Welcome to my first post! It’s Monday in the afternoon, outside is snowing and I’m thinking to my time in Barcelona. It was an amazing but short trip. Barcelona is a beautiful city with sea which I love by the way and surrounded by art. What can I say, Antonio Gaudi made me see the art in a different and fascinating way.

Transportation
I will start with some logistical issues. From the airport – El Prat, you can take L9 – subway from Terminal 1 to the main stations or get a taxi. I recommend using subway / buses and with 10 euros you can buy 10 travels and you can also share with other person. More info metro map.

Weather
I visited in January at the beginning and there were 12 degrees. We had rain but also some sunny days.

Budget
I would say a meal for 2 people with main course ( sea food), a glass of wine and dessert is around 70 euro. Plus, the transport 10 euro. If you want to see a Flamenco show, it costs from 46 euro – 16 euro/ person. It depends of what you want to do in Barcelona.

What I liked the most in Barcelona?
There are a lot of things to do in Barcelona ( see a Flamenco show, visit museums, aquarium, shopping) but it was an unplanned trip so we just walked on the streets and enjoyed the fabulous food.

Sagrada Familia
A monument that we wanted to see was Sagrada Família (you can use the subway). I must say, is a magnificent building full of culture, creativity. Antonio Gaudi expressed the Romano – catholic religion in a beautiful way. The monument has 3 faces out of which one represents the Birth of Jesus Christ with the angels, shepherds and the Holly Family. The statues are so real that it took my breath away. Another face is about the  Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. I’ve seen Sacre Couer, Domo Milano, Cathedral Notre Dame but nothing compares with Sagrada Familia. The colors are so bright and vivace and the fact each face has a different architecture it’s an amazing combination. You can see how is inside and to take a picture with a view of Barcelona for 18 euros/ person.

Park Ciutadella and Arc de Triumph
From Sagrada Familia we took the subway and stopped at Arc de Triumph. It’s a nice place to walk especially when the sun is shining,  you have palm trees everywhere. From there, in 10 minutes’ walk you can see the Ciudatella Park. Is a big park and I’m sure on summer there are a lot of persons having picnic. Also, from here you can go to Picasso Museum, Zoo or Museum of Modern Art.Another nice place to see the locals and also to walk by is the Cataluña Plaza. There are a lot of pigeons and the atmosphere is very nice.

A place that I remember and I love it is ” La Boqueria” a Spanish market. You can enter from La Rambla Street. There is a fantastic energy within the market and the people are so kind and polite. You can find everything starting with meat products, fruits, sea food and finishing by having a delicious late lunch at the pubs from the market. You can see the food how is prepared in front of you and you have a variety of meals to choose on. We ate grilled salmon and tuna with patatas fritas (small potatoes fried) with a salty and sweet sauce. A little tip about Sangria, it’s better to ask for Sangria Canvas and not the simple one. Although, Sangria is a Spanish drink, the people from Barcelona are not very good at preparing Sangria so it’s better to drink something else.

After we enjoyed eating some fresh fruits, we started rambling on La Rambla. Is a very long street with a lot of high end stores and visited by millions of people. I can’t say I was mesmerized but you can see a lot of interesting buildings and a lot of human’s statues. La Rambla is full of tourists so are the pickpockets, so please be careful with your bag, your phone. La Rambla finishes with Columbus Monument and from there you can see the Sea Port.

On our last day, the sun was shining and we wanted to see the beach for the last time before going to airport. It was a wonderful day, we stayed on the beautiful golden sand and listen the sea. The beach was full with locals that were playing volleyball, soccer or just having a picnic. At lunch, we went to Port Olimpic, is a place with a lot of restaurants and from what I could see, is a place where the locals spend time. We choose to eat  at La Fonda del Port Olimpic, is a big restaurant but locally place. The food is very good and you have a lot of choices if you don’t like sea food. We chose red prawns and mussels because the food is as fresh as you can get. The one downside is the portions are small and they don’t give you a side dish or just to mention that the portions are simple. Otherwise, it was a nice place, cozy with tourists and locals.

Oh, if you want to spend a joyful evening, I would recommend D9, a bar with good food and very good music. After 12, if you want you can also dance.
As a finish line, Barcelona is a very nice city. Even though, is a tourist city, the locals have their own life and on Sundays you will see a lot of local places closed. We had to walk 40 minutes until we found a cafeteria to eat something for breakfast. So, it’s best to do some research online, where you wish to eat and make sure it is not closed :-(.

I hope the post will be helpful and I’m waiting for your comments.

Ana

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