The third day saw us visit Museo Picasso in the morning. We purchased tickets online, which turned out to be great as there was a huge queue we were able to bypass by waving the barcode on our mobile.
Following this, we did another walk, this time taking in the various churches, squares and noteworthy building in El Barri Gotic, the Gothic quarter. This also included a stroll along La Rambla, which we quickly left again as we thought this not to be the great attraction that it was made out to be. We can only imagine that this street is the epicentre of pick pocketing, however we got away with it.
Dinner was at the same wine bar very close to our apartment and food and drinks again didn’t disappoint. As we had to get up at 7am the next morning, we didn’t stay up too long.
A few general comments and observations on Barcelona:
We missed out on going to Mont Juic, something I regret looking back and a destination that looked great in the guide book. In terms of architecture, art as well as food and drinks, we think that Barcelona is an amazing place and the atmosphere is great. The cost of living, i.e. restaurants etc. was reasonable and as an example, a two-course meal for lunch could be had for 12 Euro, already including a glass of wine or beer. Excellent value.
The week we had chosen, semana santa (the week before Easter), was very busy and if we hadn’t been constrained, we would always recommend going outside of school holidays, as the city was full of tourists. It might always be but it was a bit too much at times. We didn’t notice too many of the international chains one normally sees, e.g. there were only a handful of (American) fast food restaurants, which was nice. What also amazed me was the number of people smoking everywhere: whilst not inside restaurants, it was something I noticed.
Catalan humour inside a tourist shop
breakfast choices at "our" baker
Following this, we did another walk, this time taking in the various churches, squares and noteworthy building in El Barri Gotic, the Gothic quarter. This also included a stroll along La Rambla, which we quickly left again as we thought this not to be the great attraction that it was made out to be. We can only imagine that this street is the epicentre of pick pocketing, however we got away with it.
Dinner was at the same wine bar very close to our apartment and food and drinks again didn’t disappoint. As we had to get up at 7am the next morning, we didn’t stay up too long.
A few general comments and observations on Barcelona:
We missed out on going to Mont Juic, something I regret looking back and a destination that looked great in the guide book. In terms of architecture, art as well as food and drinks, we think that Barcelona is an amazing place and the atmosphere is great. The cost of living, i.e. restaurants etc. was reasonable and as an example, a two-course meal for lunch could be had for 12 Euro, already including a glass of wine or beer. Excellent value.
The week we had chosen, semana santa (the week before Easter), was very busy and if we hadn’t been constrained, we would always recommend going outside of school holidays, as the city was full of tourists. It might always be but it was a bit too much at times. We didn’t notice too many of the international chains one normally sees, e.g. there were only a handful of (American) fast food restaurants, which was nice. What also amazed me was the number of people smoking everywhere: whilst not inside restaurants, it was something I noticed.
Catalan humour inside a tourist shop
breakfast choices at "our" baker
