Barcelona and Gaudi's gingerbread houses
Travel from airport:
We arrived in Barcelona in late afternoon and paid for a ride on the aerobus. Cost: 5.90 euros to the center of Barcelona.
Metro:
As Spain is in a recession, when we got to the center of town there was no one at the kiosk. However, there are automated machines that took cash or chip and pin cards. Note: the machines do not take currency over 20 and two day passes are not equal to 48 hours but rather calendar dates. Example: Friday and Saturday not 9pm Friday to 9pm Sunday.
Walking:
Be aware of your surroundings, as petty crime is prevalent. Our flat mate had his backpack stolen outside of one of the Gaudi sites. You can walk to most Gaudi sites except the park in one day. Each site has an admission price. We took other travelers advice and only paid to enter Palau Güell which is the most affordable option (12 euro) and still boasts a look at all of Gaudi’s techniques. You can even walk to the beach from the Selva de Mar metro station.
Language:
In Barcelona they do not speak Spanish but rather Catalan.
Food:
The food of this region reflects more Mediterranean cuisine than traditional Spanish cuisine. I highly suggest going to the La Boqueria on the famous street La Rambla. You can buy the traditional ham and flavors of the region in little bites.
Breakfast: Café con leche and cake
Lunch: Largest meal of the day from 1pm-3pm ask for the menú del dia, a set menu of multiple courses. Nowhere is Spain should you expect this to be a fast process but rather expect it to take 2-3 hours.
Dinner: from 9-11:30 pm is a lighter fare with typically tapas and drinks. Our favorite simply delicious tapa was Pa amb tomàquet (bread brushed with tomato).
Tiping: 10-15% for great service.
Our time:
Our experience in Barcelona started out rough with fees from Ryan Air and not being able to get into our flat due to lack of phone service. Thankfully, one of our flat mates who was visiting from Germany allowed us to borrow his phone to call the owners of the flat to get keys. In that time we learned of his unfortunate luck of running into a thief. The next day we began site seeing we were impressed with the architecture but less impressed with Catalans. We got the impression that they are the hipsters of Spain. We were fine with our two days in Barcelona and ready to see the rest of Spain. We got our rental car and headed out towards the micro country of Andorra.
We arrived in Barcelona in late afternoon and paid for a ride on the aerobus. Cost: 5.90 euros to the center of Barcelona.
Metro:
As Spain is in a recession, when we got to the center of town there was no one at the kiosk. However, there are automated machines that took cash or chip and pin cards. Note: the machines do not take currency over 20 and two day passes are not equal to 48 hours but rather calendar dates. Example: Friday and Saturday not 9pm Friday to 9pm Sunday.
Walking:
Be aware of your surroundings, as petty crime is prevalent. Our flat mate had his backpack stolen outside of one of the Gaudi sites. You can walk to most Gaudi sites except the park in one day. Each site has an admission price. We took other travelers advice and only paid to enter Palau Güell which is the most affordable option (12 euro) and still boasts a look at all of Gaudi’s techniques. You can even walk to the beach from the Selva de Mar metro station.
Language:
In Barcelona they do not speak Spanish but rather Catalan.
Food:
The food of this region reflects more Mediterranean cuisine than traditional Spanish cuisine. I highly suggest going to the La Boqueria on the famous street La Rambla. You can buy the traditional ham and flavors of the region in little bites.
Breakfast: Café con leche and cake
Lunch: Largest meal of the day from 1pm-3pm ask for the menú del dia, a set menu of multiple courses. Nowhere is Spain should you expect this to be a fast process but rather expect it to take 2-3 hours.
Dinner: from 9-11:30 pm is a lighter fare with typically tapas and drinks. Our favorite simply delicious tapa was Pa amb tomàquet (bread brushed with tomato).
Tiping: 10-15% for great service.
Our time:
Our experience in Barcelona started out rough with fees from Ryan Air and not being able to get into our flat due to lack of phone service. Thankfully, one of our flat mates who was visiting from Germany allowed us to borrow his phone to call the owners of the flat to get keys. In that time we learned of his unfortunate luck of running into a thief. The next day we began site seeing we were impressed with the architecture but less impressed with Catalans. We got the impression that they are the hipsters of Spain. We were fine with our two days in Barcelona and ready to see the rest of Spain. We got our rental car and headed out towards the micro country of Andorra.