I have a friend who is going all the way to Spain for her Nadal-fix. She's gone to China two years ago to watch him play. And to Bangkok last year to drool over him court-side. She's a stalker. She's crazy. Anyway, I digress.
Spent 6 days in Barcelona in the Summer of 2009. Weather was around 30-34 degrees but then I come from a tropical country so it wasn't really that bad.
Decided to stay in a hotel in the La Rambla area called
Hostal Opera Ramblas. It's a budget hotel located along an alley a few meters away from the Opera and the Liceu metro station. A night's stay cost us around 55-63 euros. The hotel is located right smack in La Rambla which is a 1.2km-long street in central Barcelona that's very popular with both tourists and locals.
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| Walking up La Rambla |
Everything is walking distance from this area--the city beaches, the Boqueria,
Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila (by Antoni Gaudi), countless bars, restaurants, hotels and even the shopping district.
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| Entrance to the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria |
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| La Boqueria bursting with colors |
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| Sagrada Familia ceiling (taken while waiting for the lift) |
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| View from one of the towers of Sagrada Familia |
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| Casa Mila by Antoni Gaudi |
Since my travel companion and I aren't the artsy-fartsy kind, we only spent 2 days doing the normal touristy stuff and decided to spend the rest of stay hanging out at the beach, both inside and outside the city. Beaches outside the city are a mere 10 to 15-minute train ride away with Castelldefels and Sitges being the two closest and most popular. If going to Sitges, the right beach is where gays mostly hang out and the left beach, right behind the pink church, is where families and straight couples mostly go.
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| Cool cafe at one of the city beaches |
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| Sitges Beach |
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| Lunch at a Restaurant by Sitges Beach |
La Rambla is littered with restaurants so foodies need not fret. On our first day, we decided to eat at Pinotxo, a really tiny stall inside La Boqueria, which I've read so much about. The place doesn't have a printed/set menu so whatever they feel like cooking that day are the only ones available. Would do you good to know the Spanish words for chicken, pork, beef and seafood. Food was good, ingredients fresh and the ca
ña cold.
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| Estofado and a Caña |
While some of the restos along La Rambla are tourist traps, I strongly recommend having a bite at Cafe Viena which is just past La Boqueria. Order their
Flauta d'Iberico d.o Jabugo. It only has 3 ingredients: jamon iberico, flauta (like baguette) and a juicy tomato that's rubbed on the bread to give it a bit of moisture and flavor (no tomato slices included in the sandwich!). So simple yet tastes so divine!
The.Best.Sandwich.Ever. Mark Bittman totally got it right on his article.
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Flauta D'Iberico d.o. Jabugo
Photo from here |
Another thing not to be missed in Barcelona is the
Magic Fountain of Montjuic. It truly is a spectacular display of color, light, motion, music and water acrobatics. It's not open the whole year so better check out their site for opening schedules. Highly recommended.
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| Watched the Magic Fountain of Montjuic show... |
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| one Summer night. AWESOME!!! |
My feet are itching to go back!
Cafe Viena
C/ La Rambla, 115
08002 Barcelona, Spain
+34 933 171 492
Pinotxo
Mercat de la Boqueria, La Rambla
Barcelona, Spain
+34 933 171 731
Hostal Opera Ramblas
C/ Sant Pau 20
08001 Barcelona, Spain
+34 933 188 201
www.operaramblas.com
Sagrada Familia
Plaça de la Sagrada Família, Mallorca, 401,
08013 Barcelona
+34 932 073 031
For ticket info and opening hours, visit the Sacred Destinations page.
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