botànic.  I think the photos speak for themselves: this botanical garden is a sight for sore eyes.

After the botanical gardens, it was time for the final climb uphill.  At the top of Montjuic, you can find Castell de Montjuïc, an old fort that served as a prison and has an amazing view over the port of Barcelona.  Unfortunately we were a little bit too late to be able to capture it in all it’s glory (an alarm clock didn’t fit into our relaxed holiday plan, which meant we were leaving our hostel quite late every day), but take my word for it that this view is worth the bikeride.  Due to our timing, we also missed the beer that we promised ourselves at open air bar Caseta del Migdia (they were already closing up when we arrived), so after a walk around the castle and a sip of water, it was time to ride down the hill again, back to the city of Barcelona…