Sunday, November 15, 2009

Tibi DAAA bo

I have the worst time pronouncing that word correctly.  Tibidabo (which is fun to say till you realise you can't figure out how to say it right) is a theme park in BCN.  If you saw Maria Christina Barcelona, a bit of the film was shot there.

We have never gone, and today just seemed to be the day!

If you're from TO you'll get this.  It is Center Island rather than Canada's Wonderland.

Lovely setting - the views are amazing, lower key, less expensive and more kid friendly.

We cheaped out and didn't go for the 25 Euro ticket that gave us access to a lot of rides the kids would never go on - except maybe the roller coaster that looked great, and even sturdy!

SO...


Here's some of what we did!

The view of the city from the cafe at the top which was expensive-ish and mediocre, weirdly didn't serve coffee.  However the sunshine and the view more than made up for any deficiencies.



They had a double decker carousel.  Never seen that before.  Weirdly, this one didn't have music !?!?!?  Still very very lovely.



They have the coolest ride!  It is a model of the 1923 plane that first flew from Madrid to BCN (or vice versa).  You get to ride in it!  It's LOVELY inside and a lot of fun!



Here's the secret...it is hung on the end of a permanent crane and goes round and round in circles pulled by it's own prop!




The roller coaster we didn't ride on but we watched it while we were waiting.  There was another ride...a crane, essentially, with a long swinging arm.  They'd load four idiots people into a basket at the outer end of it, raise it up above the horizontal and let it go!  I would pee myself. Sad to say, but there it is.  No thank you!  The roller coaster though?  I could go there.



They had a museum of carnival robots (?) what are these things called.  You know, you put in some money, they move around and something happens.....this lady tells your fortune.



Hollywood would tell me that I should find her creepy, though I honestly didn't.  These two displays below were creepier.



Yeah, you're right, that's a hanging.  The floor drops out from under him and he disappears.  Good and dead.  The one below?  The French guillotine.  The head actually drops off into the bucket below when the blade drops.  I find the priest a touching addition, no?



Finally the view from the top again as the clouds filled in over the day.  We aren't looking over BCN here anymore, rather more inland.....you'd guess that from the mountains and the lack of Med.




Good fun I have to say, and lovely.  I'd go back again!

Hope you had a great weekend!  Seen any creepy carnival tricks lately?

6 comments:

The Bodhi Chicklet said...

The guillotine and the hangman would creep me out too. And Center Island isn't bad - for Toronto.

J.G. said...

Did you see the Tom Hanks movie "Big"? That's what I thought of immediately, because the person-in-a-booth is how he gets his wish.

No rides for me, thanks. Not even the plane on a crane. But the views are spectacular! Looks like you had a swell time.

Beth said...

The creepy mechanized carnival doodads are definitely from the "What were they thinking" school of family amusements.
Other than that, it looks like it was a perfect day -except for the lack of coffee!

Anonymous said...

Nice pictures. I guess this would be one of those times where a small mp3 sample would be welcome, just to hear how "tibidabo" is supposed to be pronounced.

Boo and Trev said...

Great pictures. They had some gruesome little things like that at the Wellcome Trust exhibition centre in London. That film was called Vicky Christina Barcelona in the UK. Maybe Vicky is an odd name for Spanish audiances

oreneta said...

Bodhi! HEY!!! I love TO!!!! Meh...... ; p

JG, THAT was the movie I was trying to think of the entire time and just couldn't figure out which one it was....

Beth, the lack of good coffee was frankly a little surreal, though there were some restaurants that may have served it....

elP, when I get a Catalan to do it for me, I'll post it, cause I can't say it right.

Boo and Trev, I am pretty sure it was called Vicky Christina BCN too, and I just remembered it wrong. Also I saw it in Holland not here....I think the guillotine one was from the UK originally.