Spain Holidays

Day 2 of Spain Holidays 2010 - August 30, Monday – Barcelona

7:00 Got up, had a coffee and snack at the hotel

8:00 Left AC Som hotel, walked to the Ildefons Cerda metro/train station and took the L8 line train to Plaça Espanya (just 2^nd stop from Ildefons Cerda)

8:15 Light breakfast at Plaça Espanya

Bus Turistic, Barcelona

10:20 Found the Bus Turistic booth; when the bus arrived, we asked the driver to exchange the vouchers for the Barcelona Bus Turistic tickets for one day – August 30; €19.80 per person (we paid for them online at home). Took good seats on the top deck of the bus and turned on the audio guide. With the tickets, each of us also got headphones and the informative guide with details of bus stops and the book of coupons with savings of more than €180 on a number of sightseeing attractions. From Plaça Espanya we took the South Route (Red) – the bus left at 10:30 - and visited the following Barcelona attractions where the hop on/hop offs were available:

• CaixaForum and Mies van der Rohe Pavillon (10:35)
• Poble Espanyol
• Anella Olimpica and Catalan National Art Museum (MNAC)
• Fundacio Joan Miro
• Funicular de Montjuic
• Miramar and Jardins Costa i Llobera
• World Trade Center (10:55)
• Colon and La Rambla (11:00)
  

  Columbus Column, Barcelona

• Port Vell
• Museu d' Historia de Catalunya
• Port Olimpic - 1^st possible switch to the Green (Forum) Route here
• Platja Bogatell - 2^nd possible switch to the Green (Forum) Route here
• Parc de la Ciutadella and Zoo
• Pla de Palau
• Barri Gotic
• Plaça de Catalunya – we got off here – to switch to the Blue (North) Route and to have lunch (11:45).

After lunch we walked to the other side of Plaça de Catalunya to get on the Blue (North) Route bus of the Bus Turistic. It was about noon and we had to spend about 10 minutes in the line. Luckily, we got the last remaining seats on the top deck of the bus – making the pictures and getting good views is much better from there. Here are the stops that we went through after leaving Plaça de Catalunya around 13:00:

• La Mançana de la Discordia (Casa Batllo, Casa Amatller, Casa Lleo Morera) and Fundacio Antoni Tapies; possible switch to the South (Red) Route (13:05)
  

  La Mançana de la Discordia, Barcelona

• Passeig de Gracia and La Pedrera; possible switch to the South (Red) Route (13:10)
• Sagrada Familia (13:20)
• Gracia
• Park Guell
• Tramvia Blau and Tibidabo (13:45)
• Sarria
• Monestir de Pedralbes and Colleccio Thyssen
• Palau Reial and Pavellons Finca Guell
• Futbol Club Barcelona (14:15)
• Francesc Macia and Diagonal; possible switch to the South (Red) Route (14:30)
• Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) and Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB)
• Plaça de Catalunya. This was practically the final stop of our tour of the city, but we didn't get off and we stayed on the bus as we wanted to get back to Sagrada Familia and we figured it was the easiest way to get there from Plaça de Catalunya. Plus the weather was excellent and it was one more chance to enjoy fantastic architecture on the both sides of Passeig de Gracia (e.g., Casa Batllo, La Pedrera, Casa Lleo Morera, etc.)

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

15:15 Arrived at the Sagrada Familia stop of the Bus Turistic and walked to the temple (about 1-block distance). We had the tickets to Sagrada Familia already as we bought them online at home (cost per person: price of ticket = €11.50 plus online distribution fee = €1.30). The time window for us to visit the temple was between 15:00 and 17:00. We didn't have to wait in the line (it was quite long); we entered via the special gate for the visitors who bought the tickets in advance. Stayed at Sagrada until 16:45.

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16:50 L2 metro from Sagrada Familia to Paral-lel station (7 stops)

Funicular de Montjuic from Paral-lel to Parc de Montjuic (just a few- minute trip)

Montjuic Cable Car

17:30 Montjuic Cable Car – from Parc de Montjuic to Castell de Montjuic via Mirador

18:00 Castell de Montjuic – fantastic views over the city, refreshing beer, etc.

19:30 Walking down Montjuic and tired took the bus to MNAC/Plaça Espanya (just few stops, but the bus took a strange route around Plaça Espanya before stopping near the metro entry).

20:30 L1 metro from Plaça Espanya to Plaça de Catalunya (3 stops).  At the plaza, we visited the Barcelona Turisme's tourist information office (in the underground, it was still open – they close at 21:00) where we wanted to buy the tickets for the trip to Montserrat that we had planned for the next day. We didn't buy the tickets there as we were offered only the most expensive ones – Tot Montserrat at €38.45; that price included: train (Plaça Espanya – Monistrol de Montserrat; return ticket) + metro (return ticket) + Montserrat rack railway (return ticket) + Montserrat funiculars + lunch in Montserrat + Montserrat Museum + audiovisual show. That option was too pricey and we were not interested in some of the items included in the price. We decided to buy the train tickets in the morning, at «our»- Ildefons Cerda station of the metro and FGC commuter train network.

21:00 Still at Plaça de Catalunya, we had supper at a nearby Pans restaurant. The food was good and they were offering special deals. It was interesting to try if this Spanish fast food chain offers something different than what we can get at our North American fast food restaurants, such as McDonalds or Subway. Their food was actually quite good and with the deals we got it was inexpensive. It was a nice end to our first full day in Barcelona.

22:00 Took metro to get to the hotel – L1 from Plaça de Catalunya to Plaça Espanya (4 stops) and from there - L8 to Ildefons Cerda (2 stops). Quickly went to bed to have a nice rest as for the next day we planned a lot of attractions.

Mary

RESOURCES:

Barcelona Bus Turistic - http://www.barcelonabusturistic.cat/web/guest/home
Plaça Espanya - short for Plaça d'Espanya - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaça_d'Espanya,_Barcelona
Plaça Catalunya - short for Plaça de Catalunya - Barcelona's most important streets and avenues meet here: Passeig de Gràcia, Rambla de Catalunya, La Rambla and Portal de l'Àngel - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaça_de_Catalunya,_Barcelona
Barri Gotic - Gothic Quarter - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Quarter,_Barcelona
Casa Batllo - http://www.casabatllo.cat/
La Pedrera (aka Casa Milà) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Milà
Sagrada Familia - http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/?lang=0
Park Guell - http://www.parkguell.es/eng/index.php
Gaudí and his works - http://www.gaudiallgaudi.com
Futbol Club Barcelona - Barça's official website - http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/
Parc de Montjuic - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montjuïc
Montjuic Cable Car - http://www.barcelonabusturistic.cat/web/guest/teleferic