Halloween in BarTHelona

The hit movie of the SummerWe. Love. Barcelona.

(and apologies for the Photoshop work above; it was an idea of Dreamer’s that made me chuckle)

We had such a great time there Halloween weekend, and there is still so much more to do. By the way, Halloween is very much a thing here now. Lots of people in Barcelona in their costumes all day on 10/31 and 11/1 in the metro and on the street. Another American export the world can thank us for!

Dreamer is writing about all the cool architecture we saw and I’m taking a stab at everything else here. Let it be said that we only scratched the surface and will be returning very soon to scratch some more activities off of our to do list.

img_7267

We started our first morning at the Mercat de Sant Josep, another one of those open-air markets composed of vendor stalls like you see on Travel Channel shows. This one did not disappoint. They had everything under the sun, even though most vendors were also smart enough to know they were catering to tourists.

Eating a sea urchin with a bag of fried, shell-on shrimp in hand.
Eating a sea urchin with a bag of fried, shell-on shrimp in hand.
Colorful display of fresh juices and smoothies.
Colorful display of fresh juices and smoothies.
Every kind of game bird you can think of, they have it.
Every kind of game bird you can think of, they have it. Those ubiquitous bags of chestnuts hanging on the right.
img_7425
Dreamer ignoring the request of the “no picnic” sign with her crepe at the market.
img_7285
Nebraska beef? Yeah, they’ve got that, too.
img_7443
At the Royal Plaza outside the market. First documented use of the Selfie Stick – thanks to The Thriller for this great gift years ago!

We did decide to skip the Erotic Museum in this district. Props to their great marketing, though.

For another thing, I think we all remember the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Wikipedia even remembers their mascot – can’t say that about yours truly! In any case, the former Olympic Park is on top of Montjuïc, a beautiful place I’m sad to say it took us until the end of our trip to finally visit, despite being rather close to our hotel. I also found out this is the home of the “Magic Fountain” – unfortunately learning on Monday that there are only shows Friday and Saturday. Oh, well, something else for next time.

dscn1165
Barcelona has the most public escalators I have ever seen anywhere. They are all just out in the open, exposed to the elements like this. Then again, they have a lot of attractions on top of mountains, too. This picture (above) also shows the Magic Fountain in its dormant state.
Selfie on the public escalators up to Park Güell.
Selfie on the public escalators up to Park Güell.
Attempting to capture the breadth of public escalator service.
Attempting to capture the breadth of public escalator service.
dscn1168
Midway up Montjuïc. Part of the Olympic renovation in the early 1990s. Not the Magic Fountain, but pretty nonetheless.
dscn1171
10 escalators up, looking down at scenic Montjuïc.
dscn1175
Olympic pools (indoor and outdoor) are now a public swimming hole.
dscn1174
Indoor pool. Dreamer thought it was weird to take a picture of, so we tried to sneak this pic.
dscn1177
Olympic stadium, torch in middle right. It is now a fantasy sports camp and event venue.
dscn1180
On the steps outside the Olympic stadium.
dscn1181
Santiago Calatrava-designed communications tower in the Olympic village. We previously saw his work in Valencia.
dscn1185
Fountain below Olympic Stadium (in background).
dscn1192
Plaza Europa, a.k.a. far end of the Olympic village. Fountains sadly still taking a descanso.

Furthermore, there are lots of young people in Barcelona. This hip vibe meant no shortage of fun stuff to do outside of the normal sites. For example, we read about a great tiki bar on – where else? – Critiki. Best name for a tiki review site ever, right? [By the way, to our Florida family Driller and Thriller… yours is a nearly perfect 9.8, #1 in the world and the reason why we absolutely had to go the last time we visited :)]

Anyway, Kahala was a super fun place on Halloween and the night before. We are usually not people to repeat an activity in a city with so many “punchies” but this one definitely was deserving.

dscn1160
Tiki meets Halloween!
dscn1156
Recharging our phones and ourselves with some tasty drinks.
dscn1197
Scorpion Bowl, original 1978 recipe. Note the awesome Spanish tiki mugs in this picture and the one above. Definitely will be bringing a few back with me.
dscn1203
Dreamer Loves Lamp. (apologies to Brick Tamland)

In fact, there is of course a thriving night life in Barcelona. And even when those bars are closed on days like All Saints Day, they’re still cool to walk by.

dscn1161

dscn1162
Boston is famous for its pizza, right?

Plenty of other great spots to grab an honest cocktail, too.

img_7358

Like us, I’m sure you’ll feel this post barely scratched the surface of Barcelona. Stay tuned for Dreamer’s takes on all the cool architecture we saw this trip, and stay tuned for our return someday soon!

For now, I am sad to report this is as close as we got to the Sagrada Familia...
For now, I am sad to report this is as close as we got to the Sagrada Familia…

4 comments

Leave a Reply

Commenting requires registration. It's super quick, we promise!