Spain
Gothic Quarter

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    • Day 3

      Barcelona

      September 7, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Finally arrived in Barcelona. For now a little siesta to heal all the physical and emotional wounds and later Rambla is ours. Nice hotel,nice people and nice weather. The hotel was so nice, that Tom felt the urge to take a 😴, meanwhile I decide to explore a little bit the city on my own... My inner voice guided me to the Barcelona Cathedral known as Cathedral of St Eulalia, Patron of Barcelona with it's 13 friendly geese's 😁. Beautiful itself, also has great views from the rooftop of the city, including Sagrada and Tibidabo Hill with it's beautiful church.Read more

    • Day 32

      Barca

      October 12, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

      Arrived at Camping Barcelona yesterday and squeezed onto a pitch next to another Brit van. Turns out we met them on an Aire in Arras, France 3 weeks earlier- small world for sure. The camp , a 30 minute journey from Barcelona, had a regular bus service to and fro so on we hopped. We have always wanted to visit Barca so the City bus tour was the ideal way of seeing it. What a disappointment. We just weren’t impressed with the city. The Rambles (a pedestrian route of Cafes and stalls etc) and the side streets off it were however worthy of exploring on foot. It’s a case of been there , done it and worn the tee shirt I’m afraid. Had a couple of good nights though having a shandy with Bryn and Mandy. Now off further South for hopefully three days of sun on a site close to a beach.
      Life is Good
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    • Day 18

      Double decker bus tour

      April 27, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

      Sat up top for both the red and blue routes. It was a nice day so what the heck. In fact they are all nice days here. Did I also mention it’s cheaper here too?
      Anyway, there’s my bunk room, a view inside what they call a carnateria (see the legs..shudder). Then there’s the view of Christopher Columbus’ butt and a bowl of wicked spicy Chinese fish soup. Finally random architecture.
      I give this place a solid A for how great it is. There was even a futbol match tonight. Go FC Barcelona!
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    • Day 25

      Leaving Pamplona

      May 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

      Getting packed now for my walk to Cezur Menor. I had a nice evening with Sue, Christian, Alan and Kira. We met at the Italian restaurant in the big square here and enjoyed a vegan spaghetti and loads of good chat, shared pics of our families, except Christian who was adopted and not sure his adoptive parents really knew how to care for him.
      Today is an easy walk not going far I'll see how the road takes me. I've booked a bed as the hostels are getting packed up quickly. Some more stories to tell later💖
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    • Day 5

      Barcelona

      August 23, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 30 °C

      Lotnisko w Ponta Delgada porównywalne wielkością do lotniska w Wolinie, tak że szybko wszystko poszło. Oddaliśmy bardzo sprawnie samochód, przeprosiłem pana że nie miałem czasu go umyć ale rozumiał i życzył nam miłej podróży. Lot do Barcelony odbył się liniami Azorskimi, bardzo spokojnie i po 3 godzinach byliśmy już w drodze na stare miasto. Hotelik nasz ( sprawdzony już w ubiegłym roku) jest przepięknie zlokalizowany przy placu Katalońskim zaraz przy Rambli, deptaku , który ciągnie się aż do mariny oddzielonej tyłko paroma falochronami od Morza Sródziemnego. Tak naprawdę to nic się takiego nie wydarzyło, po prostu sycilismy się starym gotyckim miastem i ludźmi, którzy albo bez lub w celu spacerowali. Jest to jedno z miejsc do których chętnie się powraca chętnie gubiąc się w małych uliczkach.Read more

