Day 1
Once we arrived in Barcelona and found our hotel, the Residencia Salesiana Martí-Codolar – do not ever stay here 🙂 – we took the subway to get to Parc Güell. In all my guides I could read that the entrance of the park was free. But I think they weren’t updated, because by now they asked €7 to go towards the buildings of Gaudi. You can enter for free, without seeing much though. I refused to pay. It’s a park for crying out loud. Even the habitants of Barcelona have to pay. No wonder you can read all over the place that they want the tourist out of their country and city… Still, if you want to pay for a park… it’s bound to be worth it’s price.
After seeing but not seeing the park we went to the Sagrada Familia, probably the most famous work of Gaudí. After he got hit by a tramway, 15-25% of the basilisk was completed. After his death the construction was taken over by Domènec Sugrañes i Gras until the Spanish Civil War interrupted the process. Parts of it were destroyed as well during the Civil War. Since 1940 the construction works have been taken over by a various number of architects who use reconstructed versions of the plans that were burned in a fire. I don’t know what Gaudí would think of it now, but I believe it’s one of the most beautiful basilisk I’ve visited so far. Inside the church you can see a game between lights and colors. Extremely beautiful and so worth the time and the money. It isn’t an Unesco World Heritage Site for nothing ;-). Oh and one tip: we bought our tickets online, so we didn’t had to wait in line.
The next stop was the Passeig de Gracia where we could find Casa Milà, Fundació Antoni Tàpies and the Illa de la Discòrdia with the Casa Lleó I Morera, Casa Amatller and the Casa Battló. Casa Milà and Casa Battló are the most famous one and the most visited. Because of our short amount of time, we didn’t enter the two houses.
Via de Plaça de Catalunya we went towards the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Font Màgica and Montjuïc. Here you can find some nice gardens and a theatre. We didn’t enter the Palau de la Música Catalana, which I truly regret. So don’t make the same mistake as we did and go and enter that building! Let yourselve be amazed by the interior.
Day 2
We started this day out in the harbor of Barcelona, Port Olímpic. From there we went back to the city, passing by La Llotja, where they used to trade all the things they imported from the harbor. You can also find the Palau de Mar here and La Mercè. Near the harbor you can also find the Monument a Colom (Colombus). They really like Columbus in Spain, of their major historical figures.
Today we also walked along The Ramblas, which isn’t something fancy. I don’t know why it’s so popular… really, Can’t see it! Although yes, it is the center of the city and yes there are a lot of shops and stuff around it… and most importantly, they lead you towards better shops, places to eat, places to walk and places to visit. For example, you walk along The Ramblas to get to the Barri Gòtic, a maze of little streets. Not far from the quartier you find the Palau de la Generalitat and the City Hall.
We ended our day in the Parc de la Ciutadella, a really nice park to hang around (for free). You can also find an Arc del Triomf just in front of the park. Inside the park there’s a little lake where you can rent a rowing boat for some romantic “totally-not-alone-time”.
Around the world in a lifetime 