Barcelona

So we set off from our hotel this morning, to do the hop on and off bus tour. It was a short walk to the nearest stop, and we had got tickets at the hotel reception, which we just exchanged when we got on the bus. We just did the one route today - the Eastern side of the City, the Green route. 

We first passed the Bull Ring, which we had seen last night on our way in from the airport. The next major attraction we saw was the Sagrada Familia. This Basilica, still under construction, is very impressive, and we are certainly looking forward to seeing it in more detail later. Later this afternoon, going past it again with the sun in a different direction, the facade we mainly saw looked quite different, and you were able to pick out details we missed this morning.... like the colour in the ornamentation. 

Further on we decided to get off and head for the Tibidabo..... with a view to going up on the funicular railway...... which we did, eventually! The tram that goes from the stop where we got off, up to the railway wasn’t running today, so after quite a walk, up hill, we eventually found where we were aiming for

We went into a cafe with a spectacular view out over Barcelona, for a drink and early lunch, then got the funicular up to the top. Again splendid views, and somewhat incongruously alongside the oldest Funfair in Spain is the lovely Church,  the Temple of the Sacred Heart. We had a wander around, climbed the many steps up and around the church, looking inside this ‘two storey’ church, never seen one before where there is a separate church on top of another.

After a good look around we returned down the funicular, and made our way back down the hill, this time through a Park, quite steep and twisty with rough paths, to the bus route. We had a drink and cake in a small cafe, situated in a building called The Rotunda. Then back on the bus for the rest of the Green route.

This went past lots of the Gaudi buildings, which we will explore further another day, and onto the Paca de Catalinya, the main square.  From here our route took us down to the sea front, past areas that were built for the 1992 Olympics, and past the beaches of Barcelona.

We continued on this route again until we once again returned to the main square, passing places we saw this morning, and picking up information and views we missed first time around!

Getting off the bus, slightly cold, we walked down The Ramblas, one of the famous streets of Barcelona. After a few little excursions onto side streets, we stopped and had tea in a street cafe, very large glasses of red wine sangria and chicken paella - very nice!

Before returning to our hotel we continued down The Ramblas to the sea front, crossed the ‘wooden bridge’ past the Marina for a quick look, and back again, then caught the Metro back.

A wonderful first day in Barcelona, lots of interesting things seen and many more to come!

Today’s total walked is 18,356 steps or 12.89 km

Day 2 - Barcelona City Bus Tour & La Pedrera,

one of Gaudi’s most famous buildings

Today was a much greyer day, and by the time we set off from the hotel and got to the start point for our second day on the hop on and off bus, it was nearly raining. We were doing the Orange Route today, the West side of the City, and were planning to get off at the Nou Camp, Barcelona’s football ground for a visit.

We hadn’t been going long before the rain started, and although the roof was over, it kept coming in the sides, especially when we went around a corner! It wasn’t long before my right hand side was very wet! Eventually, enough people moved downstairs, or got off and everyone left up top was able to move to the inner seat, but by then I was quite wet. We decided to continue on the whole route, rather than getting off, and return to our hotel so I could change.

It was an interesting route, past the Arc de Triomf, and an Avenue of trees, originally installed for the World Expo in 1929. This led to a large Park area, with some interesting looking buildings that are part of the zoo.

Then it was to the waterfront, seeing the cable car going up to Miramar and Montjuic, and so onto the site of the Olympic stadium from 1992. After some time, we saw two towers based on the Campanile tower in Venice, the first Bull Ring, now a large shopping centre, and passed the main train station. Then it was the Nou Camp. We continued on, returning through some quite posh areas, and back to the start of our route. (Bull fighting in Catalonia has been banned for a number of years)

We returned to the hotel, where I had a quick shower to warm up, and change and by this time the rain had stopped! It was coming on for 4 o’clock, and we got the metro and got out at the top of the large street with the Gaudi buildings. It was nice to stroll down this street and get photos of the many striking buildings that we had seen yesterday and today from the bus.

