Montjuic de Nit

Here in Barcelona everything done that has to do with culture or socialization is done BIG.  While the grocery stores may be small and portions normal, their parties are not simple or small.  Case in point: Montjuic de nit.

Montjuic is a very large hill in Barcelona which is covered in trees, muesums, and topped with the castle of Monjuic which I can see at this moment looking out my balconey far in the distance.  Personally this is my favorite area of Barcelona so far...I love the height, views, and natural woods.  It also contains the bontanical gardens which I've yet to see but excited for none the less.  This giant hill and gorgeous venues hosted a night of music of Barcelona or la nit de la musica de Barcelona.  It had 10 venues along the hill featuring over 40 separate acts in addition to having 7 different muesems open.  They had 2 bus routes free of service transporting you around the hill from venue to venue.  Here's the map so you can get an idea:

Oh and in case you hadn't caught the time it is from 10 until 4 in the morning....did I mention these people know how to party?

Needless to say those extra few hours Ryan and I got from our misadventures with the muesums were much needed.  Our first venue was at Greek Theatre which is an open air theatre made for the 1929 World's Fair.  Here is a picture at night although it does no justice to the mood or feel at night:

The first site that greets us is a set of large steps surrounded by trees and plants.  We climb up to the entrance of the event to find three lovely ladies dressed up as angels....interesting.  They were hired by Axe to give out samples, I guess we know one of the sponsers, lol.  Upon entering there is a huge area that is landscaped with roses and gravel paths surrounding by columned areas and benches.  It is stunning and I feel regret having to leave it to go to the concert which has started.  We are ushered to enter to the right and I'm instantly overwhelmed by the beautiful site of stone and foliage and the sounds of Sandra Carrasco filtering through the night.  You can't help to love the romance of the setting....long vines cascading down the stone backdrop with stars overhead and a light breeze.   In addition to the venue Sandra has a fantastic voice which made the concert all the more fun.

Afterwards we grabbed a quick coffee at this ingenious Nestle coffee bar.  The waitresses used these counter top machines that use those prepackaged cups so it took no time to make any of the drinks and they promoted the coffee line for people to buy.  I will admit my iced cappacino was delicious....I kinda wanted a few more but there wasn't time for that.  Instead we walked a bit further down and bought a sandwich since dinner hadn't really happened yet. 

Before I continue I should mention the quest for flamenco.  While in Granada one of the events of the conference was supposedly flamenco.  Ryan and I were excited about this only to be at the wrong place which resulted in missing the flamenco dancers.  We were pretty bummed, but when we looked at the program for Montjuic de Nit we found redemption.  At midnight at the castle were scheduled flamenco dancers. 

So at this point in the night we are debating if we have time to hit up a muesum or head straight to the castle.  Pablo calls so we schedule to meet and nix the muesum which isn't that surprising if you've read my plan b and c blog.  Anyway we cram into the bus and begin our ascension up Montjuic.  When I say cram, I mean cram.  I was in shock when the driver allowed other people to get onto the bus and wasn't surprised by the girl blocking the sensor to allow the doors to shut....it was crammed. 

The castle feels old with a bridge to cross over the moat which is now landscaped greenery and stone walls and paths....it feels straight out of a movie aside from all the loud music and hundreds of people in modern clothes.  There are two venues at the castle which makes finding the dancers even more confusing from the start...navigating a castle along with finding the right place can be tricky.  We first find a food place and a huge lookout to I can only imagine is venue 1.  It looks like a classic giant rock concert complete with thousands of screaming fans apart from the castle in the backgroud of course.  We stopped and asked a guard where the other venue is (Ryan is actually quite good at asking for directions, I know surprising trait in a guy) and we finally find it.  Much to our dismay we have found a bunch of men singing blues...no flamenco in site.  Quickly we pull out the agenda to discover they have changed the times and no longer have the dancers.  Naturally we are quite bummed out, but decide hey maybe we can go take a look around the Miro Muesum.

Back on the sardine packed bus, down the hill, and WAIT.  It's closing in 30 minutes so they aren't allowing anyone else in.  Just a perfect cap off to our earlier mishaps with muesums.  It seems no muesum or flamenco dancer wants Ryan and I.  Quite disappointing.

We travel to another spot to try and meet up with a few friends which of course proves impossible in the crowds and spend the final portion of the night listening to more classic Spanish music.  I was mesmersized by all the participates dancing even if I did get elbowed a few times.  We called it a night around 2 feeling exhausted and bit let down from flamenco and began the long walk home from Catalunya.

Be sure to check out the event's website to hear some of the artists on the opening screen...it's pretty cool: http://www.bcn.cat/cultura/montjuicnit/2011/index.html