I left Switzerland and headed toward Barcelona. Easyjet made me check in 1 hand bag. Thanks to G for booking in advance we can use that. We landed in Barcelona about 6 oclock. To commemorate this only country in our trip that I can understand the language, I'm going to write in Spanish (the one they taught in America, which is very different).
Barcelona es muy bonito. Hay muchos restaurantes y cafes. Yo vivo en un hotel en Placa Cantalonya. Se llama Hostal Goya. Es bonito y "so so" (that means so so in english). Fui a muchos placas: Parc Guell, Las Ramblas, Gotic Quarter, Montjuic, Port Vell, Olimpic Vila, la playa y la Familia Sagrada, mi favorito. Nosotros fuemos a muchos calles y restaurantes. Hay muchas personas locas y pendejos, pero hay muchas personas muy buenas. Es una ciudad interesante.
Si, man! I don't know what I just wrote up there but anyway. Here's the English translation of that. In America they probably teach you Spanish from South/Central America. Here it's real Spanish. They replace all the words ending with "dad" with "tat". They use a lot of "que tal" which is the equivalent of what's going on? Anyway, Barcelona is generally beautiful everywhere. People are green concious, like most of Europe. I said generally because we encountered some good and bad people. Overall, the bus and metro system are wonderful. You also probably don't need to speak Spanish as there are many people who know how to speak English around the tourist areas. There are a lot of arts by Gaudi around the city. It's beautiful but weird. Gaudi must be weird. We went to many places and I'm too lazy to describe from long days of traveling and planning and eating and walking. So I'll just summarize all the places we went to and what tourist should/should not do from my experience.
We went to Guell Park, a Gaudi style design. It's okay, some structures are interesting, the view is nice and there are lots of immigrants selling stuff here. The little kids going on a field trip here were cute.
Las Ramblas just sells a lot of stuff, other than that not much to see here. It's like Hollywood boulevard except it's probably shorter and not as attractive. Gothic Quarter contains old style churches and houses. La Sagrada Familia is Gaudi's most ambitious work but is not finished. But it was the best of his design. Every wall, every space contains some kind of structure describing a bible passage. The letters are also texture. The inside is very detail. We took the elevators up to the spire. It's probably not worth the money because the place is tiny and the view is okay. The complete church is going to have 12 spires and 1 grand spire resembling the 12 disciples and Jesus. Maybe I can take my great grandchildren to visit when it is finished.
Monjuic has a great view of the city. We took a tour around the castle. The cableway (C-A-B-L-E-W-A-Y) called teleferic took us from the bottom to the castle. I wonder how long it took and how many people to carry the stones and the materials uphill to build the castle. The Montjuic fountain is beautiful specifically at night. It has music and changes color.
Finally, we strolled the beach, Port Vell, and the Olympic Village at night.
Here are what tourists should do:
Go to all the attractions, ask people! everyone is willing to help. Eat tapas at Catalana, good luxury place and was very cheap. Eat sub and calzone at Con Conesa (closest metro is Jaume I). Rent a bike and bike along the beach boardwalk. Keep all your papers and stuff secure and safe. There are lots of pick pocketters here, I saw one on the metro but it was unsuccessful. The country has 20% unemployment (probably higher) you'd expect a lot of that. There are a lot of people from all over the world selling stuff and services here. If you don't want to deal with them, just say no and they will not bother you.
Here are what tourists should NOT do:
Don't walk alone at night. Don't eat at Can Mejo at the Baceloneta beach, too expensive. There were some assholes mocking us for the way we looked when walking from the Arc de Triomf. I was going to beat them up but I didn't want any trouble so just gave them a "pendejos" and walked away. Don't take your kids to the beach, it's bad. We saw naked old men walking around like it's their bathroom. Some girls were topless for a sun tan, which many people can find disturbing but I'm okay with that ;)
There maybe more but I have to run now. Overall, Barcelona is beautiful with diverse people. As is everywhere, there are good and bad people. We met some really nice ladies pointing us to the bus location and which bus to take when the metro were closed. They speak no english but we were able to understand most of the conversation. Beside the thugs on the street, the naked old men, and the pocket picker ladies, Barcelona is a beautiful place. It's very tourist friendly.
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