This was my first trip to Spain. It always hard to decide what cities to visit
when you are visiting a country for the first time. Since I knew I wanted to go to San Sebastian,
we opted to fly in and stay in Barcelona for a couple of days.
I didn’t know anything about Barcelona or any ideas on
hotels to say at. Barcelona
Tourist Guide provides a breakdown of all the Barcelona neighborhoods,
transportation information, and nearby hotels.
Use this to familiarize with your city, and you might get some ideas of
attractions you might want to visit while you are there.
Where to Stay
I always use TripAdvisor to when I start looking at
hotels. I look to see what the highly
rated hotels are, where they are and the average cost. My preference is to try to find a “local
hotel” vs. a chain hotel (Hilton, Sheraton,etc). I want to try to get the local experience if
I can. However, depending on where you
are traveling the chain hotels might be best. Once I locate some hotels that
look nice, within my price range, have higher ratings, I begin reading reviews. With any type of review you have to take some
with a grain of salt. I do appreciate
reviewers that provide a clear description of their stay and why or why they
did not like their stay.
I finally decided on Hotel
Montecarlo. It was a great
hotel. Right on Rambles street, which
for being our visit it was worth experiencing Barcelona Main Street and all the
sights, sounds and people it provided.
The hotel was clean, comfortable, and the staff were very friendly and
helpful. We had to stay an extra night
due to a reservation conflict at our next hotel, and they were very
accommodating. We stayed in the big
standard natural light room. The room
was a nice size, plenty of storage and was very quiet for the location.
Staying on
Rambles street, it easy to walk to a lot of restaurants, cafes, old town,
attractions, etc. However, if you are
not up for walking, it was always east to hail a cab, or the metro stops are
nearby.
What to Do
Of course we
did most of your first time visits tourists visits, which I will not list out. You can find all of this information in any good guide book or travel site to decide what you want to see. However, I will share one of the things I
enjoyed the most about Barcelona. Walking the little streets of old town (Gothic Quarter). As you walk through the small narrow streets, you will
see architecture dating back to the 14th century to modern day. It is fun to see a mix of the old and the
new. The architecture is amazing and this experience is not anything you will ever experience in the US. You don’t have to be
in a rush or have an itinerary, you just follow the roads and see where they take
you. Stroll into the 14th
century church and listen to the sounds or the music. Sit in a pew, ad just take in all the history
and the beauty. Take a break in a little
café, and pretend to be a local. A place
to definitely visit in the old town is Picasso
Museum. The museum occupies 5 palaces dating back to
the 13th -15th century.
Not only is the art great, you get a bit of glimpse inside the
palaces. The entrance alone is pretty
spectacular. If you are going to visit,
buy your tickets online beforehand. The
lines can get pretty long, and you do not want to waste your vacation waiting
in line.
OH..The Food!
Just like
trying to decide where to stay and where to stay, trying to decide where to eat
is the biggest challenge. So many
wonderful places to eat, but there is no way of even skimming the surface of
all the great flavors that Spain has to offer.
In searching
for restaurants and bar, I use the following apps on my phone or websites:
Foursquare
Chef’s Feed
FED Guide
Google
Here is what I found using these tools.
Boadas Cocktails
– this bar was located right down from hotel.
And what grabbed my attention about the bar is that it is the oldest
cocktail bar in Barcelona, dating back to the 1930’s. It does not get more authentic and Spanish
this. When you walk in it is like
stepping into a speakeasy in the 1930’s.
The bar is cozy, intimate, with a touch of class and nostalgia. The
bartenders are wearing tuxedos, and make martins with a certain flair that I
have never seen before. It was such a
treat to find such a place. I only wish
there was one of these in my neighborhood.
If you go, try the cocktail of the day.
More than likely you never heard of and it may not be familiar with the
ingredients. When in Barcelona, drink like the locals!
Tapas 24 – This restaurant was within walking distance from our hotel. I decided to go here based on the reviews I
read. All the reviews said it was
delicious, and it was. We had to wait about an hour to get in. I about have up, and went down the street to
a place that did not have a wait, but I am glad I waited it out. Try whatever looks good to you, because it
will be good. The atmosphere is little
crowded and little loud, but also fun and lively.
Quimet
& Quimet – this wonderful treasure we
stumbled across by chance, and what a wonderful chance it was. We visited Montjuic, and were ready for
something to eat. The choices in the
area where were limited. I used
Foursquare to see what was nearby, and this Quimet & Quimet came up as a
top choice. It is located at the bottom
of the hill, which is about a 5 or 10 minute taxi ride. After walking around for most of the
afternoon, I was ready to sit have a cold drink and some good food. Well sitting is not much of an option. There are just a couple of tables, but it is
mostly belly up to the bar, and rub elbows with your neighbors has you eat your
tapas. No one seems to really care that
we are kind of squished in the bar, because we are all just enjoying the
wonderful tapas. One of the best tapas we had was the montadito (a small,
open-faced sandwich) of smoked salmon with Greek yogurt and truffled
honey. It doesn’t like these items goes
together, but it is the perfect balance of sweet and savory.
An Adria Brothers
restaurant – if you are a foodie then you know Ferran and Albert Adria or El
Bulli. Since El Bulli closed, the
brothers opened Tickets and 41 Degrees.
From what I could tell 41 seemed to resemble El Bulli, with a couple of
items that were on the El Bulli menu, but had a cocktail focus. 41 has since closed, but Albert is working on
a revamped 41 Degrees called Enigma. When
is Barcelona make a reservation at one
of Adria brother’s restaurant. It is an eating experience that cannot be
missed!
Barcelona is a top city, and I will always have fond memories of my time spent there. I highly recommend that you add it to your travel bucket list.
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