FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain to San Diego
September 26, 2012 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain to San Diego
Trip Day 55 – Tuesday, September 4 – Barcelona, Spain to London, UK to HOME!
What I LIKE
Parc Güell
- love spending money & hate wasting it
- save $87 Euro on hotel room by staying @ airport
- airport shuttle only takes 10 min
- 7:15 – take off on time
- British Airways Heathrow lounge has full buffet of hot & cold food items all day long – full bar too!
- free, fast internet
- non-stop from Heathrow to San Diego
What I DIDN’T LIKE
- 4:30 am wake up call for 7:45 am flight to London
- have to take train to satellite terminal for flight
- having 6 hr layover
- taking so long to get home!
Parc Güell
FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 5
September 25, 2012 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 5
Trip Day 54 – Monday, September 3 – Barcelona, Spain
Casa Milà
What I LIKE
Block of Discord
- 8:00 – more good free coffee downstairs
- pack up for noon checkout
- Renaissance @ airport is only $90 Euro
- 12:00 – lunch @ Nello’s next door – fried eggs with ham & French fries, tuna belly salad (their hamburgers look really good)
- 1st stop – Casa Milà – Gardi’s 1906 residence – no senior discount – $20 Euro with audio guide –75 min tour well worth it
- like 4 tours in 1 since it covers his other famous ventures in Barcelona that we saw
- full tour includes:
- 1. the rooftop – 30 chimneys on multi level roof with a roller coaster of melting-ice-cream eaves
- 2. the attic – parabola-shaped arches – served as laundry & storage space for tenants – also used for ventilation keeping things cool in summer & warm in winter
- also filled with photos, models & videos of his work
- 3. the apartment – fully decorated – center atrium maximizes light in the apartments
- 2:30 – back to hotel
- 3:00 – taxi to Renaissance – good time to go – traffic is light – only costs $25 Euro
- 4:00 – happy hour!
- 7:15 – dinner @ downstairs bar – hamburger – really YUMMY! – curry chicken & rice
- 10 pm – attempt sleep
Block of Discord
What I DIDN’T LIKE
- use Gallery computer to check in for flight – only problem it’s in Spanish
- staying @ airport hotel
- paying for internet
- no siesta – need to sleep tonight
- 2 & 3:30 am wake up – afraid to miss wakeup call
FF (FUN-fact) – Antoni Gaudi’s most famous work is his unfinished super-sized church Sagrada Familia. He labored over it for 43 years until his death in1926. Gaudi drew his inspiration from nature incorporating form, texture & color into everything he did.
Block of Discord
FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 4
September 24, 2012 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 4
Trip Day 54 – Sunday, September 2 – Barcelona, Spain
What I LIKE
Placa España
- 7:30 – Nespresso coffee in Gallery Hotel is free!
- same as we had in Sevilla
- black label is the strongest
- 9:45 – hop on, hop off bus
- 2nd route (orange line) takes in the west side
- 2 hours covers the sites without getting off – main attractions are:
- Olympic Stadium
- National Palace
- Placa España
- 12:30 – Cathedral stop to see Sardana Dancers
- special surprise treat – only happens on Sunday in August
- locals dance Zorba the Greek-style – with arms raised, holding hands they hop & sway to the live music
- 1:00 – hop off @ beginning of La Rambla to walk entire street
- 1st stop – need food! snack break of Dürüm Kebab – giant flour tortilla filled with Gyros-style chicken & meat, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, cabbage & 2 kinds of sauces – heated pannini style – YUMMY! Best value going – only $4 Euro & enough for 2
La Rambla
- 2nd stop – Palau Güell – one of Gaudi’s early works – features his trademark curvy style –
rooftop contains 20 chimneys slathered in bits of glass, ceramic tile & marble - 3rd stop – take side street to venture into Barri Gòtic – Barcelona’s most historic, atmospheric, characteristic & colorful neighborhood
- old walled, medieval part of city has narrow, winding lanes & courtyards – filled with shops, bars
- 3:00 – lunch stop @ Las Mañanitas – having Mexican food craving – guacamole, chips, salsa – taco fiesta plate has chicken, meat, pork – Pacifico
- Siesta
- 8:45 – dinner la Tagliatella – really good for a chain restaurant (ate @ one in Pamplona) – 7 cheese pizza with paper thin crust, veggie stack of eggplant, tomato, mozzarella
What I DIDN”T LIKE
- had no idea how far Las Mañanitas was
- 4th night @ Gallery Hotel cost $179 Euro vs $137 for the 1st 3 days
FF (FUN-fact) – La Rambla is the pedestrian-only Champs-Elysées of Barcelona. It’s great people watching (and watch out for the pickpockets) and includes the usual touristy things as well as a flower and bird market.
FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 3
September 21, 2012 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 3
Trip Day 53 – Saturday, September 1 – Barcelona, Spain
Parc Güell Entrance
What I LIKE
Dragon Mosaic
- bright sunshine – cool breeze
- Starbuck’s isn’t open
- coffee is better across the street from hotel
- 9:30 – hop on, hop off bus (take the one with the most # of buses so don’t have to wait long)
- Barcelona Sightseeing is run by Grayline – has 2 routes & covers large area too big to walk
- 2 day senior pass only $22 Euro!
- 12:00 – 1st stop – Parc Güell – 30 acre garden designed to be a 60-residence gated community
- 2 gingerbread gate houses flank entrance
- ceramic dragon fountain on steps up
- 100 columns – each different, decorated with colorful ceramic, broken bottles & bric-a-brac
- snack break – cappuccino & tomato, onion, feta tapas
- 2nd stop – Block of Discord – several colorful Modernista facades compete for attention on
- Passeig de Gràcia – all built by well-known 19th century architects
- Casa Batlló – Gaudi design with shell-like balconies & soft-ice-cream-cone turret roof
Casa Batlló
- celebrating our anniversaries (1st date was 8-31 – got married on 9-6)
- 2:00 – lunch @ 5 J – greek salad, fried egg with ham & broad beans – nice light, crisp white wine
- siesta
- wonderful Sylvia @ front desk recommends Bembi Indian Restaurant – have her call to find out what time they open – reservations full but will take us @ 8:30 when they open
- 20 min, nice walk – lovely atmosphere & service – scallops in light cream sauce, rice , garlic nan, dal & chicken vindaloo – the best so far!
- 10:00 walk back to hotel
- Gallery Hotel area – has all of the high end designer stores on both sides of the streets for several blocks
What I DIDN”T LIKE
- Don’t remember a thing!
FF (FUN-fact) – All over Spain you will pay extra to sit at an outside table.
FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 2
September 19, 2012 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Barcelona, Spain – Day 2
Trip Day 52 – Friday, August 31 – Barcelona, Spain
Cathedral of Barcelona
What I LIKE
Sagrada Familia
- Wake up to sunshine!
- breezy & very cool
- breakfast not included (save $36 Euro)
- Starbuck’s around the corner
- 9:00 – head out on walk
- 1st stop – Casa de les Punxes
- 2nd stop – Segrada Familia – Gaudi’s cathedral started in 1883 – line wraps halfway around entire block – glad I saw it in 2000! (need to buy tickets ahead of time)
- 3rd stop – Placa de Catalunya – filled with fountains, statues & pigeons
- continue walk to Arc de Triomf
- 4th stop – Cathedral of Barcelona – 14th century colossal Gothic church ringed by distinctive chapels
- continue walk through La Ribera – streets where wealthy shippers & merchants lived are lined with grand mansions
- 5th stop – 1:00 – Picasso museum (good time to go as line is quite short) – best collection in the country & best of his early works anywhere
- 6th stop – Las Ramblas stroll – colorful, gritty tourist-filled pedestrian thoroughfare
- 3:30 – lunch @ Sagarra – tapas of Greek salad, fried calamari, bowl of lentils with vegetables & beer of course!
- nice afternoon breeze – high of maybe 80
Arc de Triomf
- 4:45 – head back up to hotel
- big day of waking so need siesta
- 8:15 – dinner Brown restaurant on Passeig de Gràcia (we couldn’t get in last night – rain caused everyone to stop & eat) – quarto formaggio pizza, caprese salad, nice red wine – pizza so-so
What I DIDN”T LIKE
- worst coffee ever at Starbuck’s on Passeig de Gràcia
- try to get return flight home on 1st with no luck
FF (FUN-fact) – Placa de Catalunya is the center of the world for 7 million Catalan people. It is the hub for transportation and where they demonstrate, celebrate, and enjoy outdoor concerts and festivals.