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Published: August 23rd 2007
Hooray - Bar- the- lona!!! I was so excited to go back to one of my favourite cities in Europe and to be meeting Mum & Eric there to show them around for a few days. Barcelona is such a vibrant city and has it all - great, interesting architecture, fab food & wine, shopping and always something going on wherever you are (case in point, the TOTALLY naked man I saw walking down Passag de Gracia yesterday - looked like he had undies on but they were in fact tattooed........doesnt that give you a nice mental image??).
Mum, Eric and I were all checked into the same hotel -yes, I had my own room, bed, bathroom and even a bathrobe for 4 whole days- pure luxury for a backpacker! I arrived first, looking very forward to my own space (and lots of it) for a few days. Unfortunately I didnt have the best experience - my room wasnt ready, so they offered me a drink on the terrace. This doesnt sound so bad except I was dying for a shower after a bus ride. I gladly accepted their offer and ordered a white wine, which they tried to charge
me for! I then went back downstairs after the time they said to go, to see if my room was available. They said no, and would I like a drink on the terrace? I answered through gritted teeth that I had already had a drink, and would just like my room please!!
This was just the start of dramas for the next 24 hours which included 3 room changes, one due to a barking dog 3 doors down - yes, dogs are allowed in hotels in Europe!! This led to all kinds of interesting hypotheses about what happens to the dog in the hotel room, are their special types of rooms for dogs (and their owners) etc. I asked one of the bellboys about dogs in hotels in Europe and apparently its quite normal, and people like to go on holidays with their dogs!!
Hotel dramas aside, Mum and Eric and I had a lovely time in Barthelona. I had a few hours to kill before they arrived so took myself on a bit of a walk to make sure everything was indeed where I remembered it to be in my brain! Indeed it was, and I had
a fab time rediscovering Passeig de Gracia, La ramblas, and some of our favourite haunts like restaurants, the legendary felafel place, coffee shop, markets etc. Last time we were in Barcelona I stayed just off La ramblas but this time our hotel was up near Passieg de Gracia near Gaudi's La Pedrera and Casa Batillo (about 5 mins walk from each) so it was nice discovering a different side of Barcelona that didnt necessarily revolve around La ramblas.
I had a nice orientation walking route all planned for Mum and Eric before dinner. They arrived around 7 and we caught up while they unpacked their stuff. When we finally made it out I hadnt counted on the fact that they may be quite jetlagged, and tired, and older than me - ie not able to go as far as I had planned!!! We made it via La Pedrera and Casa Batillo before heading to a tapas restaurant that was recommended by the hotel. It was fab, and called Ceverseria Catalunya - it was absdolutely heaving and the waiting list was 50 mins, it had the tapas bar, people spilling onto the pavement eating, tables inside and waiters dressed in
Inside Casa Batillo
Looking out onto Passeig de Gracia white uniforms running around at lightening speed taking orders & delivering food. We waited out our 50 mins in another nearby tapas bar with a jug of sangria then headed back to the original restaurant. It was soooo worth the wait - beautiful asparagus, calamari, mushrooms, fresh prawns, and of course the obligatory bread rubbed with tomato and olive oil - yummo! It was fab catching up on the last 3 months and their day in London. We all fell into bed very tired, happy and full.
The next morning we awoke to a dull day. The last time I was in Barcelona it rained so I wasnt impressed! We had planned to spend the morning on the bus turistica, getting our bearings in Barcelona, and this still looked like a good idea. It started to pour as we jumped on the bus, and pretty much continued the whole time. Luckily the bus wasnt packed at all and we sat downstairs. Its a pretty different perspective of Barcelona when you're not on the top of the bus though!
We had decided to get off the bus down near the port and head to the Picasso Museum. On the
way there we passed a church and a couple sitting on the stairs. As we walked past I realised it was Ben & Tanya, the married couple I met in the Hostel Celica in Ljublijana!! They are on a 6 month honeymoon around Europe and when we parted ways in June I was heading to Austria and they to Italy. Little did we know our paths would cross in the pouring rain in Barcelona!!! What a coincidence. I did the intro's with mum and Eric and we wished each other well again and we headed off to the Musee Picasso.
When we arrived we were dismayewd to see the queue was massive and so we decided not to stand in it in the pouring rain, and made a beeline to the closest tapas bar we could find, for more tapas and a jug of sangria!!