    • Day 697

      Sant Andreu de Llavaneres 2.0

      January 18 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

      The next few days in Barcelona were a bunch of reunions with all the people I missed the most and whom I was excited to hear about their life changes and developing process. I met my friend Robles, Encarna (my nana as a kid), Esther (my childhood bestfriiend's mum and english teacher), Silvia (my friend from cau), Gala, Ger, Anna again, Vero, my kids from Cau (Sara, Berta and Eloi, who were not kids anymore), I bumped into some of my students like Marc, Carla and Marta which was beautiful and some other people that made me so happy to see. But mostly, I tried to spend as much quality time with Helena, Nerea, my parents, my siblings and sisters in law, my beloved nieces and nephews . I also tried to fix all the mistakes from last time, doing lots of bureaucracy tasks (and spending a lot of money in consequence). Helena and Nerea made a big effort to show me their new life and their new people from after I left, which for me, was the most special way of sharing, and I got a tattoo with Andrea of a canoe (or a calaboti). I went for a few days to Olot and rebuilt my bond with my little Libu and Nima and went to the cars with my not so little anymore Biel and Arlet and played lots and lots of board games. Tried some cool yoga and mobility classes some on my own and some with Nerea (such as Acrobatics flows, handstands, acroyoga, hammock acrobatics, jivamukti yoga and rocket yoga). Mario came for a visit for a couple of days and we went to what used to be the best cocktail bar in the world (the actual one was too expensive to attend), visited Girona and laughed (mostly me) in a Bruno Oro monologue. Went to the cosmocaixa with Helena and hiked the roca foradada with my bbclan, did a bit of yoga with mum, went to see acrobatics (mano a mano) with my family, won a rum bottle on a musical bingo by chance and ate lots of the food I used to love here with the people I still love. And sososo many other magical moments along the way.Read more

    • Day 30

      Barcelone, Espagne

      October 9, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Après une journée plutôt stressante et chargée de transports, nous arrivons en avion à Barcelone et nous sommes installés à notre appartement loué pour 5 jours. Aujourd'hui, après une bonne nuit de sommeil (tout le monde était claqué!), on part explorer le centre-ville. Nous sommes vraiment au cœur de la ville et tout se fait en marchant. Les rues sont tellement étroites, mais notre chauffeur de taxi d'hier a quand même réussi à se rendre!

      Donc ce matin, on part vers la gauche (lol aussi simple que ça!) et on marche d'abord jusqu'à la Cathédrale Sainte-Croix de Barcelone. C'est une cathédrale gothique, l'une des plus importantes de la ville. On ne visite qu'une petite partie, mais même ça c'est fascinant. On poursuit ensuite notre exploration de la ville, on tombe sur un magasin de Noël pas mal intense que Sam et Jessie se font une joie de visiter. Après, on visite un petit marché vraiment sympa où on goûte et achète quelques fromages. On déambule ensuite jusqu'à une rue incontournable : La Rambla. Cette rue commerçante est premièrement bondée de monde, mais aussi on y trouve une tonne de boutiques de chaque côté. C'est en fait un boulevard, mais avec un terre-plein avec passage piétonnier au centre. Le soleil se pointe le bout du nez alors on arrête acheter des lunettes fumées! Ensuite, on se trouve un bon resto pour dîner. Au menu: tapas de fruits de mer et autres plats typiques de l'Espagne. Le tout est excellent.

      Le ventre bien rempli, on reprend la marche jusqu'à la place de Catalogne où Sam s'en donne à coeur joie à faire fuir les pigeons! La marche nous mène ensuite à une Gelato (oh boy!) puis éventuellement à l'Arche de Triomphe. Pas mal impressionnant comme bâtiment, moi qui croyais que c'était unique à Paris! Eh Ben! On va ensuite traîner au gigantesque Parc de la Ciutadella où se trouve le parlement de la Catalogne entre autres. C'est encore là bondé de monde, mais l'ambiance est décontractée. On entend de la musique ça et là en plus d'amuseurs publics qui font des bulles de savon immenses au grand bonheur de Sam. Encore là, il s'en donne à cœur joie, il court avec les autres enfants pour tenter de les faire éclater! C'est vraiment un beau parc, avec des aires de jeux de détentes, des points d'eau à fontaines et autres. Vraiment chouette!

