A day in... Barcelona

I am not a person to improvise, I don't have a life that lets much space to improvising either, so I have an excuse not to improvise, so planning 30 hours in Barcelona on a Monday and booking flights for just five days later almost made me threw up.

But I didn't, and those 30 hours in Barcelona were awesome (except for the part where I couldn't have dinner because I had eaten too much and felt sick for a couple hours).

The Plan:

What to do in 30 hours in Barcelona?  This time there was no shopping involved (surprisingly!). This is a map of what we did:

You must know that (i) we were in no hurry to see anything, and (ii) we had already been to Barcelona, and therefore, there was no need to see/do all the tourinty stuff, even if I we did.

The Execution:

First you get up at 7:15 and try to get to the airport in time to take the 9:30 flight to Barcelona, not so easy when you have to convince someone else that getting up even before than weekdays is an excellent idea.

Second, the plane takes off and an hour later... you're there and your weekend finally starts.

And our tour of Barcelona, Such is Life edition starts here:

A. D. and H. - Quick stop at the hotel and off to a place that has the power to impress anyone who visits it, even if it does not have the name Gaudi written on it.

If you want a hotel a walking distance from almost everything, with wifi, laptops and even an exercise bike (yeah) in each room I'll have to recommend our hotel: http://www.hthoteles.com/es/hotel-petit-palace-museum-barcelona/, I cannot say much about the service however, they couldn't make me a chamomile tea during my food comma crisis, but...  

B.- Not 20 minutes from our hotel is el Palau de la Musica Catalana. Subject to political scandal and controversy in recent years, that does not mean it is a place that can  be overlooked. Totally worth to see its magnificent interior for 17€ per ticket, and you get a guided tour, which includes a little bit of Mendelson. Yes, music was surprisingly present everywhere we went so I will mention Mendelson and his organ concert played by a computer.

For more information on the Palau, here's their website: http://www.palaumusica.cat/ca/

I have to say that before our guided tour we had already stopped to grab a bite and a beer sitting in the sun at the cafe of el Palau, enjoying the first days of spring weather at last! It was gooooooooood.

We even took a couple of minutes to walk about the Barrio Gótico, with its narrow and dark streets, and felt odd to walk past this building in Via Laietana which seemed to spy on us with its hundreds of eyes pinned to its facade.

 But we were focusing on B, and its glass interior. That is for me the most impressive thing of the building.

 C.- 30 minute visit ofel Palau and that left us enogh time to walk up the Paseo de Gracia, enjoying two of Gaudi's landmarks (which any tourist would know). I may or may not have accidentally kicked a metal hurdle on the way while posing in front of Casa Batlló for a picture (taken with my BB because someone forgot to charge the camera, and I swear it was not me).

Lunch at Roca Moo, the restaurant at Hotel Omm was just a massive spectacle of food, champagne and good company :) We were even lucky enough that it rained while having lunch, but not after!

Short nap and opportunity to change the battery of the camera, and off again for an afternoon walk.

E. and F.- Around Plaza Real, and the Barrio Gótico, I posed for endless pictures which I may never get back (at least not until I have insisted a million times, let this count for one). We then heard the music, and then saw the enormous crowd, and then we just stared for a while.









During those minutes I stared I realised that Sardana is not so different from Sevillanas, first easy, then more intricate and difficult.

Then comic book stores, and Star Wars galore, and we were quite exhausted for the day. So we made our way back to Paseo de Gracia and Carrer de la Diputació.

G.- This place deserved to have been in our route for dinner, but I was sooooooooooooo full I couldn't even sit straight without feeling sick.

Still, Tapas 24 was in my plan for a light early dinner so I will post it anyway, cause the choice for dinner was just not too good to blog about it.

I.- Sunday morning, late morning, ideal for brunch, not that I found that many places to pick, not at least online, but I went for the most "alternative" choice and made a reservation at Dostrece, in the heart of el Raval. 

I have to admit we were a bit unsure at first, but benedict eggs and pancakes convinced us we were totally right, and we even got to see a Sikh procession through the window of the bar which was quite cool. I have no pics, but I found this link to a blog with some good pics http://lamevabarcelona.com/la-comunitat-sikh-de-barcelona/.

J. and K.- Down the Rambla (packed on a sunny Sunday), to the sea, around the Maremagnum and past the Museum of History, we met this groovy guys who brought the best of Cuba to our ears.

There was even a guy that produced Mojitos from a back pack, which was the most unhigenic thing I saw in all the weekend, and maybe in a long while, but it was three in the afternoon, we had had a massive brunch and we were in need of refreshment, so I remembered a very cool and hipster place I saw at Plaza Real, and we walked our way back there to lay back in the sun and drenched our thirst with a nice gin & tonic.

My pair of empty frames just made me blend in enough to enjoy Barcelona and take all this Instagramy pics,

And with that... our weekend was over.

I am counting the days to repeat it, somewhere else or anywhere else, otherwise what would become of this section, right?

Such is Life.

M