Barcelona and its environs.
Barcelona 2018
Since 2015, we have been waiting for a trip to mainland Spain. Then we flew in from the Canary Islands. On the one hand, it seems that they visited Spain, but what the mainland looks like needs to be figured out. We have already heard a lot of positive reviews about Barcelona, and this city has long been on the wish list. And then, as if the stars aligned - visa-free regime, UIA low-cost tariffs, and even a four-star hotel fell into the action, all this made the trip relatively inexpensive and definitely unforgettable. Well, how can you not be tempted by tickets! A year ago, in September, a firm decision was made to fly, it remains only to wait a year, or rather to re-travel. At first there were the Seychelles and Qatar, then Poznan and Berlin, Frankfurt weekdays, Chinese adventures, Georgian feasts, Montenegrin flight transfers, Norwegian paradise, and finally it was the turn of Barcelona itself.
On this trip, we moved on to the next stage of travel - one backpack and a small urban backpack. A pleasant moment of the trip is that we had only one hotel without moving with things and new settlements. At first it seemed that this would greatly facilitate the trip, but in practice the freed up time turned out to be filled to capacity with a list of places that must be visited. Google before the trip traditionally promised rain and thunderstorms, in fact we were flooded only once in an hour. The flight went light, with little to no turbulence, and this time even without overbookings. Although there was a possibility on this route. There was a direct bus from the airport to our hotel. border-width: 0px; margin: 0px" />
The check-in took place in a matter of moments. The hotel was not typical for us level, as much as 4 stars. It cost 46.5 euros per night instead of 100. It was either a promotion or a mistake. I found it by going through a bunch of advertising banners on different sites. Until recently, I was afraid that problems would begin during the settlement. Dasha, on the other hand, was sure that we would be settled somewhere in the basement, in a room without windows. But a cozy room on the 2nd floor, a swimming pool and royal breakfasts (and, accordingly, dinners too) were waiting for us. Where to begin? There are dozens of dozens of stars on the map and not only in Barcelona. Ahh panic! So, let's start with the route to Montjuic, no, it's very close, you need to grab something farther away. So let's start with Plaza Catalunya. We started with Gaudi Architecture.
Dasha and I are not exactly experts in architecture, but the houses are normal, with patterns. A girl with a brochure assured us that if we pay about 20 euros per person, then they will show us the most excellent repair. But the memories of our own repair are still quite fresh and I don’t want to return to them) There was something in common in all the people on the streets. Literally every third person was wrapped in a flag, every second person was wearing a pink T-shirt, and everyone was moving in a certain direction.
It turned out to be the day of Catalonia. We rushed after the moving crowd, which grew into an unthinkable traffic jam. It was hard to move even a meter. People were shouting, clapping, waving flags. The quality of Wi-Fi in the city is worth paying tribute to, even with such a crowd of people, it worked almost perfectly. Next, we wanted to see the triumphal arch, but the whole crowd moved there. On the way, the main thing was not to catch the cups for coins, that rows of homeless people are arranged here. Which every ten meters are on all fours and require something from passers-by. Judging by the number of homeless people in the cultural capital of Spain, the problem with the number of gypsies at the Kiev railway station does not seem so acute. We had to save ourselves, so we won’t see anything at all. We took refuge in the spacious park of Ciutadella. If Gaudí 's architecture didn't really appeal to us, then the park turned out to be very, very cool. This is truly a great creation of mankind. Dasha and I love beautiful parks, this fuse is somehow special.
Whether a multi-storey fountain, or flocks of parrots, or an unusual lake with trees growing right out of the water, in general, there is something in this park that others lack.
On the way we had a snack at McDonald's. I was surprised to see beer on the menu. I once read what is possible in McDonald's, but among the previous thirty McDonald's from different countries, we met this for the first time. We spent the evening in the area of Old Barcelona and the Gothic Quarter. These areas should be given their due, a really cozy atmosphere for endless wandering.
