Barcelona
 

OK. I'm going to Barcelona for a few days, does anyone have any suggestions about places to visit or avoid that are not in the normal tourist brochures?

Any suggestions will be gratefully received.

I was told to go to that church that isn't finished yet by that genius architect guy that died. I didn't have time to though, we got in late because of delays at JFK and had to go directly to the cruiseship :(.

There was also this huge cemetary carved into the side of a large hill that looked amazing.

The Sagrada Familia is already on my list, but I hadn't heard about the cemetery before. Thanks.

If you have any problems with vertigo, DO NOT go up the spire of Sagrada Familia.

If you don't mind being a bit touristy, make use of the hop-on-hop-off bus tours that go from the centre of the city. They run three circuits, and the north one is a very good way of getting to see all the sites. The south one is quite good, but not as good.

And it goes without saying, go to the Nou Camp and take the stadium tour. It's worth visiting the Olympic stadium too, for the views.

Sorry that my stuff is all touristy, but I only had two days there and that was all we had time to do.

Check La Rambla, the wonderful wide boulevard in the heart of the city. Crowded as hell, but still worth seeing.

And, as sonicl pointed out the Olympic Stadium is a great place to check out, too.

Cheers for that.
We're quite lucky, our hotel is pretty close to the Gothic Quarter and that tourist bus stops right outside. I'm looking forward to doing the night tour on the bus - should get some interesting pics.
Not sure about the Nou Camp - Barcelona are not my favourite team at the moment, for obvious reasons. :(

Thanks.
BTW what is that photo in your sig? It's awesome!

I can't remember what it's called, but if you go to the catherdral in the gothic quarter, go early in the morning. Once the tourist hoardes get in there it ceases to be a cathedral and just becomes a big room full of people.

It's Bratislava, the town I live in. It's got quite a creepy aura.

Lucky you!
Palau Güell, really impressive + Parc de la Ciutadella, wonderful places not to miss!
and sangria, sangria!

And don't forget the tapas!

When I went to La Sagrada Familia, I didn't take my own advice about not going up the spires, and after coming back down from on high I desperately needed to sit down for a while and stop shaking. We left the building from the end where the spires that you go up are, and sat down in a square behind the cathedral (not the square where the buses all drop off, the one at the other end). Once my legs had turned from jelly back to bone, we went to a small cafe which, if you stand and face the cathedral, is on the right hand side of the square. It looks like nothing special, just the Catalan equivalent of a greasy spoon, but it served the best Patatas Bravas and Tortilla that I have ever eaten. If you can find it from my description, I recommend that you go there to grab some lunch rather than to some overpriced glossy tourist trap.

Mmmmmmmm......Patatas Bravas!!
Mmmmmmmmmmm......Sangria!!

I feel like Pavlovs Dog!!

if you have time for a day trip, take the train to figueres and see the dali museum. it was about a two-hour train ride, but well worth it.

and parc guell is awesome, even if it is touristy.

most beautiful city in all of europe, in my humble opinion.

I'll second that.

Hmmmmm. Not sure about that.

I'm not a big fan of Dali.

does anyone here live in barcelona? what is it like? any info?

its a nice place, the architecture is quite nice in some parts. home to scott herron (prefuse 73) and the sonar festival, althoughh you just missed it, sorry!

http://www.sonar.es/portal/eng/home.cfm

worth a look though, nice place.

try to see mercat de la boqueria, it's amazing, tru their fruit juices.

also, if you want to do some shopping, look for the small shops around the cathedral, they are very cosy and more unique than the ones on the ramblas.

if you like art, visit the museum of catalonian art, take some time for this, it's very impressive and definitely worth a visit.

sagrada familia looks wonderful at night.

and yeah parc de la ciutadella to relax when the weather is nice.. parc guell is a bit too much going upwards to be relaxing.. all of gaudi's architecture is worth a visit though.

barcelona is a great city.. i went there this year on a school trip and it was love at first sight. i want to go back when i have time / money.

Thanks for the input guys.
Sounds like a really nice place. Can't wait to visit.

When do you go?

july 16. for 4 days.

Soon enough for me to say to have a great time then.

Have a great time.

question.... how popular is Catalan? If you know spanish, could you get by okay? Would it be the same as, say...spanish in LA? (ie, useful to know, but not absolutely necessary)

According to wikipedia, 6,043,088 people in Catalonia speak Catalan. Thats pretty popular. Most locals who don't speak it understand it. I've been to Catalonia but luckily most people I encountered spoke English, and when they didn't, my poor spanish sufficed.

si.

i don't think there's any spaniard that doesn't speak castillian, even if they speak their own language at home.

Do you know Catalan? It sounds like French w/your mouth full to me, I don't think I could ever pick it up...

are all road signs/posters, etc. in barcelona in catalan?

i'm a question machine today!

I think the official language is castillian in the whole country (might be wrong though), so the signs should be in castillan.
I've only been to Sevilla, but I've heard that Barcelona is a beautiful city. I'd like to go there some day, so enjoy your trip.

I went to Barcelona on a school art trip about 10 years ago, got arrested trying to buy some weed in the main market square (forget the name), thought the police were gonna bum rape us and leave us in the cell for a year, but they were pretty nice actually!

i don't now it, no-- i've heard it spoken, and i can read most of it, but i don't .

i believe the signs in barcelona are mostly bilingual? but if not, if you read spanish you should be able to make it out.

actually you could PM sergisonic with your questions-- he's catalan & lives in barcelona. he's often around, just not on this little cesspool we call the "non-sonics" forum. if you remember him from the old board, he's one of the nicest people you'll see around here.

I concur.

My girlfriend just came back from Barcelone this morning.
She loved it.

Does she have any recommendations? I fly there on Monday.

Does it matter? Surely everyone will understand me if I speak English loud enough? :D

Well, I'm back, and barcelona lived up to it's reputation.
My feet are covered in blisters from all the walking we did! Our hotel was almost opposite the Cathedral in the Gothic Quarter, and the tourist bus stopped right outside!
I took over 200 photos so I'll post some that you might find interesting when I've finished editing them.
Thanks for all your suggestions - I could have spent another month there and still not seen everything.
And the heat!! 32 degrees just about every day!

It must be nice to be back to a good old English summer, though, eh?

I'm pleased you enjoyed yourself. Can't wait to see the photos.

OK. A few pictures from inside Casa Batllo, Gaudi's architectural masterpiece in the centre of Barcelona.



Entrance.



Fire place



Skylights



Lighting and wall detail.

Gaudis house and the surrounding park are well worth a visit
Gaudi was responsible for designing the whole park
Beware of smog, the pollution can be horrific under certain weather conditions
Near the beach is the old Customs House which is now full of restaurants and offices, with your back to it, look across the road and there is a narrow road opposite, go down there and on the right hand side is a fantastic tapas bar where they brew there own beer, it has a collection of the biggest beer steins I have ever seen too
You will probably be the only non Spanish/Basque person in there
Ask the concierge at your hotel for a good non tourist Catalan restaurant too
Catalan food is amazing!
For a laugh visit a club called "Showgirls"
If I remember correctly the address is Bayen 22
Its somewhere you have to visit!

More from Casa Battllo.