Well I never been to Spain
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there
And they sure know how to use it
They don't abuse it
Never gonna lose it
I can't refuse it
Anyone been to Barcelona????
by Crumpet 28 Replies latest jw friends
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blondie
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rebel8
I spent a semester there in college. It was heavenly. Lowden already told you the places to see...if you can still climb to the top of the towers at Sagrada Familia, I highly recommend it. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, kinda feels like you're standing inside a cloud.
There is also the Basque country not too far away, if you're into machine guns (from what I've heard anyway--the college wouldn't let us go).
(Paris...not so much...IMO.)
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lowden
I don't think so!!!! Paris is second rate to Barcelona!
PAH!!
Even the language is nicer. The French tend to sing their words, whereas the Spanish machine gun ya with a ratatatat of aggresive syllables...especially the Catalans
Lowden
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lonelysheep
A woman at my job went to these recently:
Miraventwww.miravent.com
Botafumeiro
Ristaurante Bilbao Berria
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stillajwexelder
Anton GAUDI'S magnificent La Sagradia Familia is an absolute must see
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greendawn
I went to Barcelona in May 2002, its a nice city but certainly not in the class of Paris. Because trains in Spain were so cheap we used to stay in a town about 20 minutes from Barcelona and commute in every day straight to the centre, the ticket was 4 Euro return. Saved a lot of money on hotels and car parking which was 20 Euros per day in the centre. We enjoyed walking around the city, the Rambla with all the street artists all the way to the old port and the city's central park. The fruit market was so cheap with mushrooms and asparagus costing around £1 per kilo. But there are lots of pickpockets and thieves that swiftly snatch unattended belongings, nearly had my travel bag stolen at an internet cafe but a Spanish girl sitting on the computer next to me saw them and stopped them. She told me that all the scum of Europe descend on Barcelona every Summer and carry out a lot of petty crime. So be careful with your personal belongings.
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diamondblue1974
I have to disagree with Lowden on this, Barcelona is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited, although admittedly I havent yet been to Florence or Venice.
I went nearly two years ago and loved every minute of it.
One way you can get to see all the sights is by taking a bus tour round the whole city; they are really frequent and take you round all the main tourist attractions (as well as a few not so well known ones too); its about £20 for a two day pass but well worth it. You can get off the bus at any time and simply wait for the next one to come when you have finished seeing whatever it is you wanted to see. It makes for a great day out sight seeing!
La Ramblas is amazing for its street theatre, local stalls, and cafes where you can watch the world go by. Personally speaking I think you get just as many pickpockets in London and as long as you are vigilant you shouldnt have a problem. There is a problem with begging and they can be quite aggressive but if they dont go away after a polite request or do not accept what ever small offering you have given them, they seem to understand 'F**k off' particularly well.
Gaudi's cathedral is certainly a highlight and once you have seen it you will start to see his influence on architecture right throughout the whole city; you must also go and see the gothic quarter of the city (its apparently the oldest) but its beautiful and full of bars and restaurants and not badly priced either.
If you want a decent meal (and prepared to pay for it) go to the harbour which is at the bottom of La Ramblas and there is a selection of great seafood restaurants where the service is excellent.
Easyjet have a number of excellent hotels in their selection- whatever arrangements you make, enjoy!
Gary
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Crumpet
I have to thank you all for your excellent suggestions for viewing Barcelona. I have to say that in my opinion Barcelona is a finer, friendlier and more beautiful city than Paris and a lot cleaner too.
DB74 - I pretty much did everything you suggested so thank you very much indeed. I hope its not long before you get to go again and show it off to your lovely lady!
I was paranoid about the pickpockets and street crime by the time I heard the same thing here and everyone else I mentioned it too who had been. However perhaps my extra caution paid off. We were targeted by a triangle of 3 shortly after arrival as Mr C made the schoolboy error of pacing a street corner yapping loudly on his mobile phone in a way that must have said "HEY I'M A TOURIST - COME STEAL MY STUFF!" which we only thought of afterwards. I noticed he was being watched by a man in a leather jacket rather intensively and foolishly my instant reaction was - oh my god "Barca is full of barking gays!" Says a lot really - ordinary person sees prospective theif - crumpet sees sexual predator! LOL.
Anyway - the call ended. I kept throwing angry looks at leather man over my shoulder. then as we crossed the road towards the Casa Batilla opposite our hotel i noticed someone else appeared to be following us - a weasley little guy in trainers. We got in the ticket queue and a smart looking bloke appeared to push in the queue beside us. He was carrying an empty laptop bag. I glared at him too - I tend to glare a lot actually - because i didnt know the Spanish for "F**k off mate and get to the back of the queue." Anyway Mr C turned and folded his arms and glared too and the man disappeared off across the road to reconvene with weasley bloke and leather jacket man. I watched them later from inside Gaudi's Batilla stalking other prey. I wanted to catch them at it and even looked up the word theif ready to raise the alert, but the interior of Casa Batilla soon took my mind off it.
