susanna

I was going to do a trip report as we go along but the ipad has totally frustrated me to death. I cant do spell check, it doesnt capitalize or do apostrophes so please bear with all the mistakes

People always ask "will I like Barcelona if I like Paris"....For me the answer has been yes! This is one fabulous place. It is truly a beautiful place, the people are so friendly, the food is wonderful and the shopping is incredible.

I'm going to tell u a little of our trip as it goes along and will fill in when im back home

We arrived last thurs, klm from san francisco through amsterdam. We arrived about 430 in the afternoon at our apartment rented through habitat barcelona. The company was great to deal with, the price was very reasonable,u get what u pay for! We are on Rambla Catalanya at about Diagonal, great location for shopping and eating. The apartment is not to my liking but ill post about that when im home.

We unpack, use an app on my iphone called "around me" and locate a grocery store two blocks away. Its small but we only need breakfast things...we are unpacked, have set up the kitchen and need to find food soon. Its only about 7pm but we only have about an hour left in us until we crash for 15 hours.

We choose Cerveceria Catalana which is a block away. In our jet lag stupor we try to sit at the bar but cant find two seats together and we dont think we can ask someone to move over one stool. Then we see someone leaving the seafood bar and there r two seats but this man with a newspaper waves us away..ok we are tired and dull, we take a table which turns out to be a blessing! We get a menu, we can figure it out cuz it has english translations and the waiters couldnt be nicer. I get a glass of house white wine cuz they only have half bottles of cava(my preferance), my DH a coke lite and we start with fried artichokes,delish!, grilled prawns with garlic and olive oil,calamari roman style, which turns out to be big breaded fried rings of calamari, the waiter suggestes we get the "special" potatoes brava which has the addition of two soft eggs on top,when all mixed together it was heaven, and the tinyest bagette sandwich with bacon and roquefort. Total bill with another wine. 31€. We fall into a very happy coma!

susanna

We wake about 1000 and decide to do the Fat Tire Bike Tour of the city. Weve done this in other cities and its a nice way to see the sites and get a little exercise and fresh air. We havent a clue about the metro yet and dont really know how far the walk to the meeting place is so we cab it. For the locals, i have a question, sometimes we get charged a suppliment and sometimes not. I understand the baggage charge when we had suitcases but today we have nothing and get an extra 2€ charge...why?

We meet at 1100, have a nice group of people, about 15, and were off with our aussi tour guide Buddah! Hes funny, the history lesson is light and informative, it feels great to be outside in the sun! All that bad weather is gone, its a beautiful day! We stop for wine, jambon and cheese and drunk drive to the finish.

We try to find Euskal Etxca but are hopelessly lost, I spot Taller de Tapas, recognize the name and in we go. We sit at the bar cuz its not very busy and have a terrible lunch! I order the plate of the day which is hake and ratatouille, its actually good but they forget to cook it until my DH is finished with his prawns, which are boiled and cold and an odd timbale of eggplant, roasted red peppers and anchovies. Both of his dishes are very bland, with two coke lites its 33€...we wont be back.

We walk around las rambles, the bouqueria, the barri gothic and born... Well really I dont know exactly where we walked but I think it was that. We still have a bit of the jet lag so we decided to head back to the apartment and eat close by. We walk by Gresca and make a reservation for Sat night, by tomorrow Ill be ready for a nice dinner.

The next closest tapas place that I have on my list is Ciudad Condal, about 4blocks away. We arrive around 930 and its packed, we dont have a chance in hell of sitting at the bar, we put our name in for a table, we are told it is a 45 min wait but it turns out to only be 15mins. Apperantly this is related to the restaurant we ate at last night, we dont know this but the menu has lots of similarities and we just figure all tapa places have the same menu (wrong). We have another fantastic dinner,great waitstaff again, this place is really pretty too. We start with grilled mushrooms which we polish off before the little fried baby squid (andeluse style)arrive. We have the mini burger (2) OMG these were the bomb and I will be back for more. They are really tiny, cooked rare the way I love meat on homemade buns with sweet carmelized onions, they are hands down better than the mcfois burger I will have later at tapac24 later, and they are about 2€ !!!! Another tiny baguette sandwich with Mijorcan sausages,finished off with a llemon tart, with 2 wines $33€

