Barcelona Loca

Day 1

The flight is super convenient, and as soon as you get off the plane there's a bus waiting to take you into the Center, it costs 21 euros round trip. (The runs coincide with the Ryan flights and also the return runs, there are practically ones every 30 minutes). We booked the morning flight so we gained a day; after arriving at the hotel and checking in we decide to set off on the adventure right away.... But first I wanted to say a couple of words about the hotel... even though it's on the Ramblas it isn't that noisy, our triple room faced an interior courtyard... you couldn't hear the hubbub from the street... even if it wasn't completely silent... right below the hotel there's practically a social center where every evening they played music and danced... but they finished by midnight.

The staff are kind and helpful and above all everything is absolutely spotless!!!! I highly recommend it. Back to us... we start strolling along the street... and decide to see the Port Vell. Once the Ramblas end we find ourselves in front of the Mirador de Colom, the statue of Columbus 60m tall. You can go up in an elevator for 2.50 euros; we'll go up the next day. We continue our walk along the port, the wooden walkway and the shopping center are very beautiful. Walk, walk, walk, we reach the Barceloneta district, beautiful and modern!! We also take a turn on the beach and stop for an aperitif. For the return we chose to take an alternative route; we went around the Palau de Correos (which is the central post office building) that introduces the Barri Gotic district. We saw the old Barcelona, with its narrow streets and typical little shops.

Advice: don't go down strange, dark alleys... we did and they seemed unsafe to us...) We retraced the Ramblas and returned to the hotel, all of it from 2 pm to 7 pm... The tiredness was starting to be felt... we'd been awake since 6.... Anyway we decide to go to dinner on the Ramblas... don't do it... they fleece you and we didn't eat well at all... even the Sangria was watery... We go back to the hotel and literally collapse.

Day 2

The day starts at 9 with the alarm and after breakfast in a bar near the hotel.. breakfast with churros... which accompanied us for all three days... always in the same place!!! After breakfast we go up the Mirador de Colom... it's very beautiful to see the port from above, but be careful if you suffer from vertigo.. the floor is a bit sloped and can be bothersome and the space isn't very big. We decide to visit Gaudí's monuments today, starting with the Palau Guell which is near our hotel... but unfortunately it's under restoration and only the lower part can be visited. From the outside, if you look upward you can see the characteristic chimneys. We take the metro to go to Parc Guell. We catch it at Liceu, the closest one, and a very kind gentleman tells us that if we get the 10-ride ticket we save...

and that's true because a single ride costs 1.35 euros while the 10-ride ticket is 7.70. The nice thing about this ticket is that more than one person can use it.. one stamps it and then passes it to the other! What a great invention! And that's what we did. We get off at Vallarca and walk part of the way to reach the park. (There are also buses that take you right to the entrance). We enter from the upper entrance and are captivated by the vastness of the plaza from which you enjoy a breathtaking view, obligatory photos, and then we go down toward the main entrance where the famous Lizard is... and here too photos galore. We take the metro again which takes us to Diagonal and we visit La Pedrera, at a cost of 9.50 euros each. You can only visit a part of it, an apartment and then the most characteristic part, the roof with its evocative chimneys.

We then also go to Casa Batllò a little further on, but we don't go in... it costs 16.50 euros... it seemed too much to us! From the outside it's very beautiful. We continue on foot toward the Sagrada Familia, which personally I didn't appreciate... Rosy went in, 11 euros, and says the interior is formidable, that it's immense but unfortunately still far from finished... Let's hope to see it finished one day. For today too the visits are over... and dead tired we collapse onto the beds.

Day 3

Alarm always at 9 and breakfast with churros. This morning we set off for Montjuic, we want to take the cable car and we walk the whole port again on foot... when we get near the tower... they tell us it's closed and you have to go to the other one... so disheartened we turn back, and this one is finally open. For those who don't want to take the cable car, you can also just go to see the landscape from the top of the tower by paying 4 euros; the ride instead costs 7 one-way and 9 round trip. We decide to go one-way only. We arrive near the Hotel Miramare and we walk the whole climb on foot to reach the fortress; for the descent I took the cable car, 6 euros, and from here too you enjoy a beautiful panorama. We walk back into the city and visit Placa Espanya and the Mirò park and also the arena de Toros where they held bullfights.

We then decide to return to the center and put away the various maps... we visit the Barri Gotic street by street and at every corner you discovered a new alley; we even reach the Cathedral which however is under renovation but you can still visit it. We also visit the Roman walls and the palace of music which is very beautiful to visit!!! We see two other markets: Mercat Sta. Caterina and Mercat del Born but we don't go in to see them, the chaos of the Boqueria was enough for us... nice to see but very chaotic and noisy. But I recommend getting the fruit, it costs little and is good, the smoothies too... they're very useful when you're thirsty!!!! This day is over too...

Day 4

Our flight is at 6:15 pm and we still have the whole morning to see Barcelona... of course breakfast and off we go... we decided not to make plans... we visit the Barri Gotic and the Ciutat Vella. At 2 pm we set off, taking the metro to Arc de Trionf and then the bus to the airport and then home again.