Other than this episode I am happy to report no criminal activities to us and I actually felt incredibly safe wandering the streets at night. Much safer than I would in London.
Aside from thanking you guys for your hints, one or two people here and on other boards have asked what there is to do in Barcelona for their future trips so I'll list a few things I tried that were good and hope that is helpful.
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Crumpet
Where to Stay
We stayed at the Hotel Majestic http://www.hotel-majestic-barcelona.com/ - a 5 star deluxe hotel which is excellently situated. You have plenty of shops - although they were mainly the boutiquey kind that I can only drool over the contents of, but more importantly dozens of eateries and only a few minutes from las ramblas - in fact its just a straight walk down the street to get there.
Remember 5 star in Spain is not equivalent to 5 star in the UK or America. I would say its more like 4 star and the rooms in Europe are always a lot smaller than the States. We had a balcony 6 floors up overlooking the city and I could have spent hours on it - in fact I did - just admiring the view, the bustle and excitement of the morning, the sun going down etc. It is very noisey due to traffic but the balconies have double doors which shut out al the sound. However even in March it was warm enough to sleep with the doors open.
The hotel has the best if not the only roof bar in he city, with a heated pool and sauna and superb views. Even if you are not staying here you can get a drink on the roof - but bear in mind it closes at 10pm. You also get the excellent view of Casa Batllohttp://www.gaudiallgaudi.com/AA006.htm from above which is one of Gaudi's most spectacular and beautiful townhouses.
If I went again I would probably spend at least one night here at the Hotel Claris though which is nearby http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/hotels/claris-hotel-barcelona.html. its not as impressive from the outside but the interior looked really interesting with lots of contemporary art on display.
Remember there are lots more better value hotels in the city, but I personally feel for location this particular street is unbeatable - Place de Gracia. You are also just a few doors down from another of Gaudi's designs - Casa Milla http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Casa_Mila.html which is a must see. It also had the best souveneir shop that i found in barcelona so I managed to get all my gifts from here. Not cheap but also not your typical rip off tourist tat and it had some intrguing clockwork toys.
Where to eat
The hotel majestic has a Michelin starred restaurant, which begins with starters at 45 euros for the starter - thats about £30 or $60, outrageously expensive, but its rumoured pavrotti has eaten there and Madonna and its extremely exclusive. I couldnt justify that cost even for Mr C so we took a wander and ate for 54 euros - 2 courses and a bottle of Vina Esmeralda at Citrus http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Spain/Catalunya/Barcelona-274654/Restaurants-Barcelona-Citrus-BR-1.html. I think its part of a chain but the food was good enough. Try the citrus heuvas, which is a lovely but filling and quite oily eggs and potato starter.
One thing I would say is do not eat Steak when in Spain - their beef just is not the same as in the UK or the states - its quite gamey and just has a funny aftertaste and is never as tender.
One day we followed DB's suggestion and found a restaurant down on the marina where I had just the most filling meal! I have to say the Mixed Paella was not the best - too much boney pork and gristle and not enough seafood. Opt for a seafood only paella when you can. We ate at the Chipiron and i'd give it a 3 out of 5. Look out for dodgey rose salesmen who will come up and try and extort money from you. In the end I had to tell him to piss off - it tends to work in most countries. I always try the polite refusal first but they seem to think Brits are pushovers. I am trying to re-create that identity! LOL! Also if you do eat outdoors at the marina harbour area see if you can get under a parasol or roof overhang or just look out for seagulls plops!
I am ashamed to say one of my fave places that I ate was something called Le Vac a Pac or similar on the same street as the hotel - it was an all you can eat buffet. And there was everything for 12 euros and you could go up as much as you liked. One waif thin chinese girl ate two huge plates of pizza and rice before I had even made inroads. She looked slightly embarrassed when I caught her eye but then we both laughed (there is a special bonding between food lovers I think) and then she went and had stacks of icecream and then returned for spaghetti bolognase. I knew I had to back out quietly! But eating in Spain on a budget is very easy indeed.
For ice cream lovers try NO NO which has dozens of different flavours or just escape into the cool air conditioned and simply but tastefully bandaged chairs for a cup of earl grey.
Do take
Make sure you take a good guide book - we used the http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barcelona-Eyewitness-Travel-Guides-Williams/dp/1405310936/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b/203-2669397-1035967?ie=UTF8&qid=1173171816&sr=1-3 which is detailed enough to even tell you where the staff might be a bit surly!
and of course a good map - this one gives you a good over view of the main tourist attractions http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/maps/barcelona-map.html and should you choose to take the bus turistic you will get a map then anyway.
Bottled water - I made the mistake of drinking a load of tap water at the hotel and am still suffering the consequences!
A Phrase book - everyone likes it when you speak a bit of their language and you get much better service. I found my efforts were warmly rewarded and i actually felt quite confident with my pidgeon spanish by the end of the trip. Most people do speak good English, but make the effort anyway - and always greet people - especially the hotel porters and receptionists. They seem to appreciate it.