It has always been my dream to visit Spain. Recently we took
advantage of our 250K British Airways miles by hopping over to Barcelona
for a week long vacation. Barcelona is an amazing city. I’ve been to
many European cities but I can say that Barcelona is definitely one of
my favorite city. Its a great place to visit if you are interested in
art, architecture, design and food. One of my quirks of travel is I feel compelled to explore and seek out the local food scene anywhere I travel. See my separate blog on Barcelona food scene here.
Among the main impressions from Barcelona other than the unorthodox Gaudi architecture and the famous Barcelona sights, I’d like to mention such things as plenty of motorbikes, trees all around the city, and a lot of Catalonia flags on the balconies.I was not aware of the extent of the Catalan pride in this area of Spain until I landed here.
We stayed in an apartment in the Eixample district. The Sagrada Familia is located in this area and admittedly, we spent a lot of time in this neighborhood. The eixample district is predominantly a residential neighborhood. It gave us glimpse into the everyday people of the city on a weekday morning & evenings .Sagrada Familia, the Roman Catholic Basilica designed by Antonio Gaudi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was good to see in a sense but not really my idea of anything amazing to look at ! It is such an ugly eyesore that should just be torn down. That said, throughout our stay we mostly ate at the restaurants around Sagrada Familia , so we got too see it at various times of the day. Still, something about it is so wrong.
Among the main impressions from Barcelona other than the unorthodox Gaudi architecture and the famous Barcelona sights, I’d like to mention such things as plenty of motorbikes, trees all around the city, and a lot of Catalonia flags on the balconies.I was not aware of the extent of the Catalan pride in this area of Spain until I landed here.
We stayed in an apartment in the Eixample district. The Sagrada Familia is located in this area and admittedly, we spent a lot of time in this neighborhood. The eixample district is predominantly a residential neighborhood. It gave us glimpse into the everyday people of the city on a weekday morning & evenings .Sagrada Familia, the Roman Catholic Basilica designed by Antonio Gaudi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was good to see in a sense but not really my idea of anything amazing to look at ! It is such an ugly eyesore that should just be torn down. That said, throughout our stay we mostly ate at the restaurants around Sagrada Familia , so we got too see it at various times of the day. Still, something about it is so wrong.
Adjacent to the eixample neighborhood is Parc Guell. It is someplace you must go if you are visiting Barcelona. All that Gaudi stuff in the park makes the place so surreal. It is crowded but the park has fantastic panoramic views of Barcelona.
The next couple of days, we mostly spent walking around the La
Ramblas area. We really liked this area, other than the fact that it’s
very touristy. The famous La Boqueria market is here (See my separate review here ). La Rambla is a popular tree-lined street that starts at Plaça de Catalunya and leads to the old harbor. It is packed, full of
people, predominantly tourists and street vendors trying to sell all kinds of stuff. It’s not the most pleasant place for
walking. But there were many adjoining streets connecting to the Gothic
quarter or the Old city, and it was really fun to walk randomly into
one; The Gothic Quarter is a maze of small streets and alleyways in
which one could easily get lost. This is a very concentrated area of
gothic architecture with interesting little nooks and streets to explore
and you never know where you’re going till you get there.
Within walking distance from the Gothic quarter is Paseo de Gracia. the grand shoping avenue of Barcelona. We walked straight along Paseo de Gracia number 43 where you’ll find Casa Batll, a unique looking building by Gaudi . We did not go inside the building. As you continue by foot walking up Paseo the Gracia , you will get the second famous building of Gaudi, Casa Mila. These two sites are one of the highlights in Barcelona, so you got to see even if you think they are ugly.
The next day , we visited the Barceloneta or little Barcelona. We walked here from Las Ramblas, nice stroll, quite clean and but was very busy. Many bars and restaurants are along here. It is well worth a visit if you have the time.
On our way back we saw the The Arc de Triomf. It was simple and underrated and we had a chance to see it but it is not worth a special visit.
Our last day in Barcelona and we decided to spend the entire day strolling around Mount Monjuic. Montjuïc is a hilly area and where the Barcelona Olympic park venues were built on. At the entrance, sitting atop a hill is the Catalunya Palace.With the fountains and stairs rising up to the palace this is a very scenic area and the view of the city from the palace is incredible. Plaça d’Espanya is one of the important square and junction in Barcelona. The towers are more or less like Venetian Tower.
We continued on checking out various Olympic venues including the main stadium, then headed back to our apartment to pack and getting ready for our 7am flight to London.Till next time Barcelona.
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