Bonita Barcelona

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We went to Barcelona looking for a nice romantic Valentines Day weekend getaway. Despite the chilly 8 degree weather and pouring rain that happens at this time of year in Barcelona, we weren't disappointed.

Landing in Barcelona and arriving at our hotel (Hotel Jazz near the epic Las Ramblas) at 11pm on Friday night, we went out in hope that we could find a restaurant that was still serving food. We were amazed that 11pm was almost too early for the locals to eat dinner and the place was not yet warmed up. We found a brilliant little tapas bar and enjoyed what Barcelona is all about - eating a range of small tasty dishes in crowded little tapas bars that have great atmosphere.

We did the tourist trail early the next day, starting with a wander down Las Ramblas, a weird mix of street markets selling everything including a strange array of live animals. Street performers and prostitutes line the hectic street trying to extract euros from tourists. The amazing La Sagrada Familia was the highlight of the day. Designed by the crazy Antoni Gaudi, the huge Roman Catholic church has an immaculate facade and an incomplete interior. It began construction in 1882 and is expected to be completed by 2026. Considering Spain currently has 20%!u(MISSING)nemployment, you would think they could get moving and finish it! Las Sagrada Familia is well worth a trip to, with an excellent audio guide which goes to great lengths to describe what Gaudi was trying to achieve.

We continued up to the highest point of Barcelona, known as Tibidado. Whilst the views of Barcelona from Tibidado were amazing, the place itself was nothing short of strange. A weird amusement park and a few tacky restaurants, it looks like it is in serious need of an overhaul. We don't hang around there long, and move onto the west side of the city to check out Camp Nou, home of the most famous European football club, Barcelona FC. Equally impressive is the Olympic Stadium (where the 1992 olympic games were held) within the tranquil botannical gardens. The city of 3 million people is rather compact but still has some impressive gardens and is quite hilly in parts, making it one of the more scenic cities in Europe.

We head back to the Las Ramblas area and off to the east side of Las Ramblas we find numerous little lanes with some brilliant places to eat and drink. We went to a place called Sagardi, a very unique tapas bar. There are no seats or tables, it is just a big room where people stand around, holding a plate whilst waiters/waitresses bring around plates of food (all pieces small enough to fit on a toothpick) and you just pick and choose what you want. Leaving the toothpicks on your plate, once finished you just hand over your toothpicks and simply get charged 1 euro per toothpick. The place is completely rammed with people and the food is amazing. The cynic in me wonders how many people just stuck toothpicks in their pockets and walked out but everyone in the place seems very classy and it almost feels you are at a private function, with people just walking up to one another and having a chat. My Spanish skills preclude me from having a sophisticated conversation with anyone and there are only so many times but after my weekend in Barcelona, I had perfected the phrases una cerveza por favor and donde es bano?

The best way to recover from too much tapas and cerveza was to head to the beach and despite the sun not shining too brightly, a walk along the boardwalk of Barceloneta did the trick. Some fine Paella for lunch and another walk through the pretty Parque Ciutadella to its Arc de Triomf which is some kind of rip-off of the French version, and we were done with our Barcelona weekend. An all too brief visit to the buzzing metropolis of Barcelona but enough of an introduction to Spain to have us hanging for more.

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Photos

La Segrada Familia
The Roman Catholic church that is still being contructed after 130+ years!