Barcelona slowly (part 1)
Initial data - a week in Barcelona, family (me, wife and 16 year old son), the desire to see everything that means most to us (mainly masterpieces of modernism / Gaudí ), the understanding that we are unlikely to return. The main wishes from family members are “to walk more, we don’t want museums, especially paintings. ”
In planning, information was used from users of the Turpravda website, the official tour website of Barcelona https://www.barcelona.com/ (highly recommend – informative), and my memories of visiting Barcelona 25 and 15 years ago.
To the hotel https://www.turpravda.ua/es/barselona/Zenit_Borrell-h82428 -r317687.html arrived at 10 am, check-in was given at 13.
Retreat - which area is best to settle in.
Actually, they were going to a hotel on the Rambla, but they were late with payment and the room left, the next option, in the Old City, was also not in time. The choice was rather limited, we had a package tour (transfer + hotel), out of two hotels in the Eixample area, ours was chosen, in the Hospital Clinic metro area. And they didn't regret it. Although not close to any attractions (15 min walk to Casa Milla, 25 to Spaniard). But to the subway 7-8 minutes. In addition, after all, Eixample is the heart of the Barcelona of modernism, and living in it and imbued with its spirit turned out to be the right choice!!!
We planned a tour of the city on a tourist bus for this day....But... a night trip without sleep almost made adjustments: there was clearly little strength. We went on reconnaissance on foot to Casa Milla.
God, what beautiful houses!! ! A couple of photos on each block!
When we reached Casa Milla, we realized that we had no more strength. . .
We decided to return to the hotel for a rest. On the way we went to the market near the hotel. Fruits and vegetables are nothing unexpected, but seafood !!!! ! We decided to buy something for a snack after sleep, we started with olives. It’s a fiasco right away - it turns out they have an electronic queue here, at the market, Karl !! ! (in the photo in the upper right corner - the number of the one who is being served now).
It was so hard to realize that we were barbarians from the east here, that we ran away from the market without buying anything. And we stocked up on jamon in the shop opposite. Of course, when you look at the price of 70 euros per kg, you somehow feel uncomfortable... But, having plucked up the courage, I take a piece of jamon, 2 types of brie, roquefort, cheese, and at the checkout it turns out 22 e - this is already tolerable.
In the evening, after resting, we head to Plaza Españ ato watch the color-musical fountain. Of course, we go on foot, we are determined to walk EVERYWHERE and ALWAYS to see more! There are so many beautiful houses!
And the fountain did not let us down.
They walked right up to him. People are watching from the roof of the Arena, but the distance seemed to me large, 200 meters. True, the music is almost inaudible, but the play of water and light/color is impressive. Decent evening entertainment. It's my opinion. But my (low-emotional) son is delighted - “awesome, thanks for bringing me here! ”, He even shook my hand in gratitude. And I also came here a couple of times without my parents.
Of course, we walk back. Barcelona is amazing. We agree that tomorrow morning we will walk to the Gothic Quarter again, no metro!
Waking up, we realized that we got excited about walking everywhere, our legs are not made of iron...
So, let's take the subway.
Retreat - transport.
Barcelona is driven by a T10 ticket for 10 trips on the metro for 10 euros, bought from vending machines at the entrance to any station. Yes, everything in the machine is in Spanish, but you need to be sure that you need exactly T10 in the first zone, and also sufficient knowledge of Romano-Germanic languages to understand that "confirmado" = "confirm" = confirm, well, more logics. I paid by card, you can pay in cash (you need banknotes and coins).
DO NOT PASS for one ticket by more than one person. The turnstile will let you through, but checks are possible, especially at the connections. We just forgot about this rule, got caught during the check, but I smiled, showed that the three of us passed on one ticket and we were forgiven. The Catalans turned out to be very indulgent towards tourists, thanks to them (unlike the stellar French once). Don't throw away your ticket before you exit the subway (due to the same check).
As a result, for 6 days it took the metro for 20s per person. In addition to the metro, we took a taxi twice: from the hotel to Parc Gü ell (15th - there it is very far from the metro) and from Catalunya Square to the Airport (30th). Well, we took the train from the airport to Passage Grazie. The price of a taxi seemed reasonable, especially if more than 2 people.
Inspection of the Gothic Quarterstarted from the main cathedral. From the outside, it's impressive.
Unfortunately, we didn't get inside. It seems that they came at the office hours, but the tourists were sent to the "backyard" due to the fact that there was a service (it was on Sunday). Sorry.
But the "backyard" did not let us down - a huge amount of greenery within the religious building is really unusual and very nice. Especially the famous geese.
Then we wandered through the narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter. We love this very much, and we liked it.
It took about three hours.
After dinner, things didn't go according to plan. Rain is coming. In Palau Gü ell, where there was no queue, they said that a ticket is possible for 3 hours (45 minutes to wait in the rain). We decided to go to the Boqueria market, nearby, but forgot that on (again this damn) Sunday it is closed. They spat on everything and returned to the hotel so as not to get wet and not get sick. It rained until evening.
Speaking of the weather.
It turned out to be much colder than expected for this time, and it helped our walks a lot. The temperature was 20-23 degrees with partly cloudy - optimal for sightseeing tourism.
In the evening we went to look at Illuminated Sagrada Familia. At first, at dusk, there was still no outside lighting, only the stained-glass windows glowed slightly from within. Then, with darkness, they illuminated the outside (just searchlights). It was very beautiful, solemn, there were already very few people. Observed mostly sitting on a bench in the park. Highly recommend. An hour was enough.
