Barcelona, here we come!

THURSDAY

As usual: DIY is better!

Vueling flight and it's not a play on words, a new Spanish low-cost carrier (with new, almost immaculate planes, extremely punctual departures and truly kind and helpful staff, all this for 52 euros round trip including taxes, oh I forgot! Departure from Rome Fiumicino and arrival in Barcelona El Prat. We shared this short but intense adventure on Spanish soil with our dear great friends: Mark, the best vacation video editor, and Mogna the crazy "photographer" (she often fought with her digital camera and then made peace with it in the evening before going to bed...) and us? We are Ca&Ca, official organizers of the vacation!

Once we collected our luggage we head to the airport tourist office where we buy 4 passes for 4 days to be able to use buses and metro for an unlimited number of rides, cost 16.80 euros each. Just outside the airport we find the airbus stop to reach Plaça Catalunya, the ticket is bought on board and costs 3.75 (buying round trip costs less), to look for detailed information on Barcelona's public transport consult the official website

We get off at Plaça Catalunya and go to take the metro to reach our apartment booked on for 25 euros per night per person, total 300 euros including cleaning. The apartment is nice and spacious and in a very central location, 5 minutes from the Rambla, from Port Vell (where the Maremagnum and the aquarium are) and from Passeig de Colom but the street where it is located is not very safe, we immediately compared it (exaggerating) to the alleys of the Spanish quarters of Naples, mainly frequented by immigrants who "offer" smoke and "bombs" every evening, and if you're really lucky you'll even run into someone offering you hashish!! Anyway, aside from that we liked the place. Well well, first goal of the evening: FOOD! we stand in a short line to enter the restaurant "La Fonda" (carrer dels Escudellers, 10 tel.

93 301 75 15) near the apartment, you eat well from fish to meat and also paella which however we (Ca&Ca) didn't particularly love, overall it's a nice place to recommend. After dinner we get familiar with the Rambla strolling up and down among the usual smoke sellers and potential "pickpockets" who targeted our little backpacks three times! When you walk along the Rambla day or night be a little careful not to lose sight of your bag.

FRIDAY

The next day we leave the house at around 11:15 (and we took it very easy, we're in Spain!) itinerary: Casa Battló, Sagrada Família, Parc Güell and Plaça Espanya.

Three metro stops and we are in front of one of Antoni Gaudì's modernist architectural inventions, Casa Battló, elegant and funny on the outside and astonishing on the inside: curves, light-and-shadow effects and bizarre shapes characterize the rooms. At the entrance, after buying tickets at the excessive price of 16.00 euros, they give you an audio guide that allows you to "understand" the house. After two hours in Casa Battló we have lunch at "Pans", a fast food chain that you'll find scattered just about everywhere in the center.

We continue by metro to the Sagrada Familia, as soon as we arrive there it is in front of us, it's enormous and the various photos on the brochures absolutely don't do it justice, in person it's thrilling, something else entirely! Unfortunately the cranes are part of the landscape and will be part of it who knows for how long (maybe until 2025 as I've heard...), we decide not to go in, anyway entry costs 8 euros.

Back on the metro to passeig de Gracia where we take bus 24 which will take us to the entrance of Parc Güell in about half an hour (better to take the bus, from the metro stop the walk is longer) And here in the park we keep photographing the impossible, Mogna and I challenge each other with "clicks", flowers, pigeons, columns, panoramas, we captured everything, yes, yes! Happy and content we head toward the metro for 1.5 km downhill, fortunately, and then go to Plaça Espanya where there's the Magic Fountain show.

The show is very beautiful, the lights and water jets of the fountain are accompanied by some pieces of classical music, the first show starts at 20:00 and the second at around 20:30, we saw it on Friday and Saturday capturing everything, especially Mark with the video camera which was also rebellious (dead batteries...what bad luck)! It's time for DINNER, we drag ourselves around again looking for a place to eat, we take refuge at "Tapa Tapa" on passeig de Gracia, a fairly touristy place but we throw ourselves in because we're tired and hungry. We dive into the world of tapas: chipirones fritos and calamares a la romana are excellent, the crema catalana is good but maybe the ingredients are adapted to our palates because the flavor resembles more a classic pudding.

