Friday October 29, 2004

Barcelona break

Just got back from a short week in Barcelona . The first thing to say is it is a long time since we have visited a big city as tourists. So it took us a few days to get acclimatised to the city feel, the crowds (although it was not that busy), the traffic, the beggars and tramps and perhaps a bit of claustrophobia thrown in as well.

We landed on our feet by finding an excellent apartment on a square named after George Orwell (prebooked) . The apartment was found by using This apartment company . Our friends have used them several times and stayed in good places. The apartment was nice and central right next to the famous Ramblas.We flew in to the city using Easyjet from Gatwick. I was impressed by the services and efficiency of the airline this being our first use of a budget airline. It was even better as we were flown to Barcelona on one of Easyjet's new Airbus A319 airplanes.

On arrival to Barcelona we took a 30 minute taxi ride to our apartment, but could also have taken the bus or train. The apartment was spacious and well presented. The bedroom being at the back of the building meant most of the noise from the square was muffled. Might be worth asking for such a room if staying in a hotel. Barcelona goes to bed VERY late...

On the first day we got our bearings and walked to the seafront and took the cable car from the Torre de Sant Sebastia, at the foot of Barceloneta, to Montjuic, with a stop in the middle at Torre de Jaume 1, in front of the World Trade Centre on the moll de Barcelona. Even in the rain there were impressive sights of the city. As you walk to the cable car stop you can visit Placa del Portal de La Pau where a tall column with Christopher Columbus on the top looks over the sea . He is rather blackened by pollution and sadly his head is covered with bird mess which is white and looks rather peculiar... A lift takes to to the top if you wish.

We then took a walk up La Rambla. This in our opinion is a bit over hyped. There are some stunning buildings along its streets and the painted human statues are fun to look at, but other than that it is a place where you have overpriced restaurants, people selling useless items and a general seedy feeling to the place. If you do visit it, do pop into the all day market Mercat de la Boqueria. The fish stalls are particularly fascinating.

During our stay we knew our nephew was also in the city with his school Dulwich College . The school was combining a sightseeing tour with several concerts in public places and we went to one of them. It was excellent and was well received by the locals.

During our stay we went to several of Antoni Gaudi's buildings and sites. The most famous must be the part finished cathedral Sagrada Familia . An impressive building due to be finished in 2030. You must do the climb of four hundred steps through four of the towers. It is not as bad as it sounds as there are so many people with you so the steps are taken at a slow pace allowing time to rest. Sadly the inside of the towers have been ruined by graffiti and then to make matters worse, people have filled some of the holes with chewing gum!

We also visited Gaudi's apartment block La Pedrera . One apartment is open for tourists and looks like it did when the block was finished. I liked the curved hall as it gives the apartment a larger feel to it as you cannot see the end of the hall as you walk along it. The attention to detail is also stunning. Finally the visit to the roof is mind boggling - who says chimneys have to be boring...

Finally on the Gaudi tour went to . This park offers stunning views of the city and also gets you away from the traffic. Gaudi was not the only Modernista building architect. There are plenty of others to see in the city too including the Palau De La Musica Catalan . We tried to get in but we were too late.

From Barcelona we went to Montserrat to visit the village clinging to the mountain.In the Basilica is the Black Madonna . The trip gets you out of the city, a fifty minute train ride and then a cable car or shuttle train ride to the village. If the weather is good you will get excellent views around.

Other places to visit are Barcelona Cathedral, do cover your legs and upper body otherwise you will not be let in. A lift takes you up on the roof again giving you excellent views. Sadly the front of the cathedral was undergoing building works and was hidden by scaffolding. The Parc de la Cuitadella and the adjoining Passeig de Lluis Companys are also worth seeing.

I would recommend avoiding eating on the Rambla.We found an excellent pizza place on our George Orwell square. We had tapas at TallerdeTapas which was also popular with the locals. A lot of the popular places to eat really do NOT open until 8.30/9pm ! You will also find you cannot book so have to queue. People were standing outsideS some of these places until after 11.30pm. The Spanish win the award of the queueing nation of the world. We also found a great place that did 'fusion' food; Matsuri Pl. Regomir 1 BCN. For lunch go to a local bakery and enjoy a freshly made baguette etc.

For getting around, your feet should be able to cope but the Metro is excellent to save your legs. It is easy to use and I would recommend buying a travel card.

Personal safety. Having heard several real horror stories from friends about pickpockets, muggings etc we went prepared. We both took money belts with as little as we needed for the day and I had our digital camera in my pocket with my hand permanently clasped around it. We also avoided dark small streets at night. We treated the airport with the same care too. I think perhaps the peak season for pickpockets is when the streets are very busy.

One final thing - it does get very hot in the summer - in late October it was a comfortable twenty degrees centigrade but it had been thirty degrees barely a month before.

Finally we used two guide books Rough guide to Barcelona and Eyewitness Top 10 travel guides to the city.