Barcelona is a busy coastal city with lots to do. I recommend getting a Hola Bon travel card; they are valid for various lengths of time from 48-120 hours. They cover all forms of transport and will also get you from the airport and back again. My travel card was for 72hrs and only cost 22 euros. It's great to help you get around the sprawling city and beats the aerobus with costs 6 euros each way to and from the airport.
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| FC Barcelona football stadium |
I arrived to meet protests, following the one year anniversary of the Catalan vote for independence, which the Spanish deemed illegal. It meant that roads were closed and there were lots of police around.
I travelled between places via the metro. There are a number of different lines and the metro is clean and efficient.
I started at Port Vell, which is home to a column with a statue of Columbus looking out to sea. The harbour is home to lots of yachts. Rambla de Mar takes you across a bridge that swings to let the yachts through to a shopping mall and the aquarium. Port Vell is the oldest part of the Barcelona port.
At Diagonal (yes it's a real place name) I visited Casa de les Punxes. It cost 12.5 euros, which included the audio-guide. The guide started automatically as you entered each room, which was quite cool. It began with the legend of St George and the dragon, before going round the rest of the first floor. Then you take a lift up to the roof terrace and go inside the multiple peaks and tower up on top. It was another place with a great view of the city. The building was originally 3 separate adjoining homes, one for each of 3 sisters whose father had bought the plot of land. It was designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch and is an example of Modernisme. It was actually somewhere I found by accident, but really enjoyed the tour of the building and the roof.
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| The tower on the roof terrace |
I visited Park Guell, which is a park complex created by the architect Gaudi, who also had a home there. It is located at the top of a huge hill - there are even escalators in the street to help you get up there. The view was pretty good though once you made it up there. It looked a bit like it was undergoing major restoration, but you could see a fair bit of the unique design of the park. You have the opportunity to visit the house that Gaudi lived in for 20 years, bought for him by his father.
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| View of Barcelona from Park Guell |
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| Gaudi's house |
The Sagrada Familia is a Church which is still being built. It was designed by Gaudi and is still a work in progress. They hope to have it finished by 2026 to mark 200 years since building began. When you see the intricacies of the architecture you can understand why they are still going. If you want to visit inside the Church you will need to pre-purchase tickets online as the tickets had all sold out by early the same day I visited.
Across the road from this was a free F C Barcelona exhibition of posters. It was quite interesting to see posters from across time promoting the team. There are also lots of other shops in this area which can be visited.
I then went to visit Camp Nou - the home of F C Barcelona. There are a range of tickets you can buy, I had a flexible ticket for self directed tour. I got a 6 euro audio guide which I didn't really use - I either missed some of the numbers or it wasn't worth it. You begin in the massive trophy room and work your way around the museum and then out to the stadium. It was a brilliant afternoon out.
I visited Glories which has another shopping arcade. It is also home to Torre Agbar which is a skyscraper built in 2003 with colours (think the Gherkin in London - it is very similar).
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| Torre Agbar |
I had a night out where I had typical Spanish dinner; tapas and Sangria. Sangria is Spanish wine served cold with fruit (think Pimms) and tapas is a number of smaller dishes. I was very brave and ate everything (with exception of the chilli), which meant trying mussels for the first time. I found that food and drink in Barcelona was pretty good value.