You can walk aimlessly for hours and be happy. The main thing is not to stop, otherwise the chocolate guys will start trying to sell drugs. Dasha and I even conducted an experiment. I said that if you stop and stand on one of the central streets, then a couple of minutes will not pass before the drugs begin to soar. We noted the time, I began to move to a cozy place to get up there and wait for happiness. Approximately 4 seconds passed when an Afro-Barcelonian grabbed me and demanded to buy drugs.
From the very morning we had a chic breakfast at the hotel. I think this is one of the best breakfasts we've had on our trips. We ate so much that then there was a shifted lunch. Our lunch consisted of sandwiches and sweets that were at breakfast??? ? We had an unresolved question of how to get to Montserrat. Google showed that you need to take a direct train right next to the hotel, but the guy at the reception very, very convincingly assured me that you need to go to the center and go to Montserrat along the same line. I pointed out to him that Google shows that we can go directly from here. But the guy of indigenous African roots said that he knows better than Google. We went to the center, boarded the train, drove to our hotel, there was a stop at the train, and rode the same train further. Spent extra money and time to make sure Google knows better. When we reached the desired stop, we had to transfer to a special train that travels high up the mountain on a cog railway. The rocky landscapes here are beyond praise.
Tourist routes of various lengths diverge from the temple itself. We chose the longest - Sant Jeroni, and set off. The trail took about two hours one way. Among the rocks, no forms were found. I marked a dog-shaped rock for myself and even named it Gruver. But the beauty is here, those who reach the very end get a review with a panorama at high altitude as a reward. Many here have a place for a snack, but we had a meal on a nearby rock, where there was no tourist trail. I had to climb a little with extreme. But the whole peak is just for us!
On the way back, we accidentally missed a turn and ended up at another Sant Joan observation deck from a completely different tourist route. Here tourists climbed on a funicular. The return hike was very scenic. From the whole trip, Montserrat took first place in attractions.
When we were driving back, a thunderstorm was chasing us. Powerful lightning struck right into the mountains, it’s good that the train doesn’t get wet. As a result, in an hour we overtook the storm. In Barcelona itself, we successfully caught it for the second time. It was flooded so that a flood was pouring in the transition from the elevator. In addition to the flood, the crossing was just full of bags of sneakers, which are traded here by local businessmen with a southern accent. It seemed like this storm would never end. As soon as the rain subsided a bit, we moved to the local wok. A delicious dinner for two cost 16.5 euros. Even the thunderstorm stopped from how we had a delicious dinner. And again night Barcelona beckoned us with its narrow streets. In Barcelona, the good news is that there are many old districts and some are moving into others. You do not go all the time to the same places, but each time you discover something new. No matter how trite it sounds, Dasha and I liked the living statues on the streets.
It seems like an old and hackneyed topic, but here they are really professionals in their field. And as soon as no one tries to sell anything to the statues) Okay, okay, the story is not about Africa. Dasha and I in no way have anything against internationality or skin color. It is simply not clear why exactly representatives of a particular diaspora are united by the desire to trade junk and engage in illegal business. But the most interesting thing is that mass begging in Barcelona is bred by people of European appearance. One of the interesting places visited was the Disney store, where we even bought a souvenir for ourselves. And the second cool place visited was a mysterious store. He was mysterious in the truest sense of the word. We paid attention to him because of the loud growl of the tiger. Large question marks hung on the walls near the entrance. Well, marketers, you've got it, we're going to this store. The store was related to clothing. But he didn’t want to leave so easily, because he had a second floor, to which a rainbow escalator went up.
Well, why not ride on this. Also free slot machines with old games. So, we need to move on, anyway, we don’t need anything from clothes. But the store was in no hurry to let us out. On the rainbow escalator, Dasha and I got lost so that for 3 minutes we were looking for each other. At the exit from the store, the final trump card was waiting for us, it was a real hologram of a tiger that came out of a hole and growled. Sometimes, he ate something and even stood on real objects. This is by far the best clothing store we've ever visited in this universe.
