Barcelona

Thursday, February 25, departure for Barcelona with a Ryanair flight leaving from Fiumicino at 8:10 and the gate closing at 7:50. We leave home at 5:30 right on schedule to arrive punctually at the airport, but…we hadn't counted on an accident on the G.R.A. where we find a good 12 km of queue. Panic! It's 7:50, we're one km from the exit for Ciampino and traffic is at a standstill. The plane is lost! We head to the airport anyway to see what the next flight is. We get to the information desk and the attendant tells us: the flight is delayed and boarding starts in 10 minutes. Fantastic! Finally a providential delay. We run to gate 22 and manage to board the flight to Barcelona. This trip was my Christmas gift to my daughter and I would have been sorry to miss these 4 days together.

After an hour and a half of flight we land at the airport and immediately head to the train station to get to the centre. The trains are very clean and leave every 30 minutes. We get off at Estacio de Barcelona-sants and take metro line L1 which takes us to Plaça Catalunya. It's only 12 o'clock and we head to the hotel to drop off our suitcases and freshen up. I booked the hotel on the internet and it's called Pension Lima and is located at Carrer Fontanella no. 16. For three nights I spend 201.99 euros, but it's absolutely not worth it. I had read the reviews, but no one had prepared me for a microscopic room and a tiny bathroom. No wardrobe, nothing at all. But at least it's clean and they changed our towels every day. We go out right away and head toward the Rambla. It's a huge street, very well kept and packed with people.

Beautiful! We're hungry and go to the La Bouqeria market and stop at the bar La Bouqueria to taste the famous tapas with a glass of beer. The bar is packed and we have to wait a few minutes before we can sit down. We order two tapas and two glasses of beer and it all costs us 25 euros. It seems a bit pricey to me. We spend the afternoon wandering the streets of the city, to orient ourselves and get familiar with Barcelona. We get all the way to the sea and visit the port Vell and then go in to see the aquarium. The ticket costs 18.50 per person, but the ticket attendant is kind and gives us the guide for free. The aquarium is wonderful and the tunnel that lets you see the big tank with the sharks and lots of other fish fascinates me. We go through the tunnel twice, we liked it so much. When we come out it's already eight in the evening and we start to get hungry.

We find a typical little place "El Portalòn" at Banys Nous, 20 and have dinner eating various tapas accompanied by an excellent beer and spending 34 euros. Refreshed, we continue our walk toward the Cathedral and explore many beautiful streets full of people. Tired, we go back to the hotel.

When we get up we discover that breakfast is not included in the price. From bad to worse. We go down and find a small bar, the coffee costs 1.20. We'll discover that in every place the coffee costs a fortune. To get around the city, we buy the T10. It's a ticket that allows 10 trips, both on the metro and bus, and it's very convenient. We take a bus that takes us to Parc Guell. The day is full of sun and warm and we spend several hours wandering around the park, and we relax watching the various artists performing in the market square. There's also a very talented flamenco dancer. In the early afternoon we decide to return to the city and we get off in front of Casa Pedrera. We admire it, but decide not to go in and look for a place to eat. We find Pastisseria Mauri at Abla Catalunya, 102-103 and choose the set menu which costs 31 euros for two people.

All very good and impeccable service. After eating we walk toward the Sagrada Familia, it's not far and we want to digest the abundant meal. I am disappointed by this famous construction and so I decide not to go in. It's not ancient, it's not modern and I don't understand why it's full of scaffolding. We return toward the centre and go to visit the Cathedral and I find it very beautiful. Unfortunately you can't see all of it, unless you decide to attend mass. We go out and take one of the many alleys that lead into the Barrio district. We have fun exploring all the alleys and little squares we come across. There are people everywhere and lots of street artists, but Barcelona is also famous for the many street artists who find here the best way to express themselves. We go back to the Rambla and look for a place to eat.

We stop to eat at Micky-is and choose the set menu with tapas and paella and decide to also ask for wine. They bring us a bottle of Faustino VII, which is an excellent wine but costs us 18.15 euros. Boy! The set menu costs 19.90 for two people and they make us pay a fortune for the wine. Careful, these little places attract customers with low-priced set menus and then charge a fortune for drinks. We finish the evening, enjoying the various little shows we find on the Rambla, and around midnight we go to bed.

