Weekday Afternoon at Parc de la Ciutadella, Sunset Tour of Castell de Montjuic

We had a little trouble deciding what to do on our last morning in Barcelona.  Dan woke up feeling sick but the prospect of eating lunch at a 5-star restaurant and going to the opera roused him.  We picked up our tickets to Handel's Agrippina first.

The Picasso Museum was a short walk away.  City workers were putting up the Christmas tree.

No photographs were permitted inside the museum.  Probably because the old goat knew he had sold all the good stuff before he died and bequeathed only the dregs to his foundation.

When Dan, Chris & Thom left for the reservation, I went to the Parc de la Ciutadella through the warren of Barri Gothic.  There must not be many dryers in Barcelona.

At Mercat del Born, formerly the largest indoor market, archaeologists are excavating the medieval city.

I wasn't sure what to make of this public art work by Antoni Tapies.  It looked a little like something the garbagemen had left behind.

People (and a parrot) were enjoying the 70-acre park in t-shirt weather.

The Cascada is to fountains what Sagrada Familia is to churches.  It's so dazzling that I asked someone to take my picture, not something I would normally do!

The Catalan Parliament sits in the southeast corner of the park.  You can't get too close to it.

I probably should have taken advantage of Barcelona's bike share program for my solo afternoon.

The Arc de Triomf, built for the 1888 world's fair (like the Cascada) is just north of the park.  It's rather ornate.  I love the bat guardians.

Attractive young people throng the streets.  These women agreed to pose before taking off on their scooter.

This sexy figurine sat in a comic book store window.

Time for lunch.  This fellow, an immigrant from Bangladesh, served me a delicious (and inexpensive lunch) at Obrador Sant Pere.

Afterward, I headed back to the apartment, taking a brief detour to check out the Palau del la Musica Catalana.

There's no shortage of shopping for artisanal merchandise in Barri Gothic.

I liked this neighborhood church, too.

It wasn't far from the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, which will have to wait until my next trip.  Near the university, it's a skateboarder hangout.

Our apartment was just 10 minutes away.

Short afternoons are one of the disadvantages of off-season travel in Europe.  We had just enough time to check out the Castell de Montjuic before the sun set.  Only Thom was feeling well enough to join me. We took the metro to the cable car.

The cable car stopped running at 6 p.m.  

Fortunately, it didn't take long to check out the garden and walk the perimeter of the castle which offered more spectacular views.

The bright lights of Barcelona awaited us below.