Barcelona

Charlie sure picked a treasure with our Barcelona hotel. Perfectly located around the corner from Placa (Plaza) Catalunya, described as the Central park of Barcelona. Cheerful Christmas lights and music, plus the location where the direct airport bus stops! Since our hotel is along the famous Rambles so we braved the cold to explore. The Rambles is lined with interesting old buildings, shops, and restaurants.

The buildings seem drab, despite interesting 17th and 18th century architecture. The wrought iron balconies remind me of New Orleans, and the carved stonework and columns must be 17th century.

Despite construction, throngs of locals and tourists amble along this street. Beautiful XM lights illuminate all the streets and we plan to enjoy the many restaurants and bakeries! However, we are noticing crowds of people (perhaps throngs of XM shoppers), massive #s of pigeons, and too many smokers!Read more