Barcelona, Spain – First Impressions

“It is a good thing you are going south” said the ticket agent. An unexpected May eruption of another Icelandic volcano threatened flight cancelations for northern European cities. Thus, our fourteen day vacation began with the realization that there wasn’t much I could do about something I have no control over, and I needed to just hope for the best.

Our 12 night Mediterranean Greek Isles Cruise on Celebrity Solstice with my parents and children, D (16) and K (almost 21), had been a grand plan in the works for over a year. My intention was to create a memorable vacation to celebrate our daughter’s upcoming graduation from Boston University and her commissioning as a Naval Officer in May 2012. We needed to plan our big “family" celebration for this summer since next summer our daughter will belong to the Navy and there is no way of knowing when she will report.

The first impressions of a city come from how I feel at the airport: Modern, floor-to-ceiling windows with chrome siding; clean, full of light and spacious! Off to a good start… We had made it!

Transportation from Barcelona Airport:

TAXI ~ Our family decided to take the train/metro to our Novatel in the “City Center” area, whereas my parents took a taxi. Both experiences went fine. A taxi ride from the airport costs between $30-$37 Euro depending on your destination. Keep in mind that there can be subtle charges as we discovered when we took a taxi to the airport for our early morning return flight home.  A taxi charges per person and per piece of luggage so as a family of four we spent $18.00 per person.

TRAIN ~ The train is available from Terminal B and there is a free airport shuttle that loops between the two airport terminals. We purchased a T-10 card for ten trips on the train for a reduced fare ($7.95 Euro). This card can be used by multiple people if you don’t need that many individual train or metro trips. As a family, we rated the Barcelona Metro very high because of its cleanliest (for a train/subway system) and for it air-conditioning.

Note about Pickpocketing: Barcelona is unfortunately known as the Pickpocket Capital of the World. We watched on the train as two guys tried to take a passenger’s wallet from his back pocket. A woman pushed the thieves and started yelling at them in Spanish. The victim looked as startles as the thieves as the men quickly left the train. We always keep our wallets and purses in front of us and stand so that nobody jostles us. On one Metro trip, a man attempted to open my dad’s zippered pouch. My dad’s stern and loud “What do you think you’re doing?” caught everybody’s attention and the man quickly left the Metro. Mike had a similar subway experience on a trip to Paris so it really is about being aware of your surrounding and being on the look-out.

Adventures in the City via the Metro
After we were settled in our hotel that first night, we ventured out into the city. We took the Metro to the top of Las Ramblas at Plaça De Catalunya; a central square for five different boulevards and a hub for bus, Metro, and airport shuttles. It is a one-mile walk from the top of Las Ramblas to the Columbus Monument at the bottom; the harbor. Las Ramblas is a bustling tree-lined boulevard with one-way streets on either side of the pedestrian walk-way. It was a Tuesday night and bustling with people. And not everything we saw was tourist-related as squatters live in tents among the statues at Plaça De Catalunya. Handwritten banners of protest were taped on the walls or strung around bronze statues.

One-way car traffic is on either side of a pedestrian center walk-way which reminded us of a mega-Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, CO. We walked past tapa restaurants, Irish pubs, and modern fashion stores that lined both sides of this tree-lined street.

Flower shops whose walls are all glass like a green house, bird kiosks, and tourist shops along the pedestrian walk-way are open until after dark. Umbrella-covered tables under the canopy of trees are perfect for people-walking. Hotels and apartments with painted wooden shutters and window boxes with flowers are above the first-floor shops and restaurants. Smaller streets jut left and right in between stone buildings from the main road. 

Time for Dinner
Rick Steve’s Snapshot: Barcelona Guidebook (2011) mentioned a quaint, outdoor restaurant, Café de l’Academia, tucked away in a square in the Barri Gòtic area that neighbors frequent. My family set off to find this restaurant, but after an hour of looking, we gave up. Our mistake was that it was only 8 pm, Barcelona time, which is really too early for dinner in Spain, but we were hungry having not eaten since breakfast on the plane – and you can guess what that was like : ). We figured out later that we had walked right by it because it was closed. When the restaurants or shops are closed, graffiti-covered metal garage doors hide the shops and restaurants. 

The picture to the left shows how we are standing in the square right by the café! We found the tables but didn’t see the café’s name above the closed metal door.

My family wandered for a while back towards Las Ramblas and found Plaça Reial tucked in among the medieval buildings where we could choose from several restaurants; sit outside; and people-watch. We chose MariscCO; a fresh seafood restaurant.

Something our family has learned from traveling in Europe is that you may not get what you think you are getting to eat. D ordered “fried fish.” Imagine his surprise when a plate of little, but whole fish arrived on his plate; heads, fins, bones and tail all included! Think “Medusa” and you have a visual of how this plate of fish looked. We were all in such shock that we didn’t take a picture. Mike traded his calamari for D’s fish and while the rest of us enjoyed fresh grilled prawns, salmon, and sea bass.

Stay tuned for more about our Mediterranean adventure…