A few random thoughts: We have been extremely careful about pickpocketers, but really, for all those worrying, its no worse than any other city. I remember worrying the first time to Rome and this is the same, its just a city!!! Take the usual precautions and u should be fine. My husband is in the "field of crime" he can usually pick them out pretty quick, and yes they are around. Los of them around the outside of Sagrada Famillia, one on a phone came up behind DH, still chatting away but he knew he was up to something, he turned around to face him and the guy turned and walked away, another at the platform for the train, she had a white binder but didnt seem to be too concerned about taking a train. I went to read the board to see which train we would take and DH said she came up behind me, close. I turned around when I heard my name, she turned fast and walked away. We watched her until our train came, she knew we knew, she didnt approach anyone else while we were there. A third time I was texting on the street and sure enough since I wasnt paying attention an older woman came up to me, I just ignored her an walked on. Maybe all these people werent pickpockets but I wouldnt talk to them in my own city let alone here. They are crimes of opportunity,they dont want a hassel,they will move on to an easier target.

Dont give them the opportunity and u will be fine.

Barcelona and the catalonian people like to party. Coming up next: the local carnival parade in Barcelona, the carnival festivities in Vilanova, the over the top festivities in Sitges !

susanna

We are now on Barcelona time and we dont get out of the house ever before 1100, sometimes not till 100. I walk down to Place Catalayna and find the tourist office. A very nice lady who speaks great english answers all my 100 questions! When u stay in an apartment in a new place there isnt anyone to ask simple questions...like can I drink the water from the faucet? She said better not, but I had already and Im here to pass on her advice. She tells me how and where to get the train for my day trips, where to catch the bus for Park Guell, where the parade is tonight,how many children she has and no she doesnt want to join us for coffee.

We are off to the park, great tip to take the #24 bus which lets you off up on top and you walk down to the entrance which we catch right there at place catalanya. Its just a beautiful park, incredible rock formations, the mosaic work is out of this world, Gaudi sure had an eye for color combinations. We are too late to go to the museum, its closes early. Its a clear sunny day and u can see forever from the vistas. We take a cab down to las rambles area and ask exactly where is the parade.

The last few days we have seen lots of people dressed up for carnival, tonight is no exception, we just follow some of them. We end up in the staging area which I find more fun than the actual parades. I love to see them practice their routines,music, dance, I take tons of pictures. Its a small parade but there are tons of people, everyone has their kids in costume, some have matched their costume to their childrens,its a very family oriented affair and a good time is had by all.

Little girls dressed like minnie mouse are the clear favorite!

We stop in Orio in the Barri Gothic(?) we had walked by yesterday and the food on the bar looked great. A friendly waitress says its self serve, take a plate and she'll count the toothpicks afterwards, and do i help myself to the cava, no she'll do that!! I believe we are now having our first taste of the basque food and i cant wait to go there in june! They are all beautiful and we cant decide since we are going out to Gresca in a few hours. We have a cod salad on bagette as well as a fake crab sald, both delish, a pate with sweet jam,a tortilla that is one of the best ive ever had, a nice chat with a belgium couple 13€. i love eating like this,little here little there,hope it doesnt follow me home in my "trunk"!!!

Gresca: very nice place two blocks from home! Its too late for us to eat the 9 course tasting menu(50€) so we just pick and choose. To start we are given two parmigian crisps and a little tase of cod fish with toasted walnuts and yogart sauce. Ive read about the egg souffle with the runny yoke, we both have it, the egg white is whipped and light as air, the yoke is orange, underneath are a few noodles with sauce, yeah it was great. I have the Dorado with grilled onion slices, the fish was seared perfect and undercooked in the middle just the way I like, DH had the sweetbreads cooked the same way on mashed potatoes, both were winners. For desert I had the roquefort biscuit with a sour apple sorbet and DH had a HUGE bowl of warm chocolate molten cake filling( for lack of a better discription) with a dollop of cold sour cream in the middle and fried wheat (like nuts) on top. With two glasses of cava and a bottle of water 90€, a great dinner, very nice waitstaff, all spoke english. I thought this was going to be more molecular but to me it was just modern cooking at its best.

