We'll be in Barcelona for business but have managed to arranged a weekend visit before our meetings. Any suggestions for a Sunday visit?
It will be our 42nd wedding anniversary that day.

Thanks for your help.

There are hop on hop off bus lines, the red and the blue. You pay one fee and you can ride all day to different sights. It's a great way to see all the Gaudi architecture and different parts of the city.

A perfect Sunday in Barcelona?

Author: JuneAnn
Date: 08/14/2006, 09:25 am

I forgot to tell you that we'll be there in September.

===================================

Posting your post-script here. This is how you add more info to your own post... by "replying to yourself"...

Best wishes,

Rex

Thanks Buongiorno..good idea.
Rex, thanks for the tip.

Sundays here are really quiet and nice, so I would:
1) sleep in and then do breakfast on a terrraza somewhere on the upper Passeig de Gràcia.
2) wander down to the beach and enjoy a nice long walk.
3) make lunch reservations at someplace amazing (cinc sentits, for example) and eat there.
4) take a nap (I like to take them on the beach, but you can always go back to the hotel.
5) spend the afternoon walking around, doing some shopping and such, and just enjoy my time with hubby.
6) Dinner up in Tibidabo with a view of the city at night.

With the greatest of respect for Laclaire who is fortunate enough to LIVe there, the LAST thing I would do is "sleep in" with only a short amount of time.

Otherwsie I think the recommendations are good.

If you gave us a little more information as to your interests, JuneAnn, it might help a bit.

We love Gaudi, shopping (at least I do), people watching, wonderful food and really good wine. We will be staying near the Convention Center.

Thanks for helping.

Dukey- I thought of that, but Sundays are so dead here that I think the way to resolve them is to stay up late on Saturday night having a great dinner and then going home and having great sex knowing that you don't have to worry about being tired the next day.

September is a slow month as everyone is back at work and there are not a lot of tourists (compared to summer), and Sundays in September are lazy but beautiful. Will you folks be here for the Mercè festival?

No, we'll be there around the 10th of September. I looked it up and the festival will be held from the 22nd of September.

OK. That is probably best for a short visit. Mercè means lots of noise, people, late nights partying and quite a few closed businesses.

I stand by my itinerary as a good one, though I might add a walk through the Ciutadella park.

It's never too early for Barcelona!

Last month we arrived in BCN very early on a Sunday morning. After dropping off our bags at the hotel (near Placa Catalunya) we hiked over to see the Sagrada Familia.

The walk, although long, was lovely at that hour. The streets were ours alone, no traffic, the city was just barely waking up.

We were one of the first to enter, before the crowds; the feeling was very surreal. Plus, it was a great opportunity for photos. After an hour or so, the tourists (esp. the tour groups) started to swarm in, and the mood was lost...

On the way back, on foot again (!), we stopped several times for photos of a park, or a fountain, or a bird, or an ornate doorway, again unhindered by crowds...

We ended up at Ciudad Condal for tapas & San Miguels. What a fantastic little restaurant! It was the best meal of our stay...

After that, naps in our hotel & showers to freshen up. A quick walk down & back up Las Ramblas to see what the hype is all about (absolutely nothing IMO & a total waste of time). We found ourselves at the Cathedral & parked on a bench in the Placa; there was a classica guitarist playing, parents with their adorable babies, old folks passeando, it was all VERY relaxing. And very romantic. Walking around the Gothic quarter, peeping in on a Mozart concert in Placa del Rei, window- shopping on the little sidestreets...

Unfortunately, we had a terrible dinner so I cannot recommend anything...

Walkng back to Placa Catalunya, with the fountains all lit up...

Barcelona has graet things to see, great things to eat & drink, great streets for strollng around & holding hands...

I hope you have a wonderful anniversay.

I recommend the Bus Turistica as a great way to see as much as you want, and rest between stops. See http://www.beginningwithi.com/travel/barcelona.html for my detailed travelogue on the few days we spent in Barcelona around Easter, including videos if you want a preview of the various sights.

best regards,
Deirdré Straughan

beginningwithi.com

My last time in Barcelona, a cousin took me to a vegeterian restaurant 'Frescos' for our midday meal and we took a bus from there up to Parc Guell. The time before that we dined on seafood in Barceloneta.

It surprises me that nobody has listed Parc Guell in their replies, or the Cathedral (no, not Sagrada Familia) where you might see people dancing the Sardana (Catalan 'line dance') Sunday evening.

That's what we did on a Sunday morning in September in Barcelona. Woke up early, had some churros and chocolate at a nearby coffee shop/bar, went to the cathedral, attended mass, and then watched and participated in the Sardana dancing. It was a lot of fun.

Oh, and the sex the night before was great , too.

Las Ramblas is to be experienced for yourself, not avoided because someone else didn't get it. It is fairly unique. The magic fountain is well worth the experience in the evening when it is lit up and the music show is on but I'm not sure if they do it on Sunday. There are many experiences in Barcelona. Pick what appeals to you the most.

Baldworth

The hop on hop off sounds like a great idea. Also Park Guell, Gaudi buildings, the Sardana dancing and lunch near the sea. I also found out that the tapas resturant at the Hotel Arts is open on Sunday evening. That could be a nice place for a light meal and drinks.

Now I'm sorry I didn't know about the dancing!

Re. La Rambla - fine for walking, terrible for eating. Go anywhere else to eat.

The dancing in front of the cathedral at noon is one of my favorite memories about Barcelona. I prefer to not intrude and be a spectator. What makes it so special is that Franco's dictatorship outlawed the custom because it was so regionalistic. hard to think of this Sunday ritual as threatening, but those were the times. Please do tip when the basket is passed around to pay the band.

nedsireland:
>>>It surprises me that nobody has listed Parc Guell in their replies, or the Cathedral (no, not Sagrada Familia) where you might see people dancing the Sardana (Catalan 'line dance') Sunday evening>>>.

I beg your pardon..on JuneAnn's original thread, I went into a long description of the Sunday morning folk dancing in front of the Cathedral(not evening).as well as Parc Guell...(how can anyone skip that place?)

Stu T.



I beg your pardon

Aleta,

You posted "The dancing in front of the cathedral at noon is one of my favorite memories about Barcelona. I prefer to not intrude and be a spectator."

I'm telling you, the locals really didn't mind it if you joined. When we were pulled to join by locals, we were apprehensive but eventually caved in. It;s wasn't hard at all and they (locals) were more than glad that we joined. Try it the next time you're there. You might actually enjoy it more and definitely feel that you are not intruding.