We had decided to visit La Pedrera, one of Gaudi’s most famous buildings. His inspiration for shapes is taken from Nature, and the audio guide was very informative. We started up on the roof, wandering among the many chimney pots, all different shapes and sizes. Next was the attic, a brick vaulted area, with models of his designs on show. Next level down and we saw one of the original apartments, complete with furnishings.

It was very interesting and completely different from other places. The final exhibition was of a Spanish photographer and his photos , mainly taken from early 1960 through to the 80s.

We finished our stroll down this wide street, taking in the buildings, and back on the metro to our hotel.

Day 3 - Barcelona Olympic Park, La Ramblas, and

Magic Fountain in the evening  

Rather grey and wet again to start with today..... but we set off for Montjuic by Metro, and straight onto the connecting funicular railway up to the top! It was raining quite heavily when we emerged out of the station, but we walked up towards the Olympic stadium. 

Just before the Stadium we saw the Museum of Olympic Sport and went in..... a really good place, with lots of information about the Olympics, right from the original games and up to the modern day. Pictures, text and artefacts were well displayed, and there was a constant stream of videos playing around the centre at the same time. There was info about all kinds of Sports, not only those represented at the Olympics. 

Needless to say there was quite an area dedicated to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics as well. Lots of Olympic Mascots, and Torches were on display. A great Museum, and not very expensive.

It was still raining when we came out quite a while later, but we continued on to the Olympic Stadium. This had originally been built for the 1929 World Expo and for Barcelona’s 1936 bid for the Olympics. Barcelona did not win those Games, but was going to host an ‘Alternative Games’ to the 1936 Berlin Games, but the day before the Opening Ceremony Civil War broke out in Spain and so they never happened! For the 1992 Games, the Stadium capacity was increased in size considerably by excavating down!

We had a snack lunch in the cafe in the Stadium, and then continued our walk... down through pathways and escalators (outside), past the impressive building of the Art Museum and so onto the Avenue area where the Magic Fountain is (more about this later!) it was all quite grand.

As it was still wet we decided to go back to our hotel for a bit, and dry off. So we caught the Metro back. Later once the rain had stopped, we set off again. We caught the Metro to the Place Catalonia - this seems to be a pretty central Square, and strolled down La Ramblas and found a pavement cafe for some dinner. Went for Italian today... pizza and ravioli! It was much busier than when we were there on Thursday, with lots showing off their Barcelona shirts, scarves etc! 

We then caught the Metro back to the Magic Fountain area, as tonight there was a ‘show’ from 9 - 10:30 pm, the fountains with lights and music. We got to the raised walkway over the road about 8:30, and finding a place where we could sit on a wall chose our pitch. The main fountain was already going, but only with red! There were certainly lots of people .... both coming and going, and the time passed reasonably quickly, people watching! At 9 the show started, with the large fountain well lit and to the 1992 Olympic theme Barcelona!

We stayed for quite some time watching this. Other smaller fountains surrounding the main one were also going now, and the crowds were enormous. After about half an hour or so, and once again starting to spit with rain, we decided to start making our way back to the Metro station. This was still quite crowded so I think it was probably a good move!

Day 4 - Barcelona - Park Guell and Flamenco Performance

Finally a day that looks like it won’t rain! We decided to go to Park Guell, and so booked tickets on line after breakfast for the ‘Monumental’ part...for 2:30pm. They only let 400 people in this part of the Park each half hour, and you are recommended to get tickets ahead of time.

We enter the Park at a side entrance and try to get our bearings. This Park was designed by Gaudi, and was supposed to have lots of private dwellings interspersed among the Park, but only 3 ‘plots’ sold! The Monumental area which you need the ticket for, at the entrance to the Park has the main areas / buildings created by Gaudi and the rest of the area is planted out, has paths on viaducts built over areas which were interesting.

We have a good wander around, it is very crowded and quite hot. We have allowed too much time before our slot, so spend about an hour sitting on a wall in the shade, listening to some buskers...

Eventually we get in the queue to enter the Monumental area, and it was worth the wait. Lots of interesting shapes and textures which characterise Gaudi’s work, and of course the Salamander fountain and long snake like seating area.