After dinner we're back on the metro heading home...and since we were missing the background voices "smoke smoke, bombs guys" we go back to the Rambla, but since today is Friday there are lots of tourists and fewer sketchy faces!

SATURDAY

It's a new day, finally the weather gives us a crystal-clear sky and a temperature almost requiring a denim jacket, today we leave at a decent time, on the Rambla many stalls are being set up. Our itinerary will be La Boqueria Market, Montjuic Castle, Aquarium and a little stroll at the Maremagnum...poor feet...

The Market is on the Rambla and already on the street a mass of people is gathering. As soon as we enter our attention is captured by the very colorful fruit stalls, every banana, orange, avocado, etc. is arranged neatly. We start wandering among the stalls of super fresh fish, meat, cured meats with wonderful aromas, the funny thing is that since it's Carnival the vendors wear colored wigs and serve customers, these Spaniards are really nice!! And dulci sin fundo 2 girls in carnival costumes, or rather without costumes, that is in bikinis Brazilian carnival style, wiggle dancing to the rhythm of drums throughout the market, clearly everything was photographed and filmed (especially the dancers...) in short, nothing escaped us!!!! We get the brilliant idea to make sandwiches here at the market with Jamon serrano, Spanish salami and cheese and then off toward Montjuic.

Past the market a little further ahead there's the sign for the funicular to reach Montjuic Park, we take the funicular using our pass and anyway the ride lasts a few minutes. Coming out of the station we look around without knowing which direction to take, all four of us with a question mark stamped on our faces we approach an enlarged map when magically "the little helper" appears, that is a polyglot taxi driver who offers us a ride to the Castle in his car for 5 euros for all of us, we look up where he points to show us where the castle is and the thought is the same for all of us "...3 km on foot uphill??!...naaaaa!" we catapult into his car and comfortably comfortably we arrive at the entrance of the castle, we greet the second-best driver in Barcelona, because the first is his father (according to him) and........at the first cannon we come across, (don't get the wrong idea, the can

non is real, one of those that used to fire at enemies!!) we stop and take shelter from the bora (the sky is clear but there's wind!) and prepare our baguettes. But let's talk about the castle, the visit is free, this is the highest point in the city at 175 meters above sea level, you enjoy a magnificent view of the sea and the city. Inside there's the military museum but we didn't go in.

Second stop: Aquarium

We come down from the hill taking the park bus with the usual pass, again the funicular and on foot to the Aquarium. What can we say about the aquarium? If you've seen the one in Genoa I don't think you'll be satisfied, it's certainly beautiful and the tunnel is suggestive but it's not very big. Entry costs 15 euros. And now what do we do?...a little stroll at the Maremagnum shopping center where we buy some little gifts to bring home and then off running to the Magic Fountain to film the show, since the night before the video camera batteries were dead!

And to end the evening the couples split up and we divide for dinner, M&M go back to La Fonda and we throw ourselves into one of the little places on the Rambla: we take a seat at the counter and...off with tapas and cerveza!

SUNDAY

Sunday: end of vacation, we head with our noisy trolleys to the metro to make the reverse journey from the arrival (hic!) but first we take one last look around and say goodbye to the dear smoke sellers and the indiscreet pickpockets who kept us company on our wandering up and down this avenue..

What can we say about Barcelona? modern and dynamic, you breathe a young and cheerful air, distinctive in every corner. Las Ramblas attract everyone for the street artists, the cafes, the street kiosks and the movement of people that concentrates on these "passeggi". The public transport and metro network are so efficient that for those like us coming from Rome it feels like being in the city of the future, we moved by metro even for a single stop given the impeccable punctuality! It's a city for which a second visit would be worth it, maybe trying to enter a bit more into the Spanish, or rather Catalan spirit, in search of "turguri" where you can listen to gypsy songs and.....do and see everything that in three days you can't! Useful addresses

(go on the website, besides the hotel there's useful information)

And as always BUON VIAGGIO and to those about to leave and to those who never stop traveling in their minds.