Sunday morning we get up and Barcelona welcomes us with a splendid sun and spring-like temperature, and it's February 27. We take the metro and go to the Olympic Village to admire the famous whale sculpture. It's a sculpture made of copper that from a distance looks whole, but up close you realize it's made of woven wire. It's very particular. We come back doing a beautiful walk along the beach. Already in the morning it's full of people sunbathing or doing sports. We get all the way to the port from where we take the cable car to get to Montjuic. The cable car costs 9 euros per person for a single trip and it's an unforgettable experience, it lasts a few minutes but allows you to have a unique view of Barcelona. Highly recommended.

When we arrive at the park, we take several minutes to admire the panorama and enjoy the warmth of the sun, then we start exploring this huge and wonderful park. Partly we visit it using the regular buses that go to every corner of the hill and partly on foot. We are struck by the escalators that go up and down and allow you to reach the top without any effort. We see the Olympic stadium, the Greek theatre and the palace of Alfonso XIII, and finally we go down toward the Magic Fountains which, incredible but true, are working. A tourist information attendant tells us that they are not working every day and today, which is Sunday, they only work until sunset and therefore no magic fountains coloured at night. We missed a magnificent show, but even seeing them by day is certainly a stupendous sight. We reach Placa Espanya and also see the arena where bullfights used to take place.

The arena was closed some time ago, but in a few days inexplicably it will be reopened. Catalonia abolished bullfighting starting in 2012. I root for the bulls. It's early afternoon and we're hungry, we head to the gran via in search of a cheap place and find a Mexican restaurant "latrajimera." We decide to stop and eat something. Mexican in Spain, only we could choose it. We eat well and spend 24.50 for two. It's definitely the cheapest restaurant we found in the city. After the meal we take the metro and go to the seafront. A gelateria "Vioko" catches our eye and we go in. Inside it's a triumph of haute patisserie and scrumptious gelatos. We get a cone with two enormous scoops of gelato, and meanwhile we admire one of the most beautiful guys we've seen in Barcelona. The eye also wants its part. We return toward the old city to see the Cathedral of the Sea.

This one is also very beautiful and to see it better we sit at a bar with two glasses of tinto in front of us. The bar is called Vascellum and it's very nice, and we feel so Spanish. After quenching our thirst, we continue our walk in the beautiful streets of the centre and return again to the Rambla. It's 9 p.m. and we decide to have two more glasses of wine in a typical place. We go into Hosteleria Alemana, at number 127. A gentleman of a certain age welcomes us and seats us. We ask only for something to drink and a tapa. They bring us everything and more and meanwhile the elderly gentleman courts us and entertains us with magic tricks. They also offer us a super alcoholic drink that dazes us and in the end they bring us the bill, 56 euros. The Pakistani waiter also plays the gallant and at the end asks if he can offer us a drink when he finishes work.

We thank him, decline the invitation and head toward Casa Battlò. I recommend seeing it in the evening, when with the lighting it takes on a fairytale appearance. All of Gaudì's constructions have something magical and fairytale-like, but Casa Battlò at night takes on an aura of mystery and becomes almost transparent. Go there in the evening, I recommend it. It's late and we go to sleep, tomorrow is the last day of vacation.

We wake up early and after dropping off our luggage, we go toward the Santa Caterina market. It's a very nice market, but La Bouqueria is definitely better. We go back toward the Cathedral for a shopping round, we've already seen some things we like and want to buy them. Near the cathedral square we find Happy Pills and have a lot of fun choosing the candies to give to our friends. Then we go to Desigual to buy a t-shirt and a bag, and then to Blanco for a pair of shoes. Shopping finished, we decide to take another look at the Bouqueria market, and since we're on the Rambla, we decide to have lunch there. We go into Amathu, and this time too we choose the set menu with paella. Total 40 euros, but at least everything was really good. It's almost time to go to the airport and so we go to retrieve our suitcases.

From Placa Catalunya we take the metro to Plaça Espanya from where we'll take bus 46 that will take us to the airport. When we came out of the metro, someone tried to snatch my daughter's bag using the ice cream trick. It works like this: they single out the victim and then dirty her with an ice cream. An accomplice solicitously offers her a tissue and the person, distracted by this, lets go of the bags which are promptly carried off by the other accomplice. This time they failed, because I noticed and they couldn't take anything. So there. We arrive at the airport and the vacation is over. Adios Barcelona