We are off to a Flamenco Performance which we booked this last night. It starts at 9:30 pm! So we set off on the Metro, and find the Theatre..... it is very ornate, and the seats are reasonably comfortable too......

The performance lasts about 1 hour 20 minutes, and is a combination of Flamenco and Opera, a cast of 9,... a pianist, a violinist, a guitarist and a hand drummer, 2 female and 1 male singer and a female and male dancer. It was a really good experience and I’m glad we went.

A few pictures of the Theatre, although we did not photograph the performance....

Today’s total walked is 11.52 km, in the sunshine mainly, which was great although tiring!

Day 5 - Barcelona - Nou Camp tour

We set off for the Nou Camp - home to Barcelona football club.  We had booked our tickets on line, and travelled there on the Metro, and then the bus.

The tour of the stadium and the museum was very good, we had opted for the audio guide...

A very sophisticated smart phone type, but I think we probably missed some of the numbers to put into the system. Still, it was helpful to have an English translation to some of the exhibits. The museum was quite crowded and slow going, with no real obvious route around it, but there were lots of trophies and other memorabilia on display, along with more technological displays.

Once we reached the stadium, we saw the Away dressing room, the press areas and then went out to the stands, and then down to the pitch side. It is huge! It was also in very good condition, not looking like a game had been played there less than 24 hours ago!

Going back into the stands we went right up to the top, and as we had opted for the virtual tour as well, sat on the stands and had 3D glasses and headphones put on us. A short but good virtual experience. The next area was the media boxes and then of course on the way out we had to go through the Shop! All in all a very good tour, of this iconic stadium.

We returned to the Sagrada Familia and took our time to walk around all sides, admiring the building, and the work that is going on. The aim is to complete it by 2026, 100 years after Gaudi’s death. As you look at the various spires and stonework, depending on how the light is on it, you see different details.

We went in for our time slot, and got our audio guide....  Not quite so sophisticated as yesterday’s. We had gone for the option of going up the tower, you go up in a lift... just 6 people at a time, and have to walk back down the steep, winding stone staircase of about 400 steps. When booking the tickets you can chose either the Nativity or Passion facade... we chose the Nativity.

This facade was completed by Gaudi before his death, along with some other parts, but a huge amount has been built subsequently, to his design.

This Basilica really is stunning, unlike any other Cathedral we have seen, and we would like to come back and see it completed!

Day 7 - Barcelona - City walkabout

So our last day was bright and sunny again, we pop up on the hotel again for views across the city. We then set off to Catalunya Square, to walk down La Ramblas to the sea front. Part way down we saw a sign for the Cathedral, which we had thought we ought to visit, so set off to find it. After the first short street, no more signs! After a bit of a wander we thought we had found it, but it was another Basilica, so we wandered a bit more, saw a quite large Square with we think Government buildings, and eventually, after going around in a bit of a circle, found the Cathedral. It was impressive to look at, but had a very large queue to get in, so we opted for a cold drink outside to admire it! 

Back onto La Ramblas, very full of people, and lots of big groups, many of school/college groups. The middle section of this very wide street is pedestrianised, with a one way vehicular route either side. There are lots of stalls in the middle, first of all souvenir types, then a whole section of flowers and plant seeds, then mainly tapas bars. Near the bottom there are street artists, some just selling paintings, some doing caricatures, and other mime and statue artists.

Reaching the sea front we get tickets for a hour and a half boat ride, going about 9 miles along the harbour and beaches, showing off the skyline of Barcelona. It was a lovely trip, finishing back in the harbour and going down through where the cruise boats and container ships dock as well.

Back onto La Ramblas for a late lunch.... about 3:30 pm! Then we decide to go back up to Montjuic, and see this in the sunshine. We catch the Metro then the funicular, and cut down through some gardens to the art building below the Olympic stadium. The fountains are running today and it all looks very nice. Back down the escalators and past the Magic fountain, running but not lit up, and so to the Metro and back to our hotel. We have about an hour or so before we need to head to the airport, and sit and recover from a tiring day.

Today’s total walked 12.7 k

Thank you, Barcelona, we have had a fabulous few days,

what a marvellous city and

we look forward to visiting again soon