¡Hola amigos!

¡Hola de España! Euro Iggy was happy to escape the scorching Vienna heat to go to (yet another hot city) Barcelona for four days. After arriving in Barcelona at 8:15 a.m. and leaving the luggage at the inn, she and Princess Ody had a breakfast of orxata and chocolate croissant while deciding where to go. Looking at a map of a strange city didn't really help at that hour of the day, so they bought a ticket, hopped on the metro and decided to get off at a station which name had much potential: Espanya.

At Espanya, Miss Iggy was immediately greeted by the Venetian towers, the Plaça d'Espanya and a huge event hall with a sign saying "Barcelona Fashion" (promising!), but a magnificient building on top of a hill, the Montjuïc hill, to be exact, caught her attention. It was the Palau Nacional. Inside the palace, which was built in for the 1929 World Exhibition, is the National Art Museum of Catalonia. Or the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, or MNAC for short. To climb up the hill, one can either ride several escalators or take the stairs. Miss Iggy felt fit and took the stairs! Inside the MNAC, Miss Iggy was not only relieved to feel the cool breeze of air-conditioning but also amazed at the collection of Romanesque, Baroque, Renaissance, Gothic and some Modern Catalan art.

Euro Iggy and the Palau Nacional

Inside the Palau Nacional

View from the Montjuïc hill

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Palau Nacional

Parc de Montjuïc

08038 Barcelona

Entrance fee for adults: €8.50 valid for 2 days

diamonds are miss iggy's best friend

Euro Iggy was thrilled to explore the sparkling world of diamonds at Gassan Diamonds in Amsterdam, where she learned how a rough clear rock is turned into a shiny diamond. She got a few lessons on estimating the value of a diamond and was blinded by an array of dazzling girls' best friends!