The next morning we dedicated to Barcelona itself. The path to the fortress of Montjuic again seemed too close to us, and we went to the Park Gü ell. We have already noted in one of the stories the eternal problem of Europe - everything is constantly being repaired. Barcelona here just beat all the records, the sounds of grinders and drills sang in unison almost everywhere. Central Park was just in the midst of a major renovation.
But the free part of the park is always happy to welcome everyone and please with the beauty and singing of birds. In general, we liked the park. But we were not in the paid part. By the way, the city was very pleasantly surprised by the presence of escalators in different places where you need to climb to the sights. Even on the way to the park, we looked into Vince's house, this house is really unusually beautiful, at least from the outside for sure. The sun was approaching its zenith and it was necessary to spend a siesta somewhere. We went to the science museum CosmoCaixa. The crocodile in the pond that was in the museum decided to spend a siesta at a meal.
But, fortunately, glass separated us from him, and the crocodile did not have a meal. Behind the glass is a whole mini-forest with exotic birds and fish. It was possible to go into the forest, there a huge capybara was waiting for us. The museum itself has many scientific interactive phenomena. Everywhere you could discover something for yourself and participate. There was also an exhibition of robots that did not let themselves be defeated in tic-tac-toe.
We spent our afternoon meal next to a crocodile, which watched us with a fixed gaze, and then swam away somewhere and hid in the roots of trees. The museum was good,
but on the street a merciless 30-degree sun was waiting for us. Near the museum there is a whole castle somehow connected with the famous architect, but since the castle was open only until 15:00, we could not find out how and with what it is connected. The next point of our route Labyrinth of Horta.
I've always dreamed of walking in a maze of bushes that are taller than me. And in the 43rd country, the dream came true. The labyrinth looked small, but it turned out to be quite enough to wander there and get into dead ends. Russian-speaking tourists wandered through the labyrinth. We set ourselves the goal of getting to the center without interfering with Russian speakers. We got a kind of game in the form of a pac-man, who is chased through the labyrinth by ghosts.
In Barcelona, transport tickets are very convenient, on one ticket for 1.02 euros (if you buy 10 each), you can travel 1:15 with any number of transfers on any public transport. We had a route to Mount Tibidabo. The route consisted of two metro funiculars and a bus. The road took 1:16. So that we even felt like rebels going against the system for a minute! Oh yes, we are so unpredictable! At the top of the mountain is the Temple of the Sacred Heart, which is visible, probably, from anywhere in Barcelona.
There's also an amusement park. But the park seems to have decided to compete with that castle that is open until 15:00. The park is only open twice a week. But in any case, there is a great panorama of the whole city. We spent this evening in the Raval area. And it was another romantically delightful evening! No, I won't buy Coffee Shop, stop interfering with the romance of our evening! The guy didn't speak Russian, but didn't lose hope to sell us a joint without knowing the language.
We alternated days of scouting Barcelona and its surroundings. Today was the day of visiting the neighboring town. It takes about an hour to get there by train. The city is old and cozy. Wander for three hours in Tarragona just right.
When we looked at the main part of the city, I noticed how a girl of a very oriental look, like a queen, was walking along the rugged street, and a bunch of children ran after her. We rushed to the intersection of streets, while we were walking, another character passed by, a certain sultan. As we found out, these characters were not quite real.
And not only children ran, just in relation to the height of the characters, ordinary people seemed like children. We walked with the royal family for about 20 minutes until they reached the school and disappeared behind its doors. An interesting performance came out. On one of the posters of the city, we saw these characters, apparently, there will be a whole holiday here one of these days, and this was a rehearsal. The town was able to surprise us.
Barcelona Again
We returned back to our native Barcelona. There is still half a beautiful day ahead and you can finally start the route from the Venetian Towers to the Montjuic fortress. The route ran through the fountain, the national museum and for some reason through the sports complex, which was marked along our route.
We didn't remember which of us and why marked him, but when we got there, it became clear. This is not just a complex, but a disguised platform for launching spacecraft, apparently. The square looked as if the Soviet Union depicted a very distant future. If I had to put together a legend about the origin of this place, I would certainly tell how the aliens built a transfer module here with a clear landing landmark. In Google, one of the buildings is marked as a telecommunications tower. But trust me, it's most likely a laser weapon or some kind of black hole generator!
