BARCELONA

BARCELONA

Barcelona, what a beautiful country! Barcelona is a tourist heaven because of its beauty, but most especially because it hosted the Olympic Games in its spectacular stadium.

THE JOURNEY


I remember clearly that Barcelona seemed so far from everywhere and the tickets were quite expensive too, all the same husband and I were determined to make this trip, I believe he was more interested in seeing the stadium that hosted the games,( men and football, roll eyes)

Note; this was one trip where we decided to take the bull by the horns and not learn a word of the language before going.

ABOUT THE LANGUAGE



There appears to be a little controversy about the language spoken in Barcelona, I naturally assumed that it would be Spanish, since it is in Spain, but the natives speak both Spanish and Cataluña-which sounds just like Spanish to me (what do I know!).

AIRPORT


We arrived at the Barcelona International Airport (El Pratt), and were overwhelmed by the amount of Spanish that we heard; in fact all the signs were in Spanish with a little English tucked at the side sometimes for the gullible tourists. Words like Entrada, Partida, Venida, Escalera etc, are just the introduction to your first Spanish language course. For those that paid attention while watching the famous TV programme; Sesame Street, what you learned there will definitely help.

We successfully left the airport and decided to go on a little adventure by taking the bus to our hotel instead of a taxi. We found the bus easily and the adventure began.



Being in the bus was fun. I watched the natives chatter and banter; there was never a dull moment. I also picked up some more words I heard often from conversations; poco, autobus, libre and so on. I got the impression that the Spaniards are a very warm and endearing people.




HOTEL






barcelona Sants hotel at night





Our hotel was in the heart of the city near the metro and the bus station. Actually let me rephrase that, the hotel, Barcelona Sants, a lovely and well priced hotel; is located above the metro and guess what? not a single sound is heard from the hotel. The hotel location was perfect for us because it meant we could stroll to the station at our leisure.
After admiring the hotel and relaxing, we eagerly wanted to explore the sounds and sights of the city and also to look for typical Spanish food to eat.



FOOD



So map in hand, we set off. While digesting the beauty of Barcelona, we discovered a nice looking Spanish restaurant to eat and ordered one of the paella’s-a Spanish plate that consists of coloured rice and seafood. The good part about ordering food is that the pictures of the meals are on the wall, so you know exactly what you are ordering.

If per adventure you pick a restaurant that has no pictures describing the food (as we once did) then be sure that you are not very hungry at the time, because, all explanation will be given in Spanish and if the waiter notices that you do not understand it will be described again to you in louder Spanish.
There are also a nice range of restaurants to pick from like Lebanese, Chinese, Indian, Thai, and Spanish-of course, so one is spoilt for choice.

At this point, we were ready to fully explore the town and being an art lover we decided to explore the works of the famous artist Antonio Gaudi.


ART - ANTONIO GAUDI








La Sagrada Familial





Antonio Gaudi is a famous Spanish artist, whose works (in my opinion) are beautiful, marvelous and outstanding. Gaudi started the design of the famous church called La Sagrada Familial in 1882. He also has several works scattered around Barcelona
Here are some pictures of his works below.



















Inside la sagrada


















Exterior of La sagrada










Exterior of La Sagrada
















Exterior of La Sagrada







Barcelona has got a number of parks, shops, museums and some markets. Some of these places are close to one another. Let’s start from the market.



LAS RAMBLAS



MARKET



The market is in an area called Las Ramblas. It is very noisy, rowdy, lively and there are lots of performances from various acts such as clowns, dancers, and acrobats to fascinate one. We watched a Michael Jackson performance by one of the acts, who blatantly refused to perform until he had collected money from the crowd. It is very easy to get carried away and picpocketed in this gathering. Tourists are strongly advised not to take jewellery to Las Ramblas.


Market entrance








SHOPS



Various shops like Zara (my favourite) and Mango are here. I never seem to be able to pass a Zara shop without going in and shoe shops are my thing. I love shoes, for me, it’s like eating a meal. A friend of mine who had to go shoe shopping with me once asked me “were you barefooted in your former life?”
Anyway, there are lots of lovely shoe shops in Spain and the shoes are very creative too.




AROUND PARROQUIA SANTA MONICA



Parroquia Santa Monica is a church surrounded by lovely art and parks. It is a good place to rest aching feet or have a picnic, after walking through the shops and market. The air is cooler and it’s much quieter.







Santa Monica




































CITY VIEW



If you wish to have a better view of the city, there is a tower (don’t know what it’s called), where you can see Barcelona at its best.

We did go up the tower (you have to pay) and got a breath taking view of the city; it was this view that made us decide where next we would like to see. When we were ready to descend, a scary thing happened. We pressed the button of the lift and waited with the other tourists (none of whom could speak English), the lift did not arrive. After 20minutes, the lift still did not arrive. Now imagine a scenario, where you are trapped in a high tower, with very little space, hardly any air, no space to even sit down (yeah, that’s how tight it was) and guess what happened in my mind? I started to wonder if we had been held hostage (remember the movie with the French and American couple that got divorced and the wife was held hostage in a tower). Freaky right, but, it was scary .After a while some of the tourists started to bang the elevator door (like that would help).The lift eventually came about 45minutes after and some explanation was given, but it was in Spanish. Shrug. I got out after seeing enough of the city from above. So much for a view.








Arial view






























Arial view







Arial view






THE FOOT BRIDGE



From the view above, we saw a foot bridge with a sea front and decided to find it. This bridge is just another one of the wonderful things in Barcelona. You can sit down at the edge of the bridge and put your legs in the water. The pictures below fully explain.




Foot Bridge.




ARTIFACTS



Upon leaving the foot bridge, we stumbled upon a small Mexican artifacts open air market where valuables are sold. I believe the traders are either pirates or gypsies. There was an Egyptian bronze head, looking really expensive for a give away price. No we didn’t buy it because it was too heavy to put in our suitcases. Yes I bought a pair of stone pendants and a few other things.






The artefacts market






THE COMMERCIAL STREET- AVINGUDA DIAGONAL



Avinguda diagonal is the commercial street in Barcelona. It is a very long street with more shopping malls and impressive buildings. There is nothing really special about it. It’s just good to say, I was there.






Avinguda Diagonal






BARCELONETA BEACH



The beach is in a semi circular shape. Take your sunshades and a mat to lie on and get ready to compete for space, because there are loads of people there trying to get a tan.
















FINAL NOTES

Barcelona has got so many attractions that it is almost impossible to see it all in one visit.
My two pennies worth of advice is to try not to overdo it and take a day at a time.
It’s good to follow the tourists sometimes it definitely will lead you to some other attraction you never knew existed.

Yemisi