Thankfully the rain cleared up a little later, and we headed to Gaudi's Casa Batillo. I hadnt been in this one before, in part due to the 16 euro entry price which is totally ridiculous! I thoroughly enjoyed it however, and we had an audioguide to tell us all about it. I already
knew from my previous visit that Gaudi's biggest inspiration is nature. He wasnt just a crazy nut (well, could have been!) who designed shapes for the hell of it - his work has real meaning. He takes inspiration from nature, and tries to let as much light into his buildings as possible. Casa Batillo is the most stunning one from the outside and in actual fact takes its inspiration from the ocean, which makes sense now, as its the one that appealed to me the most from the outside. Mum and Eric were quite impressed by the house, being their first Gaudi structure, and I think mum was particularly impressed at the mosaics and the design of the place.
After Casa Batillo we then went to another restaurant recommended by the hotel - a seafood restaurant north of where we were staying. I ordered a piece of fish and thought it would be grilled, but instead it came swimming in a pool of olive oil! I have seen this before in Spanish dishes and while it tastes good, all I could think about was the amount of fat in it!!
On Monday we headed to Sagrada Familia, and
we tried to get there early so that we could avoid the queues for getting into the church, and to go up in the lift to the top of the spire. We got in ok, but the queue was about an hour long to go up in teh lift. Last year you could climb up one of the spires on foot (and indeed Robyn & co did this) however it is now closed as it is not deemed as safe - wonder what happened???? We decided to give the lift a miss and just grabbed the audioguide for the church. This was a great thing to do as I hadnt done it before and learnt so much about the church - like it is going to have a final spire that is 1.5 times the height of the current tallest spires, and with a massive crucifix in murano crystal at the top of the spire!! We went into the museum below the church and saw somedrawings of what it will eventually look like. If I wasnt blown away before, I am now! This is a colossal building and will be magnificent when it is completed. Current estimates are that it
will in fact be finished around 2020.
After Sagrada Familia we decided to make the most of the terrace pool so headed up for the afternoon. It was totally packed (being siesta time I suppose) so we had to make do with restaurant chairs & footstools. We then got ready to go out, but before we headed out we had a mini photo show where I showed mum and Eric about 400 photos - all of London and Italy, thats how far (or in fact the reverse) we got. We also downed a bottle of Tattinger while the photos were on so by the time we headed out for shopping & dinner we were a little tipsy!
We went to La Ramblas via Zara and Sephora and mum and I had fun trying stuff on while Eric occupied himself with his new toy, the crackberry. We then walked down La ramblas, which by 8pm was heaving with tourists. We passed the pet market, street performers and flower shops and headed for a restaurant we had found last time in Barcelona in a lovely square off La ramblas. Incidentally, its called les Qinze Nits, which I had no idea
By the pool at Hotel Claris
Magazine conveniently placed to give effect of model - like physique about! its cheap and good and we all tucked into 3 courses.
On Tuesday we headed to the markets on La Ramblas to grab some fruit & juice for brekky and supplies for lunch. We tucked into some pastries and coffee at my fave coffee shop on La ramblas which Anni and I found last time. The pastries there were phenomenal and Eric also tucked into a tortilla - yummo!
After a stroll around the gothic quarter we headed to Parc Guell, the last Gaudi place on the list to visit. As it is prime tourist season and the park is free, the place was heaving with tourists. Its not so bad, except the beautiful seats which you want to see and photograph are taken up by people's bums! I still cant believe that stone seats can be so comfortable. Gaudi was a master at making his furniture comfortable and functional. We had a picnic lunch on one of the benches away from the crowds and checked out the Gaudi museum on site.
We then headed back to the hotel for some relaxation time. During the afternoon it started to rain again and by the time we
headed out for dinner it was pouring. We tried to find our favourite tapas restaurant which we had found on the first night, but somehow turned the wrong way and ended up about 5 blocks in the opposite direction of it. Noone had brought a map so it was a bit frustrating trudging around in the rain not knowing where we were going! We eventually found it but again it had a 40-50 min waiting time. We decided to abort that idea and headed for another tapas bar, where we tucked into prawns, asparagus, mushies, sardines and chorizo,which was amazing. We all finished off with a glass of sherry and mum and I had a crema catalunya to share while Eric hoed into death by chocolate, or something like that! Another lovely evening and we collapsed into bed.
Yesterday we caught the train to Valencia for a couple of days. We hadnt planned to come together - our itineraries just worked out that way. the train we caught was very impressive - very modern and spacious (even in 2nd class) with great food and even in-train entertainment which included a movie (in spanish tho) and music! We parted ways
Obligatory tourist photo on La Ramblas
Best euro I spent! These guys were cool, I had no idea they would pull out glasses, a wig and guitar for me to wear! at the train station - me to head to my hostel and them to their hotel. The hostel isnt too bad - there are a chain of hostels in valencia called Home and this one has private rooms for not much more than a dorm bed, which is good at this stage of the trip - a bit sick of not being able to spread my stuff out!
I will write more about Valencia when there is more to tell............love to all.
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