Tomorrow is Sunday and we are going to 2 Carnival celebrations that couldnt be more different.

susanna

Sunday we again get a late start, out by 100. We go to the train station and get tickets for Vilanova which we will stop at first and then move on to Sitges . The train platform is packed, definately looks like halloween with people decked out in every costume imaginable , EVERYONE except us gets on the train to sitges and we are the lone soles waiting for a different train to vilanova....did we make a mistake on the town or the day?

We get to Vilanova and start to walk up to town and its deserted, except for these beautiful colored candy papers, should we just turn around and get back on the train to Sitges, well ,lets at least walk to the town square since the next train isnt until 15 minutes later. The few people I see are in costumes and walking to the train station, I ask "SItges?". "sisisi"

We hear music and the candy paper is getting deeper..the town square is out of control with color, the candy papers are about a foot high, everyone here is in a traditional costume, a huge orchestra is playing music on a stage, everyone is dancing, building human pyramids, its an amazing scene, so glad we didnt leave.

Apparently we missed the activities that started at 900 am but we caught the tail end and Im here to tell you that the next time Im here during Carnival I will be up early . People are burying themselves and their children in the candy, they have moved on to current music , and i am about six inches taller with all the candy stuck to my shoes!!!! Again, everyone is so friendly and welcoming, we dance and take pictures, especially of the candy riot, it breaks up in about an hour and we are back on the train to Sitges.

susanna

Sitges is anything but traditional. We start to walk through town and again we are in the staging area for the parade...but its all children, thousands of children in the most elaborate costumes and make up, its a little weird for me!!! The kids are in varying degrees of age, talent and meltdown!!!!!

We work our way up to a good spot to watch the parade, you cant even move there are so many people here. Where did all these kids come from???? I make friends with a woman,her daughter and grandchild, she tells me that they are all from Sitges....really?? Yes, her other grandaughter is in the parade, and when we finally see her after about two hours we all wave and yell to her and I now feel part of their family.

The kids all had bags of confetti and the streets look like it has snowed. I now have an extra inch of confetti stuck to all the candy on the bottom of my shoes.

Afterwards we find a place to eat and drink cava and wait until the "adult" parade begins around 730. People are pouring into town from the train, the costums are funny, original, scary and downright entertaining, I could just sit here and watch the people all night, but we make our way to the parade route and are not disappointed, it surpasses any pre concived idea I might have had.

First of all the same floats are used as for the childrens parade and Im thinking we will see them again on Tuesday night for the final parade, yup!! They are pulled by these huge tracktors with enormous speakers on the front blasting current dance music, the people are in varying degrees of undress dancing their hearts away. It is probably the most fun I could have on vacation. My favorite are the rythmn drumming teams, amazing, and to see woman playing the BIG drums is fabulous, everyone is equal in this parade!!!!!!

The crowd couldnt be better behaved either, no pushing or fighting, in spite of all the alcohol, everyone is just having a good time...damn do these people like a party. Anyone interested in festivals in Spain should definately try to attend Carnival here, BIG FUN!!!

We hadbought our return tic when we arrived, smart thinking, the line to the train is LONG, but everone waits paitently, especially when out tics wont work at the turnstyle....who knew they were timed for two hours???? The police let us go through dipite our stupidity..lesson learned, muchas gracias!!!

A few random thoughts: the metro is a bit confusing. There are stops with the same names on different lines but it seems to let me out on DIFFERENT blocks...ive used lots of metro systems but this one definately has a learning curve.

For example, passage de Gracia has about three exits about four blocks apart!!

danon

thanks for posting from fantastic Barcelona!

susanna

Youre welcome!,,

Panda: they were definately only one person wide, your pictures are amazing, cant wait to see that, and yes, I got the bug!!!

As Gigi said, yes, the buses are running.

Monday morning we are in chill mode. We are in the too much fun club and need a day off. This is the great thing about being in one place for an extended time, you get to sit back and take a break.