The further road to the castle was very green and picturesque. I really liked this part of Barcelona. There was also a botanical garden, but, unfortunately, they didn’t like to work there for a long time either. And the garden was already closed. The castle did not disappoint our expectations. In addition to the territory, there was a view of a huge port and an airport with planes constantly landing.
In general, it is very joyful that our airlines have such cool routes at affordable prices. The next day we had something very grandiose planned. This is what we were approaching in many countries, but did not fall in time. And now we have it planned and we live very close. IKEA meet us!
In the shop
Dasha and I have long wanted to get into this marvelous store, and here we are in the crowd of people who are waiting for the opening. The opening was supposed to be 10 minutes ago, but the store seems to be pulling intrigue. In general, we thought that we would be alone by the opening, but for some reason everyone turned out to need it, and even so early. Basically, everyone was waiting for the opening in the IKEA cafe. For some reason, whole families had a hearty breakfast not at home, but in the store. The prices here were cheaper than in the city, and apparently the food tasted better, since it was so popular. We signed up for the loyalty program and now we are entitled to free coffee! And then the doors open, and a huge crowd flows like a river into the endless expanses of Ikea. The store is really funny, as if you are constantly moving from apartment to apartment through invisible portals. I really had a feeling that the store was watching me, but this should be the norm here. As far as I know, IKEA analyzes data on who spends how much time and where and what interests them more.
Today was our last day and we could safely watch everything that we had not seen in 5 days.
Of course, you should have visited the Sagrada Familia. But since it will still be under construction for about 8 years, read the blog in more detail about visiting it no sooner than in 10 years. We walked through the Garcia district to Park Gü ell, where we had a traditional meal. There was a funny situation with the Spanish police in the park. The policewoman accused the Russian-speaking girls of something. As far as we understood, they drove into the park in a car without permission. A Spanish girl pestered me with a demand that I stop standing where I am and listening to how they are trying to fine the Russians. This demand was put forward in beautiful Spanish, but the essence of the gestures was clear. The girl introduced herself as a police officer, and even threatened to check my documents, but in the end she could not even show her own. I rummaged in my bag and couldn't find it. Rather, she pretended that she had changed her mind about getting them. With all this, the girl was not in shape. The other one that knocked down the fine was in uniform, but not the one that came up to me. Despite our icy calmness, the aunt-policeman behaved quite expressively. We stood at a distance of about 5 meters from what was happening on the other path. Unfortunately, we do not know the laws of Spain, but the work of the police seemed extremely incompetent to me. But I think that it is in a public place where absolutely everyone has the right to be, without crossing any police tapes, without interfering with any investigation, I have every right. And even more so to find out what exactly I am violating, if there is a violation.
Even that day we had long walks along the Barcelona promenade.
The weather was cloudy, the sea did not attract, but nevertheless it was very nice to walk along. We spent the evening in the already proven beautiful park of Ciutadella. And after wandering around the old streets, we went to a flamenco show.
This pleasure costs from 15 euros per person and lasts 30 minutes or longer, depending on which show you choose. The show was very impressive, it was the most beautiful evening of this trip. You could have paid more for a longer show if they knew how to dance like that. In the morning we still had some time to walk around the area where our hotel was located. The highlight of the walk was the grandfather, who sang Spanish songs in a semi-opera voice while sitting on a bench.
So we finally got to such a famous tourist city that makes everyone fall in love with it. We liked our trip, we can even say almost very much. Most of all I liked Montserrat and night festivities in the old quarters of Barcelona. Ciutadella Park will be included in our virtual collection of the best parks that we have seen. Well, the CosmoCaixa museum doesn’t even need to be included in the top, if I’m not mistaken, then this is the second museum visited during our travels.
Trip Information
Date of travel: 09/11/2018 – 09/16/2018
Duration: 5 full days
Flight tickets: UIA
Hotels: Ostrovok
Excursions: All by yourself
Trip difficulty: 2/10 (Easy)
