Any advice on things to do, where to eat, usual holiday stuff with the wife.
Go see the cathedral. Tell me if its finished
Quote from: stephenite on August 26, 2009, 11:40:05 AM
Any advice on things to do, where to eat, usual holiday stuff with the wife.
Go for a walking tour of the city, blame each other for taking that wrong turn at the corner, end up falling out with her and not speaking to one another for the rest of the day. You end up in the hotel bar having a few pints while she stews in the room, well thats what normally happens on holidays with the missus.
Get the bus tour, go up to the top of the cable car, have a few drinks up there and get the cable car back down - it's a nice view.
There's a big ship thing that has loads of restaurants on it - you won't be able to miss it.
If you want to go to the beach for the day, take the train out to Sitges (but watch out for the gay part if that would in any way offend you).
Down by Port Olympique is nice but expensive.
QuoteGo see the cathedral. Tell me if its finished
On course for 2050.. Anytime now!!!!
Watch your pockets especially on Las Ramblas and many other streets around it.
Cheers Rois - heading there for New Years so probably won't bother with the beach (not that I would be offended)
More info here as well Stephenite, you have to try and catch a match in the Nou Camp (stadium starting to fall apart but still impressive - also a must do).
http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=1627.msg361388;topicseen#msg361388
Quote from: Gaoth Dobhair Abu on August 26, 2009, 12:11:38 PM
More info here as well Stephenite, you have to try and catch a match in the Nou Camp (stadium starting to fall apart but still impressive - also a must do).
http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=1627.msg361388;topicseen#msg361388
Cheers for that Gaoth
http://www.fosterandpartners.com/News/308/Default.aspx
id wait to go to the new nou camp, it looks like it will be amazing. las ramblas is nice, and would suggest the bus tour. theres a good irish bar, mc carthys, small but a good atmosphere
http://www.barcelonaconnect.com/showlisting.asp?cfgid=1-51-1122
There's an Irish bar directly facing the back of the cathedral
Quote from: Gaoth Dobhair Abu on August 26, 2009, 01:59:30 PM
There's an Irish bar directly facing the back of the cathedral
Yep get yourself in there for your entire time, drink only Guinness and do not even try any foreign looking food. I would avoid mixing with the locals at all cost as they speak with funny accents. You'll have great time ;)
Barcelona is a great city, the bus tour is a good way to see the sights.
as for eating, try a little restaurant called 'la fonda' class place and not that expensive, not sure what street its on, one of the small ones off les ramblas. well worth seeking out.
At the bottom(near the sea) of los ramblas is the statue of Colombus, you can get the lift to the top of that and see the whole city...
PS Along the pedestrian part of los ramblos theres a few cafe bars mainly for tourists, big glass(pint and a half) of beer is 13euro. Of course they dont tell ya that until youve it drank...
Quote from: fitzroyalty on August 26, 2009, 11:42:50 AM
Go see the cathedral. Tell me if its finished
It's finished
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Sta-eulalia.jpg)
Quote from: declan85 on August 26, 2009, 03:29:15 PM
At the bottom(near the sea) of los ramblas is the statue of Colombus, you can get the lift to the top of that and see the whole city...
PS Along the pedestrian part of los ramblos theres a few cafe bars mainly for tourists, big glass(pint and a half) of beer is 13euro. Of course they dont tell ya that until youve it drank...
My brother was there earlier this year and brought me back his receipt showing that two pints in los ramblas was 25 yo yos :o :o - we only thought Dublin was expensive!
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3RNFA_enGB278GB284&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=la+fonda+barcelona&fb=1&split=1&gl=uk&view=text&latlng=14879453973447298935 (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3RNFA_enGB278GB284&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=la+fonda+barcelona&fb=1&split=1&gl=uk&view=text&latlng=14879453973447298935)
ate in it twice while in barcelona, good food and not expensive (espec compared to la ramblas rip off places)
I've taken a few school trips to Barcelona over the past few years - i would suggest getting a metro card and travelling around by train and bus - if you get a t10 card you can share it with another person for 10 journies and we found that the bus very rarely mind if you use it or not. A great place to eat is aplace called Quitz Nitz (i think!) in Placa Reial which is just off las ramblas, it doesnt take bookings so you have to queue up and quite often this gets quite large early evening. Food is cheap but very good - theres also a few irish bars around there as well - Reillys and o'hara's i think! Places to go - parc guell, take the cable car from the beech to mount juic and get to the magic fountains at some stage! Great city!!