Dh stays home all day and reads. My idea of doing nothing is window and actual shopping. Passage de gracia is a great street to do this on and it also has some of Gaudis homes as well as some very interesting other architecture.

I start at La Pedrera, which my apartment is named after, and I can say my apartment is NO La Padrera!!!!! The line is somewhat long and I have no idea how long it will take so I shop at the store and move down the block to Casa Batilo which has a much shorter line, maybe 10 people.

I have lunch first at Tapac24 . Ive read about the mcfoie burger which I have with the grilled green onions with a romanesco sauce. My burger is cooked rare but honestly I dont taste any foie gras. There is a little knob of fois gras butter to put on my burger but it sort of tastes like creamy liverworst, not what I had in mind. The grilled onions are really good but the sauce is bland With a diet coke 18.50€

I do a little shopping and head to Casa Batilo which will be my favorite of Gaudis works. Its beautiful on the outside as well as the inside. The balconies have these incredible ornamentations that look just like Carnival masks to me, the inside has the most amazing air/light wells in gradiating shades of blue, the house isnt bad either. My favorite part though are these half walls of glass on each floor . If you look through them everything gets blurry and you feel like you are under water. I take movie pictures on my iphone so that I can see it again and again..and to show DH who is missing this

We decide to not eat out tonight and stay in because tomorrow night is the final party in Sitges and I definately want to be there...

susanna

Today we go to see Palau de la Musica, arriving at 115, we get on the english tour at 200. Got up and out late again, we go across the street from the Palau to crapes barcelona and have a nice quick lunch.

The tour is great, starts with a little movie and then we move into the concert hall...its stunning and our guide is very good. Its when we go up to the third floor that I am blown away. Maybe its just being so close to that beautiful ceiling, I dont know, but If I were to go to a concert I would want to sit upstairs.

We go back to the apartment to pick up my new shocking pink wig and the devil horns for DH and head out to Sitges. Besides costumes, everyone has these fabulous wigs in every color imaginable and being a hairdresser I just had to have one!!! Now we look like locals!!!!!!

This is the final parade and I think the last big party of Carnival here, there is a nice buzz and its just fun watching everyone. We find a place to watch the parade where we can sit down and no one can stand in front of us. Again, the music, the floats, dancing and drumming, its all here again. But the real party is the town itself. Every bar and lots of the restaurants have set up shop in the street, selling drinks and food. There are about a bazillion people here, they dont care at all about the parade, it seems to be an afterthought tonight. I particularly love all the drag queens that are here tonight...damn those boys like to dress to the nines!!! Where does one find TWO floor lenght white fur coats???? We need to leave by about 1100 to catch one of the last trains or we will not be able to get back until tomorrow morning! I' m sad to leave but Im well past the age for all nighters so we head out. Every train arriving at that hour is jam packed with party goers, I cant imagine what that town looks like the next morning!!!

Next up: the best and most unusual meal EVER ..... El Celler de Can Roca!!!

uhoh_busted

Clearly not Paris...but Barcelona does hold its own

TDudette

Wonderful TR, susanna. It is the only city in Spain DH and I visited and I'm so glad. I'd be hard-pressed to compare it to Paris though. Guess I'd say if you love cities with unique "stuff", Paris and Barcelona would both have to be included.

njohn12

Yes TDudette I am totally on your side. These two cities are really worthy of being included.

susanna

I woke this morning with the flu, but I think its just a 24 hour bug because at 400 this afternoon im feeling much better.

Unfortunately my restaurant review of El Celler de Can Roca will have to wait because I cant think about food. Especially THAT food orgy we experienced. But I will say my "bimbo" bread and sliced turkey tastes pretty good today. Their white bread brand is "bimbo", bought last thursday when we arrived and is just as fresh today..kind of scary huh?

