Y/n lead us across the road towards a tall, grey building that curved around a corner. Many shoppers came in and out.
"So, I don't usually do this as part of my tours, but I figured I may as well. We're heading up to the top floor of this building" --She waved her hand-- "to see the view! El Corte Inglés -- which translates to The English Cut, or The English Fashion-- Is the biggest department store in Spain," She explained.
"What does rebajas mean?" I asked, referring to the add on the side of the building.
"Sales," Y/n replied without even thinking about it.
We followed her into the main entrance, which lead to a floor full of cosmetics and makeup products.
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We got into the lift, and she pressed the button for the 8th floor.
"I'm scared," Whispered Zach, half seriously, after the doors closed. He's scared of getting stuck in an elevator. It actually happened to us all as a band once, and he was pretty scared.
"We're almost there," Y/n assured him with a smile.
The doors opened, and we stepped out and headed to the window -- which ran the whole way around the front of the building. The view was just as Y/n had promised: spectacular.
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"From up here you can see some of the places that we won't get to today," Y/n explained. We gathered around here as she pointed these places out.
"The hill over on there is Montjuic. In line with this plaza you can see a the catalan national art museum. In front of it, that weird spiral thing is a communications tower, and also part of the Olympic park from 1992. If you look toward the left hand edge of the hill, you should be able to make out the top of the Montjuic fortress, which has been up there that has been there since it was built in 1640."
"Wow. That's almost 400 years!" Corbyn whistled.
"Uh Huh. It's old," Y/n agreed. "It was one of the key defence points back in the War of the Spanish Succession, from 1705 to 1714. The war that made Catalunya part of Spain. Barcelona was the last city to fall and it definitely put up the biggest fight. The Spanish army was using cannons to break down the wall, and to bomb the city, which was seen as pretty uncivilised. They broke down the wall, thinking they'd captured the city, but instead they were met with the Coronela: Barcelona's own little army." She smiled, as if this amused her. "And then it rained, and they couldn't use gunpowder. Barcelona finally fell on the morning of the 11th of September 1714, a day that is still celebrated as Catalunya's national day."
From the expression on her face to the way she told the story, everything about her showed how much she loved the city and its history. I forgot it was a mini history lesson. We all did. We were captivated.
"What else has happened in that castle?" I asked.
"Well, it was rebuilt in the 18th century, as it had been badly damaged in the war. The fortress has also launched a number of bombing attacks on the city, and was also used as a prison. On October 5th 1940 the president of the Catalan government, Luís Companys, was executed there by a firing squad. That was during the Spanish dictatorship, under Franco." She stared at Montjuic thoughtfully.
"And after that?" Jonah asked.
"The castle was used as a military prison until 1960 when it was given back to the city and used as an army base. Three years later, Franco opened a weapons museum in the castle. In 2007, the castle came under the ownership of Barcelona City Council and, as a result, now belongs to all the citizens of Barcelona. It's a pretty big tourist attraction."
"You've been there?" Eben asked.
"Yeah. Many a time. My family used to go up there quite a bit. We'd catch public transport to the castle, maybe go in, depended on the day, and then we'd walk down through all the different parks and playgrounds and have a picnic lunch..." She sighed. "Those were some fun days."
"That sounds awesome," I said.
"It was..." She smiled, and got lost in the memory for a moment. "Anyways, we haven't really officially begun the tour. Let's go explore the gothic quarter."
And, with that, she lead us back to the lift and out of the building.
