Our First Full Day in Barcelona

Last night after the Three Kings Parade, children went home, put out water for the kings’ camels and went to bed early, after being told that if they didn’t, they wouldn’t get any presents in the morning. We went to bed early too and woke up to a lovely gift of a sunny day!

In order to travel lighter, we didn’t take any full guidebooks but I did take torn out pages from Rick Steves guidebook of some of the places we are going to visit in Spain. The pages for Barcelona include guided walking tours that we thought were appropriate.

We woke up at 9:30 a.m., Barcelona time, and had a great breakfast buffet downstairs in the hotel. Breakfasts are included in the price of the room. Btw, I noticed that the price of the room has increased by almost half since I booked it!

It is located in the El Raval neighbourhood that at one time was nicknamed the Barri Xines - the worlds only Chinatown with no Chinese in or around it. It was a prejudiced term applied to any foreigner, poor Spanish, North African or Roma people (gypsies). Today it is rapidly gentrifying so it feels very safe to us.

Today is a holiday and it’s sunny, so we expected lots of people to be out and about. Since Barcelona is known as ‘the pickpocket capital of the world’, we prepared ourselves appropriately. We left our passports and money in the hotel safe and just took our phones and a Visa card. Chris put his things in an inner pockets and I used my small Lululemon crossbody bag. Today is planned to be a scoping-out the city by foot day.

We started out by walking to the Catalunya Plaza that is in Barcelona’s centre. Fountains, statues and hundreds of pigeons fill this 12 acre square. It seems to be between Barcelona’s old narrow streets and the wide streets of the newer part of the city. Four grand streets radiate from here.

We walked up to see the outsides of two of Gaudi’s amazing creations - Casa Batllo, La Pedrera (Casa Mina) as well as the Casa Amatlier. Tours in Barcelona are expensive so we are picking and choosing what we want to spend money and time on. Most insides of places can be viewed online.

Casa Battlo has an amazing dragon-inspired rooftop and the outside is full of interesting shapes and colours. Apparently the inside is over the top and funky. We may come back to check out the interior.

Next door is the Casa Amatlier built for the Amatlier chocolate- making family in the 1800s. We were able to go inside without a tour to see the stained glass door and ceiling and a beautiful staircase. Past the foyer, there is a cafe where we bought a recommended cup of melted chocolate and toast. Delicious!

Across the road, was one of Gaudi’s trademark works, Casa Mila, built between 1906 and 1912. The outside has a jagged, rocky exterior and stands out from the buildings around it.
Lots of fun to look at.

As we walked back to the Plaza Catalunya, we stopped at a busy restaurant, Cerveseria Catalona for our first tapas lunch and a beer. Mmmn.

Moving on, we decided to walk down Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s old town main boulevard. We went from the Plaza de Catalunya gently downhill to the waterfront. It took about an hour and there were lots of historic things to see on the way. The big Boqueria Market was closed today but we will enjoy visiting it another day. The produce sold here focus on Spanish specialties - olives, saffron, small green peppers, ham, sausages, and seafood.

We walked further down to the harbour where a 200’ column honours Christopher Columbus who came to Barcelona in 1493.

We were starting to get tired after walking 10.6 km so walked home through the Gothic quarter. This is Barcelona’s birthplace where ancient Romans built a city, Christians built a cathedral, where Jews gathered together and where Barcelonians lived within a walled city until the 1950s when the city expanded. Definitely, we will love exploring this area more throughly in the coming days. It is very close to our hotel.

Dinner was at a great restaurant called Honest Greens. Healthy, tasty and filling and a good price. We will probably return tomorrow night. Happy that we discovered it.Read more