Back in February/March 2003, myself and my other half jetted off to Barcelona for a 4-night stay. To be honest it was his Christmas pressy from me – though it was a city l have always wanted to visit!! I was not disappointed.
Booking
Booking was easy – the flights were through Easy Jet from Belfast to Luton and Luton to Barcelona. I’m sorry lm not putting cost in but if Paul reads this he knows how much l spent on his present!! I booked through the web and it couldn’t have been simpler. I know Easy Jet fly to Barcelona from other UK cities such as Newcastle so its best to search and see what bests suits you.
I found our hotel on Time Out web site – although this is only one of a plethora of sites offering to sort you out with accommodation in various European Cities. We stayed at a Buenos Hotel (Good Hotel) supposed to be 3-4 star l would disagree, but in saying that it was clean comfortable and the buffet breakfast surprisingly good.
Getting around in the City
In Barcelona we purchased a 3-day Barcelona card at the train station at the airport. These were extremely good value. The metro was fantastic taking you to wherever you wanted to go with extreme ease. Language barriers were no problem and English explanations were provided. It also provided travel on the buses and trains also. As well as all that free travel we were presented with at discount book, which got us, discount in a variety of tourist attractions, stores, bars and restaurants. Well recommended.
Food and Drink
It’s a cosmopolitan city, what more can l say really? There’s anything the palate can desire – we ate at a lovely Thai Restaurant on the Saturday night of our stay – Thai Gardens – superbly decorated, wonderful atmosphere, attentive staff and glorious food. I did have one mishap; we ate on our last evening in a fusion type place. My Spanish isn’t great and l wasn’t sure at all what to order so l eventually settled on steak tartar – well wasn’t it not a lump of raw minced steak whacked on my plate! Now l hate wasting food, and will always give something a good try before dismissing it – well readers l did try honest, but at times we do eat with our eyes and l just could not stomach this raw meat! The texture really had my tummy doing turns!! In saying this the tiramisu for afters more than made up for it!!
The Sights
I must state from the outset – Barcelona has enough gems packed into her that it could keep you busy for weeks; we only visited for 4 days! So what l am doing is going to pick my 3 favourite sites and describe briefly them.
Sagrada Familia
Probably the city’s most famous land mark. The unfinished cathedral – is a breath-taking site. We visited twice firstly on the Saturday morning just simply to view the spectacular facades and then on a Monday morning to go inside for a closer look. On the Saturday morning, the weather was fantastic, there is a pond across the road from the gothic façade and we simply stood in amazement at this man-made work of art. Beside us local old men were indulging in a strange skittles type boles game, the sun was beaming – it all added to such a magical atmosphere. The queues to get inside were quite bad on the Saturday so we chose to come back on the Monday morning. The cathedral itself is still under construction and you can see for yourself the master craftsmen plying their trades. I would suggest you have a good head for heights when you climb the turrets – l myself do not but Paul ever the mountaineer did and took video footage for me! The cathedral is famous for being the brainchild of the famous architect Anonti Gaudi whose outlandish architecture sets Barcelona apart. The architect is actually buried within the Cathedral. It is hoped that in approx 2020 the Cathedral will finish, and a museum within its grounds show us computer generated images of what the finished product should look like. Entrance price to the Sagrada Famila is approx 6 euros and it can be found at C. Mallora, 401. There is also a metro stop close by of the same name.
Parc Guell
When the weather is good as it was on our visit there is nothing better than visiting Parc Guell. This was probably my favourite sight to visit. So relaxed yet loads to do and see. At the main entrance there is the famous dragon sculpture – although you may not get close to it with the hoards of tourists taking photographs. Its amazingly coloured and seemingly all mosaic tiles. The park is another of Gaudi’s amazing inventions. Originally going to be a housing development for the rich of the city but it fell by the wayside and did not take of as hoped, although it is an amazing tourist attraction now. If we move on up we can see the undulating bench – known to some as the snake bench! If you stand and look out over the city the views are amazing, and again it is in the ceramic mosaic tile style. Also in the park are Gaudis house which has now also been turned into a museum – it wont take you long to see the displays and it gives you a chance to look into the mindset of this genius.
We travelled by and metro to the parc and it took us a good few hours to wander and meander around it. It was perfect for a Sunday afternoon.
Gothic Quarter
This is not so much an attraction stand alone, but a perfect area for exploring around. The area is a concentration of gothic architecture and is just of the main thoroughfare of La Ramblas. I just loved wandering around the dark narrow cobbled streets, which open out onto small squares when you least expected it. We wandering around and found small cafes to sit and watch the world go by. We even came across 2 men playing a clarinet and a push box thingy. Two small girls thought they would get up and dance to the music, it was enchanting. The main square is that of Placa de Sant Jaume where there is a magnificent gothic cathedral and if you get there at the right time on a Saturday evening hear an orchestra play whilst locals indulge in some dancing. Again this simply all added to the ambience of the area. It is advised though not to go wandering alone at night, as safety may not be great.
There are many many other sights to see and do in Barcelona – Montjuci, La Pedrera, Tibidiao, The Aquarium, Picasso Museum, La Rambla, Casa Bartoli, Cable Car rides, FC Barcelona – really the list is endless. There really is so much to see and do, it’s a wonderful city and l cannot wait for a return visit.
There is a host of information available on the city such as www.timeout.co.uk; www.lonelyplanet.co.uk to name but 2. I would most definitely advise purchasing a guidebook – we took the time out guide (cost is about £10) and found it invaluable – a real tourist bible.
So if you considering a city break l really would advise Barcelona it’s amazing.
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