      On retourne finalement en direction de notre appart, en prenant une pizza sur la route et du vino pour déguster le tout à notre arrivée. Ouf, une journée bien remplie. Les enfants sont claqués et nous aussi !! Bienvenus en Espagne!
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    • Day 73

      Antonio Ghadi’s work

      June 2, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

      Miles: 8.60 Steps: 20023
      Flights stairs: 22

      We spent the day looking at the amazing works of Spanish architect Antonio Ghadi. We started with the Sagrada Familia, a cathedral that has been under construction since 1882. It was absolutely incredible. It is due to be finished in 2026, for the 100 yr anniversary of Ghadi’s death. Incredible building with incredible history. Loved it!

      Ghadi was commissioned to build multiple homes in Barcelona, which are now on display. We toured one, Casa Mila - his style was so unique it left us in awe. We then headed to Palau de La Musica - a gorgeous concert hall. Again … absolutely amazing. Lastly, we visited the Barcelona cathedral. It was very majestic. I was moved learning about the history of the building and the saint it honors - Saint Eulalia. (I’m not Catholic so am not familiar with much regarding that faith) but her tomb is in the cathedral. She was a 13 yr old who was martyred in 303ad - tortured in 13 ways, one for every year she had lived - until she was eventually beheaded. Very sad story.

      Overall though it was an amazing day. Barcelona is much different than the other three Spanish cities we’ve visited. So special seeing them all.
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    • Day 36

      Hola Chica 🇪🇸

      August 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      I pull into Barcelona Sants and am greeted by a familiar voice. My long time friend Rosie, stands awaiting my arrival and helps me drag my luggage to the hostel. We spend the evening catching up on all the news from back home and plotting out tomorrow’s escapades.

      When we finally make it to bed, we’re both kept awake by the bloke in the bed above, snoring like a chainsaw. Safe to say it proves to be a rather sleepless night.

      Nevertheless we hop over to the Sagrada Familia the next day and take a wander round. Built by Antoni Gaudi, the Catholic Church remains unfinished despite the ground for the project being broken in 1882. There are 3 facades to it, one representing the nativity, one representing the crucifixion and the stations of the cross and one dedicated to ‘the glory’ of Jesus. Looking at it, it’s easy to see why it’s taken 141 years to build. The designs and details are incredibly intricate. It also looks a lot like someone’s changed their mind on the design every few years as none of the designs are particularly cohesive, with architectural hallmarks from a huge variety of styles and eras. One things for sure though, it’s an impressive building. When Gaudi died in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was completed and looking up at the eclectic building today, I wonder what he’d make of it. The project is scheduled to be finished around 2026 however covid has delayed things somewhat so it sounds like the completion date is anyone’s guess at this point.

      Rosie takes me for my first ever Spanish churros, which prove to be incredible and then we take a wander down La Rambla which is one of the most well known streets in Barcelona. Lined with shops and stalls for tourists, it’s worth a short wander. My Spanish is almost entirely non existent and so Rosie acts as translator.

      After a short siesta and a shower to cool off from the Barcelona heat, we head out to see Park Guell. Another creation from Gaudi, this time created by the request of a rich Barcelona man to house 61 families. It’s now open to the public and is a popular tourist attraction. We spend a few hours wandering around and watching parakeets fly over head.
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    • Day 28

      Strike a Pose

      January 3 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

      We thought it was much better value to ignore all the cruise ship photo offers and get a photography session/walking tour in Barcelona. It was a fraction of the price and a lot more meaningful. I won't get the photos for a few days so I'm sure I'll swap some of my dodgy efforts on this page in due course.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Barri Gòtic, Barri Gotic, gothische Viertel, Gothic Quarter, Gòtic, Gótico, El Gòtic, گوتیک کوآرتر بارسلون, quartier gothique, הרובע הגותי, ゴシック, Готический квартал, Готичний квартал, 哥特区

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