Quote from: deiseach on August 26, 2009, 04:06:12 PM
Quote from: fitzroyalty on August 26, 2009, 11:42:50 AM
Go see the cathedral. Tell me if its finished
It's finished
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Sta-eulalia.jpg)
That s not it. I assume Fitz was talking about Gaudi s Sagrada Famalia?
Quote from: Doogie Browser on August 26, 2009, 04:08:06 PM
Quote from: declan85 on August 26, 2009, 03:29:15 PM
At the bottom(near the sea) of los ramblas is the statue of Colombus, you can get the lift to the top of that and see the whole city...
PS Along the pedestrian part of los ramblos theres a few cafe bars mainly for tourists, big glass(pint and a half) of beer is 13euro. Of course they dont tell ya that until youve it drank...
My brother was there earlier this year and brought me back his receipt showing that two pints in los ramblas was 25 yo yos :o :o - we only thought Dublin was expensive!
What was he drinking? Pints of Tia Maria? Anybody who goes to Barcelona and drinks guinness deserves to get fleeced. You d get a large Mahou Classica for 2 or 3 euros in any local café. A better beer as well.
The real Cathedral in Barcelona
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gea-57pKMts
Quote from: fitzroyalty on August 26, 2009, 11:42:50 AM
Go see the cathedral. Tell me if its finished
You know what really grinds my gears, if something in Ireland doesn't get finished on time like a national stadium, Luas lines, motor ways etc everybody bitches and moans about it yet the Catalans spend about 50 years on this thing and still can't finish this job of architecture and civil engineering and they manage to turn it into one of the worlds biggest and best tourist attractions. I wonder if we could set up tours to the sight of the proposed Bertie Bowl in Abbotstown and call it a ghost stadium that never appeared. :-*
Quote from: Capt Pat on August 26, 2009, 07:24:34 PM
Quote from: fitzroyalty on August 26, 2009, 11:42:50 AM
Go see the cathedral. Tell me if its finished
You know what really grinds my gears, if something in Ireland doesn't get finished on time like a national stadium, Luas lines, motor ways etc everybody bitches and moans about it yet the Catalans spend about 50 years on this thing and still can't finish this job of architecture and civil engineering and they manage to turn it into one of the worlds biggest and best tourist attractions. I wonder if we could set up tours to the sight of the proposed Bertie Bowl in Abbotstown and call it a ghost stadium that never appeared. :-*
It s not supposed to be finished. It s ahead of schedule. It was started in the 1880s and using the construction practices of the time it was expected to take hundreds of years. Besides its a work of Art and Gaudi s design must be followed to the letter. It should be finished in 20 or 30 years. Not bad when you consider Europes great cathedrals like Chatres, Notre Dame and Palma took several hundreds of years. We have never attempted a project like this.
Was first there about 12 years ago and went back again a couple of years back. Great city and like all major cities you can hang around the tourist traps and get ripped off or you can literally walk a hundred yards up a side street from Las Ramblas and get great tapas and wine for very little spend. From what I remember the best tapas places were down near the port.
Montjuic by cable car is well worth a visit as someone has mentioned. Nou Camp also worth visiting, Stadio Olympico less so. A wander around the port area is nice and there are plenty of expensive holes or places were you can get a huge pot of mussels for a few euro.
Las Ramblas can't really be avoided if you are going anywhere but it is full of pickpockets. Off Las Ramblas is Quinze Nits and does good food without breaking the bank. La Sagrada Familia is good to see and I would also visit Parc Guell. I stumbled upon a Jewish graveyard in the city which was a spooky wee place.