Hotel Gaudi
We were picked up from our hotel at 7 a.m. for our 10 a.m., 1 1/2–hour, flight from Seville to Barcelona via Spanair. We booked our transfers through Travel Bound via AAA. They made sure that we got to the airport in time. The Spanair desk wasn’t even open yet, but we had plenty of time to eat breakfast at the airport. We arrived at our hotel, the Hotel Gaudi, on Nou de la Rambla, right off the busy Las Ramblas, a bit after noon but our rooms weren’t ready yet. This photo shows a Gaudi–inspired sculpture in the hotel lobby––the nicest thing about the hotel (more about Gaudi later). The hotel was adequate and right across from the Palau Guell (a major Barcelona tourist site, but it was under rennovation) and also in a convenient location, but we would not recommend it as a great hotel to stay at. (We chose this hotel ourselves, not AAA.)
Hotel Gaudi
Placa Reial
We could almost just walk across Las Ramblas to reach the Placa Reial from our hotel. The Placa Reial is a large square with a number of restaurants. We ate here twice, today at a tapas bar, but we didn’t find great food here.
Placa Reial
Las Ramblas
Las Ramblas is a very long pedestrian street starting at the Placa de Catalunya and extending down to the waterfront. On it are some very interesting buildings, many street mimes, gambling scammers, artists, flower and bird stalls, a large produce market, many, many pedestrians, and even more pickpockets. A sign in our hotel rooms told us that we and our belongings were safe as long as we were in our hotel, but as soon as we left it, BEWARE. Merrie and I, looking like the traditional tourists––cameras around our necks, guidebooks, my tennis shoes, etc.––were looked over by many of these pickpockets. It was an uncomfortable feeling. There are many places in Barcelona where the pickpockets hang out and I think that the trick as to not becoming one of their marks or even of their interest is to not to look like a tourist. Barcelona is a fascinating city, but the pickpocket thing can put a damper on your spirits here. I have put the photos that I took on Las Ramblas over a three–day period on a slide show on this site: Go to Slide Shows, Western Europe, Spain–1, “Barcelona: Las Ramblas.”
Las Ramblas
Columbus Monument
The Columbus Monument at the waterfront at the end of Las Ramblas.
Columbus Monument
Columbus Monument
Close–up of the bottom of the monument.
Columbus Monument
Building on the Waterfront
We hopped on a Hop–on Hop–off bus here. There are two routes––the blue bus and the red bus and you can easily transfer from one to the other. These were the very best hop–on hop–off buses that I have ever been on. The buses were very frequent, there were seats on the top, the routes were excellent, getting you easily to all the tourist sights, and the commentary was live––in Catalonian (Catalonian, not Spanish, is the “official” language of Barcelona), Spanish, and English.
Building on the Waterfront
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
View of the waterfront.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
More of the waterfront.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
A good place in which to do some bench sleeping.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
Public art.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
More public art. This work is called Barcelona Head and it is by Roy Lichtenstein, the famous modern artist.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
A view of the beach. The waves here looked too strong for any swimming, but I took one look at the beach and I wanted to get off the bus and just sit on the beach for hours and hours––this Spain trip had been very tiring.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
Entrance to a park.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
Modern building.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
A major Barcelona street––the Gran Via?
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
A church.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
The Placa de Catalunya, the center of Barcelona. The Placa de Catalunya is the dividing line between the old Barcelona––the Barri Gothic (where our hotel was) and the new section of Barcelona––the Eixample. I couldn’t find any information on the sculptures.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
The small sculpture at the bottom of the large sculpture.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
A fountain and another sculpture in the Placa de Catalunya.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
A statue in the Placa de Catalunya.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
Moving again. An interesting building.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
One of the buildings in the Block of Discord––the Casa Lleo Morera. It was remodeled in 1905 over an existing building. It is not open to the public. And why don’t they cut those trees in front of it?
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
Two more of the buildings in the Block of Discord––the one on the left, the Casa Amatller, was built in 1900 as a fanciful step–gabled house; the one on the right, the Casa Batllo, was designed by Antoni Gaudi in 1907. Gaudi was Barcelona’s most famous Modernist. He helped to transform Barcelona into a work of modern, fanciful art. Both houses are open to the public. We didn’t stop here today, but returned to this area the next day.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
Casa Mila, the apartment house Gaudi built in 1912. We visited it the next day.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
You can see the spires of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia in the background of this photo.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
Sagrada Familia
The spires of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia. In 1883, Gaudi (1852–1926) devoted the rest of his life to the building of this church. It is still unfinished; hence, there is much scaffolding and many cranes are visible. We got off the bus to visit the Sagrada Familia. You can walk around most of the church and visit inside. There is also an elevator to one of the towers (we were here too late to take the trip up). I have put the photos that I took here on a slide show on this website: Go To Slide Shows, Western Europe, Spain–1, “Barcelona: Sagrada Familia.”
Sagrada Familia
Walk Up to Parc Guell
After visiting the Sagrada Familia, we got back on the bus and got off at the bottom of the hill where the Parc Guell is located. There were many souvenir stores on the way up the very steep hill to the park.
Walk Up to Parc Guell
Walk Up to Parc Guell
A colorful building seen on our walk up.
Walk Up to Parc Guell
Walk Up to Parc Guell
Close–up of the window.
Walk Up to Parc Guell
Parc Guell
The famous Gaudi salamander at Parc Guell. In 1900, Euseli Guell commissioned Gaudi to build a new residential area of 60 houses and recreational space. Few houses were built and the city later bought the property and opened it up as a city park. I have put the photos that I took at the Parc Guell on a slide show on this website: Go to Slide Shows, Western Europe, Spain–1, “Barcelona: Parc Guell.” It was very late in the day when Merrie and I visited the park. I would suggest that you visit earlier in the day and plan to spend several hours here so that you have the time and the energy to walk around the whole park.
Parc Guell
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
After visiting the Parc Guell, we got back on the bus, heading back to our hotel. Building that we passed.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
Close–up of the building.
On the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
Off the Hop-on Hop-off Bus
The last stop for our bus was the Placa de Catalunya, at the top of Las Ramblas. It was already dark and we were hungry, so we looked for a place to eat nearby. We found the Pizza Marzano (photo taken the next day). It was a great Italian restaurant, but my pizza and Caesar salad tasted more upscale American Italian than Italian Italian or even Spanish Italian, so I asked our waiter who owned the restaurant. He told us that the owner was African, one of the chefs was Spanish and the other one was from Argentina, and he himself was from Nice, France. I told him that we can get thin–sliced pizza also in the United States and he was very very surprised by this. After dinner, we went back to our hotel and called it another long, long day.