Thurs i had signed my DH up for a photo tour through the tourist office. I will post his contact informations later.. DH met them at Place Catalunya, there were to be a maximum of 10 people in the tour. He has done this in Paris and really enjoyed it , a great way to see the city a bit differently. Today he is the only one on the tour...he is surprised it is not cancelled!! He ends up with a private tour for 4 hours!!! Paolo was great, he learned tons and took some awsome pics...I will try to post some on line when I get home. I am still in a food coma from yesterday and decide to cancel my reservation at MOO, their other restaurant in Barcelona. For people who say they are having lunch at El Celler and dinner somewhere else I say how could you manage this?? I would not want any other food to cloud my memory of the amazing flavors we experienced...which is why I cancel at MOO, I dont want to compare the two, I will try this place next time. So while he is doing the photo tour I look for a hotel for my three days in June, shop a little more and meet DH afterwards for lunch. I find Euskal Etxea, owned by the same group as Orio and the food looked identical so we try next door at Lonja de Tapas. We both have the menu del dia for 10€... an odd but good goat chees salad with no lettuce, just tomatoes ,olives and cold not hot goat cheese, DH has the creamed spinich cannolonis and I have a grilled cod with mushrooms, orange sorbet and chocolate something, 2 cokes comes to 24€. it was filling and well done but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here.

Dh goes on his own after lunch to take photos with his new found knowledge, I head to Palau Robert to see the (free) exhibit on elBulli and the man behind it Ferran Adria. I plan to just have a quick look and head to the neighborhood Gracia but am totally sucked in and spend a couple of hours looking and reading everything! I think its a terrific show and believe it is there for a year, until next Feb. He is the gaudi of food to me!!!!! And no, I never had the pleasure to eat there.

Afterwards I walk up through Gracia and really like this neighborhood, its charming with smaller streets and way less tourists, I think I might like to stay here. I walk back to my apartment, meet up with DH and we decide to get a drink. We head down to cerveceria catalana for a drink and my mouth is watering for those little burgers but the place is packed out the door, 45 min wait and it is 1000 and we are tired so we decide not to stay. There is a litle place next door to us with tables in the middle of the pedestrian part, La Bodega, time out says its good and uses local ingredients. DH has figured out if we sit opposite out apartment window we can access our wifi!!!! We have cava and a few tapas and look through "paris by color". DH says what a great day, one of my best and I say really? Cuz u spent the whole day without me??? He ment well....I think.

And this morning I am sick as a dog...dont know if was La Bodega or not but the food wasnt so good so I dont think Ill be going back.

We have tics for Sagrada Familia at. 100 today and no matter how bad I feel I am not going to miss the inside. We walked by last night to see it all lit up, it lookes much bigger at night!!
OMG, the inside is such a surprise!!! It is smaller than I thought, brighter than I imagined, so serine. I cant imagine anyone only seeing the outside and not coming in. The stained glass windows have got to be my favorite in the world. The colors are amazing and I love that there arent picturse, but just a feeling...and yes I felt them!!! I did manage to go up the nativity side and walk down but that was the end of my day, back on the metro and another bimbo half sandwich!!! It was worth it, Im glad I dragged myself there.

A few random thoughts: my street, ramblas de catalanya is a pedestrian street, but, it is flanked by a row of traffic on each side and has tons of cars,taxis,scotters and delivery trucks!

The weather today is in the high 60's yet most people have on coat,scarf ,boots....like its freezing, and they look at us funny because we dont wear our coats today.... This is as hot as it gets most days in San Francisco!!!

So since we really look like tourists today, when we get off the metro a young fellow walks past us and immediately turns around behind us...to follow us I guess...and we both turn around and say "Really?" he looks shocked and almost runs out of the metro with his head down, be both laugh that we think so much alike!

ozgirl

Great trip report Susanna, we will be there in June so finding this very interesting. My DH will be interested in the photo tour but I want to know about the SHOPPING! What have you purchased or are you still sussing out? Shoes hopefully?

TDudette

susanna, hope it wasn't the water. bimbo bread is in Mexico also and I saw a bimbo truck in Annapolis Maryland recently.

We experienced the same surprise in Greece in May-the temps were in the 80s and just lovely but the natives, used to temps 20-30 degree higher weren't quite as warm as we and still wore their winter coats. Perspective is everything, eh?

