Barcelona mini-trip report
May 31st, 2005, 07:23 AM
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Barcelona mini-trip report
We lived in Barcelona during 98-00, while completing an MBA. After 5 years, we finally returned to our 5 year anniversary!
First of all, it was great to see how much the airport has changed. It now looks more like a shopping mall than an airport. Lots of opportunities to waste time and spend money with good bargains!
We took a cab (20 Euro) to get to our hotel in Sarria (Hotel Hesperia Sarria, very nice, 150 Euro/nt). After checking in, we just had to go to whatever bar we could find and get some coffee (as good as ever) and tortilla sandwiches.
After walking a bit around Pl. Francesc Macia (still one of the best places for shopping), we walked on Diagonal to Rambla Catalunya. It is amazing how little it has changed. It is still beautiful, and many of the same shops were still there. When we got to the corner of Rambla Catalunya and Mallorca, we stopped for lunch at Cerveseria Catalana. It has to be one of the best tapas bars anywhere. Great montaditos with a cold Aguila... life is good.
We walked around a bit more, until we got too tired to continue, and took the FGC back to our hotel. Living in NY, I completely forgot how nice, clean, user friendly and efficient public transportation is in Barcelona.
After a quick nap, we went for dinner (we ate a lot on this trip
) to Passeig Maritim, to this place called Agua. Very nice setting next to the beach, a bit on the expensive side, and food was good but not great.
Next day, we took a walking tour of the Barrio Gotico, starting with La Rambla (is it just me or are there now a lot more statues and waaay too many guys playing three-card monty?). We saw with dismay that both the Palau Guell and the Cathedral are being restored, so we couldn't take good pictures, but Santa Maria del Mar was as lovely as ever. We went to Placa Sant Jaume, and we saw that the Ajuntement (City Hall) was open, a rather rare event, so we took the free tour. I was surprised at how nice it is.
We went for lunch at La Fonda, on Escudellers. As good and inexpensive as I remembered it. We had a great lunch for two, including sangria, for less than 24 Euro. On the way back to Placa Catalunya, we stopped for ice cream at Colomina, on Portaferissa. They have what's got to be the best ice cream in Barcelona... rich, creamy, amazingly flavorful...
We spent the next couple of days at our class reunion. We did go out for dinner a couple more times, at Carpe Diem on Passeig Maritim (good food, fun, lounge-like place) and at Vivande, in Sarria (great food, nice place, a bit expensive)
All in all, a great trip. I had forgotten how truly beautiful Barcelona is. Great place to live in, and a fantastic place to visit.
First of all, it was great to see how much the airport has changed. It now looks more like a shopping mall than an airport. Lots of opportunities to waste time and spend money with good bargains!
We took a cab (20 Euro) to get to our hotel in Sarria (Hotel Hesperia Sarria, very nice, 150 Euro/nt). After checking in, we just had to go to whatever bar we could find and get some coffee (as good as ever) and tortilla sandwiches.
After walking a bit around Pl. Francesc Macia (still one of the best places for shopping), we walked on Diagonal to Rambla Catalunya. It is amazing how little it has changed. It is still beautiful, and many of the same shops were still there. When we got to the corner of Rambla Catalunya and Mallorca, we stopped for lunch at Cerveseria Catalana. It has to be one of the best tapas bars anywhere. Great montaditos with a cold Aguila... life is good.
We walked around a bit more, until we got too tired to continue, and took the FGC back to our hotel. Living in NY, I completely forgot how nice, clean, user friendly and efficient public transportation is in Barcelona.
After a quick nap, we went for dinner (we ate a lot on this trip
) to Passeig Maritim, to this place called Agua. Very nice setting next to the beach, a bit on the expensive side, and food was good but not great.Next day, we took a walking tour of the Barrio Gotico, starting with La Rambla (is it just me or are there now a lot more statues and waaay too many guys playing three-card monty?). We saw with dismay that both the Palau Guell and the Cathedral are being restored, so we couldn't take good pictures, but Santa Maria del Mar was as lovely as ever. We went to Placa Sant Jaume, and we saw that the Ajuntement (City Hall) was open, a rather rare event, so we took the free tour. I was surprised at how nice it is.
We went for lunch at La Fonda, on Escudellers. As good and inexpensive as I remembered it. We had a great lunch for two, including sangria, for less than 24 Euro. On the way back to Placa Catalunya, we stopped for ice cream at Colomina, on Portaferissa. They have what's got to be the best ice cream in Barcelona... rich, creamy, amazingly flavorful...
We spent the next couple of days at our class reunion. We did go out for dinner a couple more times, at Carpe Diem on Passeig Maritim (good food, fun, lounge-like place) and at Vivande, in Sarria (great food, nice place, a bit expensive)
All in all, a great trip. I had forgotten how truly beautiful Barcelona is. Great place to live in, and a fantastic place to visit.
May 31st, 2005, 07:50 AM
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Interesting report jean_Valjean. Some people have complained about Barcelona but I have had several friends from Italy visit there and they have raved about Barcelona. It sounds like you had a wonderful time. Thanks for sharing!
May 31st, 2005, 09:00 AM
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Well, we met with a few German friends, and while they did agree that Barcelona is a beautiful city, they remembered they had a few pet peeves about it:
a) Sometimes it is hard to get a cab. On saturday night we waited for more than 30 minutes to get one at our hotel.
b) The concept of time is a bit more relaxed than in other countries.
c) Lunch is normal at 2-3pm, and only children have dinner before 9:30-10:00 pm on weekends.
a) Sometimes it is hard to get a cab. On saturday night we waited for more than 30 minutes to get one at our hotel.
b) The concept of time is a bit more relaxed than in other countries.
c) Lunch is normal at 2-3pm, and only children have dinner before 9:30-10:00 pm on weekends.
May 31st, 2005, 09:10 AM
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Jean Valjean,
When you wrote "is it just me or are there now a lot more statues", were you refering to those live statues that we also saw at every block in La Rambla?
If it is, then I agree that we've never seen as much "live" statues in any other major European capital that we've been to.
When you wrote "is it just me or are there now a lot more statues", were you refering to those live statues that we also saw at every block in La Rambla?
If it is, then I agree that we've never seen as much "live" statues in any other major European capital that we've been to.
May 31st, 2005, 12:49 PM
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Yes! There are some of those that are truly great and very creative. I've yet to see better ones anywhere (except probably in Paris).
There was a guy that used to be at La Rambla, he had the most complicated puppet I've seen on a street... it was a frog playing the piano, moving each finger on its hands individually, working the "piano's" pedals with both feet, raising and lowering its eyebrows and opening and closing its eyes... all of this to the tune of Beethoven and Chopin... amazing.
There was a guy that used to be at La Rambla, he had the most complicated puppet I've seen on a street... it was a frog playing the piano, moving each finger on its hands individually, working the "piano's" pedals with both feet, raising and lowering its eyebrows and opening and closing its eyes... all of this to the tune of Beethoven and Chopin... amazing.
