This actually doesn’t count as a day because we didn’t actually get to do anything else in Barcelona.

Being weiry and tired of the endless hopping around in Barcelona I got up late, but just in time to reach the flight back home. Angry to miss the chance of one last visit to La Boqueria Mercat (marketplace) at Las Ramblas, I was still grateful not to have missed the flight.
My intention for that morning was to get up very early, go shopping for a few local items at the marketplace and then catch the flight. But not everything goes as planned, does it.

So I think it would be OK to dot down some notes that I think you should bear in mind if you plan on going to Barcelona.

Do’s and don’t do’s in Barcelona:

1.  Use the sightseeing bus for getting around. Only use the metro if you have to, because you will miss the attractions along the way. We mostly used the tube, we had so little time, wei didn’t want to waste time in traffic, but it was dreadful spending all that time underground. It was too late when we found out that there was an economical ticket for a period of days for the touristic sightseeing bus.
2. If you don’t want to waste money don’t buy stuff like drinking water from touristic spots such as Las Ramblas (The price for a bottle of 1.5lt. water is 2€ appr.). If you go to local stores off the touristic route you can find stuff for a quarter of the touristic price.
3. Plan your trip ahead so you can see as many places as possible.
4. If possible arrange your stay there for at least a weak, 10-15 days would be superb.
5. If you go there in summer, make sure to visit the beach.
6. There is bike rental system you can use to get around. Try it out!
7. Buy your wine from local markets it’s cheaper and better, than duty free, trust me.
8. Try to visit Monserrat, a monastery close to Barcelona famous for its wine.
9. Places I missed:
   • olympic stadium
   • the Calatrava tower
   • The Dali Museum (outside Barcelona)
   • Nou Camp
   • The funicular to Montjuïc
   • Torre de Collserola, telecommunication tower designed by Norman Foster Architects
   • Tibidabo, the amusement park
   • Poble Espanyol at Montjuïc (a sweet preserved old Catalan town)

And that will be all about this trip. Hope to tell you about other places soon .

Day 3

This was our last whole day at this wonderful city. We were due to leave at noon the next day, and we still had a lot to do. We were already very tired from the previous day and had decided to take it a bit slower than the day before, but the “big” sites were left for that day so there was still no time for relaxing.

1. We again woke up early, had breakfast and got out towards the metro station to head to our planned destination “La Sagrada Familia”. We spared the whole morning for this attraction point, and tried to get there as early as possible.
Leaving the metro station we turned around and saw this amazing building. You should have seen us, eyes and mouthes wide open .
It was unbelievable, to see this building with their own eyes, everyone must do it. All the mass, the details, the sculptures, the spires, even though the building is unfinished, its whole impression is remarkable.
Although we were there by 9:30 AM the site was full of  buses and tourist groups trying to enter the building.
We found the gate for individual tourists, (the gate for groups was seperated and on the Nativity side of the building) it was on the Passion side so we had to walk around.
We could have spent the wole day at this spot but we only had until noon according to our plan.
So we toured the interior and took a look at the exhibitions of Gaudi’s conceptual drawings and models. There are a few large exhibitions in the main hall and at the basement level. All exhibitions explain the conceptual work of Gaudi with models and drawings. And additional information is given on the significant construction techniques. Every part of Gaudi’s designs are inspired from an organism from nature, be it a plant or animal. In a rational point of view, Gaudi uses these inspirations to mimic the functional aesthethics in nature. For example to elaborate a column he uses the tree as a figurative and structural element. Therefore, his figurative designs are derived from the trees form and function. This is where he gets his modernist side. However the figurative nature of Gaudi’s architecture is far from being modernist in style, since it is not reproducably cost effective.

Now Gaudi had erected only the Nativity facade while he was in charge of the project. The building had no interior, just a facade. After he died the construction stopped because of lack of funds and the Spanish civil war. Years later the construction was given a kick start and the funds collected from private sources and the income from the tours of the building. A sculptor named Josep Maria Subirachs was commissioned with the articulations of the Passion facade. His work was criticized being different from Gaudi’s original design, but in my opinion the difference makes the building more attractive.
We couldn’t have left without riding the elevator to the top and viewing the Cathedral and the surroundings, so waited the long que for nearly an hour and had a look at the spires and the city from above. Then we walked the narrow spiral staircase down and finally left the cathedral to go to our next stop: Parc Güell.

2. It seemed we had reserved that day for Gaudi’s architecture. We got directions at Sagrada Familia to get to Parc Güell, it was far from the metro station at Valcarca and had to walk for nearly half an hour uphill to the eastern gate. Actually after entering the gate the tour was downhill. So that was a relief. You can see that this park carries that this park carries the same characteristics of Gaudi’s architecture, his inspirations from nature, and his playful yet artistic attitude towards design.

3. I could have spent the rest of the day there but duty called. It was our last day in Barcelona and we hadn’t been to the World Architecture Festival yet . I decided to attend Norman Foster’s speach so me and a few pals left the park to the Barcelona Forum Convention Center. I missed Norman Foster’s, but what the heck all the site seeing Ihad done did it for me . I looked around to see what was going on at the fair. There were many Real estate projects exhibited. I left early and didn’t attend the closing party.

4. My last stop was The Torre Agbar, a high rise modern office building designed by Jean Nouvel. Night had fallen and I got to see it up close. Being one of its landmarks, the colourful lighting can be seen all over Barcelona. It was late so I didn’t get to see the interior . After getting a quick snack for dinner (may I remind you I hated the food in barcelona) we headed to a flamenco show downtown on our last night in this city.

5. The flamenco show, although not a part of Catalan culture was still something we couldn’t miss while we were in Spain. We couldn’t find many alternatives but we were lucky with the choice that we made. The show was very lively, there was a female dancer a male singer and a guitarist. It was a simple show where there were tables around a small stage, yet it was very touching and interactive. The artists invited a few people from the audience to the stage in turn to participate with the show.

After the show we headed back to the hotel. We were tired but we still wanted to go back to Las Rambles and visit the market in the morning before we left the hotel to the airport. That was our last plan for our trip to Barcelona.

I wasn’t intending on writing about DAY 4, but I must add some final notes about Barcelona. So you can follow a few more things on my next and last post about this trip.