Feel better please.

susanna

Oz: unfortunately for you the sales will be over at the end of the month!!! I bought 3 purses and wallets fornthe both of us as well as a few things for our home...the prices are great even without the sales and the selection rivals Paris! No shoes though..

Tdudette|. Thanks for the good wishes, unfortunately the flu is hindering our last few days . Yes, it is all in the perspective, I cant imagine beeing cold in 80degrees!!!!!

SusanInToronto

Loving this trip report! I am hoping to take my husband to Barcelona in October to celebrate a milestone birthday of his. Thnaks for posting.

mvor

Thanks for your report and great food and Carnival recs.

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't like the apartment; we stayed there two years ago and will again in a couple of weeks so am eager to hear your review (especially since I've rec'd it here).

Hope you feel better asap, it stinks to be ill on holiday.

Nikki

I'm also sorry you aren't liking the apartment, and I feel a bit responsible, as I stayed there and posted I liked the place. Glad you're enjoying the city though, and I am wishing I could pop over to Cerveceria Catalana right now for lunch.

opaldog

I am also interested to hear why you aren't liking the apartment as we had a great stay there. We're heading back to Paris and Barcelona November 2012 and are seriously considering staying there again.

susanna

Ok, I am sending Habitat Barcelona a letter with this info and I am hoping that this is not the quality of all of their apartments because I really liked working with them, payment was easy, they were on time to meet up with us and the price was right and they have a great collection of apartments to choose from.

Nikki, opaldog and mvor: I really liked the location, the size of the apartment, the building was very nice too. What I am thinking is that they don't check up on the apartments and since you have stayed there it has just had too much use and is run down. I could also be pickier than most! The pictures on the web also are different, they show things that are not there now, my thinking is that they broke and they were just removed.

Here is my letter to them telling them about the problems. No, I didn't call when we were there because we were just so busy and really, the things I didn't like weren't going to get fixed in a day. They weren't things I couldn't live with, just irritating. I have always had better luck renting from an individual than a company so I just figured this was the problem.


The pedrera apartment is a broken mess, let me tell you the problems

First of all there is an electric heater, which was on when we arrived. We turned it off, the apartment was too warm but the air conditioner would not go on, in fact in the eleven days we were there we never heard it go on once nor did we hear the heater go on, is it out of order? The windows in the bedroom would not open so we often had to sleep with the living room window open.

The bathroom is a disgrace, there is mold all over the shower, the toilet leaked all around the basin on the last day, it had a sour sweet smell in the whole bathroom. The shower also leaked water onto the floor.

The bedroom, well the two twins stuck together failed to stay together because lack of a mattress pad with the foam insertion to keep it together. One lamp was a mess with no shade, apperently broken and the shade was in the kitchen closet, the other lamp has a short in it and flickers.
When the maid changed the sheets she put the wrong size on, way too small, so it constantly came off, very frustrating to say the least.

The kitchen faucet is a wreck, it shoots water everywhere, its the wrong size for the sink, the dishwasher is lacking the front panel, the garbage can is completely broken, the lid is always falling off, cupboards dont have handles, the coffee pot is somewhat broken but works.

The front windows show a nice view with shades, but we had dirty metal shutters that neither stayed open or would fold back all the way, didnt want to really touch them too much because of the dirt.

The television is possessed, turning on by itself many times, day and night, all the remotes were dead, and the buttons on the side would neither change the channel or volume.

Another concern was accessability to my apartment. You said it would be cleaned on Thurs, but instead it was cleaned on WED and we were not notified. The maid left the dirty towels, sheets and rags by the front door for two days, then came into our apartment when we weren't there to pick them up. When we forgot the number to the safe and called, instead of emailing it to us you just told us, it could have been anyone calling!!!!

I'm surprised at the positive comments on your website on this apartment and don't feel mine will be favorable, will it be published or do you edit them?

Mvor: If you are staying there in a few weeks my biggest complaint would be the bathroom and the mold in the shower corners, the toilet only leaked out the bottom one day but the tile around the toilet said it wasn't the first time this has happened, the kitchen faucet and garbage can need to be replaced .