Barcelona
We choose a next target for next holidays, and it is Spain. If to be more specified it is Barcelona. For this vacation we have just 4 days. Because of lack of time we need to choose just amazing local attractions. I asked my friend what they suggest to see in Barcelona. And them like one sad that most interesting places is Antoni Gaudy ‘s works.
Attractions
Park Güell
Recommendation:
Park Güell is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of el Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Works of Antoni Gaudí”.
The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, the idea of Count Eusebi Güell, whom the park was named after. It was inspired by the English garden city movement; hence the original English name Park (in the Catalan language spoken in Catalonia where Barcelona is located, the word for “Park” is “Parc”, and the name of the place is “Parc Güell” in its origin language). The site was a rocky hill with little vegetation and few trees, called Montaña Pelada (Bare Mountain). It already included a large country house called Larrard House or Muntaner de Dalt House, and was next to a neighborhood of upper class houses called La Salud. The intention was to exploit the fresh air (well away from smoky factories) and beautiful views from the site, with sixty triangular lots being provided for luxury houses. Count Eusebi Güell added to the prestige of the development by moving in 1906 to live in Larrard House. Ultimately, only two houses were built, neither designed by Gaudí. One was intended to be a show house, but on being completed in 1904 was put up for sale, and as no buyers came forward, Gaudí, at Güell’s suggestion, bought it with his savings and moved in with his family and his father in 1906.
Tips: Start your visit from central park entrance.
Casa Batlló
Recommendation:
Casa Batllo is a building restored by Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol, built in the year 1877 and remodeled in the years 1905–1907 part of the Illa de la Discòrdia in the Example district of Barcelona, Catalonia.
Price: 16.50 € But if you order ticket online you will get discount 10%.
Location: Passeig de Gràcia, 43, Barcelona, Spain
Work Hours: daily from 9am to 8pm (last admissions).
* Times may be altered if the rooms have been booked for events or conventions. So we recommend you phone +34 93 216 03 06 or e-mail infovisites@casabatllo.cat prior to your visit.
Links:
Casa Milà
Recommendation:
better known as La Pedrera (Catalan for ‘The Quarry’), is a building designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built during the years 1906–1910, being considered officially completed in 1912. It was built for the married couple, Rosario Segimon and Pere Milà. Rosario Segimon was the wealthy widow of José Guardiola, an Indiano, a term applied locally to the Catalans returning from the American colonies with tremendous wealth. Her second husband, Pere Mila, was a developer who was criticized for his flamboyant lifestyle and ridiculed by the contemporary residents of Barcelona, when they joked about his love of money and opulence, wondering if he was not rather more interested in “the widow’s guardiola” (piggy bank), than in “Guardiola’s widow”.
Sagrada Família
Recommendation:
The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, often simply called the Sagrada Família, is a massive, privately-funded Roman Catholic church that has been under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain since 1882 and is not expected to be complete until at least 2026. Considered the master-work of renowned Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), the project’s vast scale and idiosyncratic design have made it one of Barcelona’s (and Spain’s) top tourist attractions for many years. A portion of the building’s interior is scheduled to open for public worship and tours by September of 2010.
Our Tips:
Better time to visit is morning when there is no lot of people. There is two lifts up and waiting time can be more than 1:30. Try first the second lift that in end of exebition a line to the lift is shorter. So you need to organaze your time accordionaly to it.
The Magic Fountain of Montjuic
Recommendation:
Font Màgica de Montjuïc. The magic fountain of Montjuic is located near Plaza Espanya at the foot of the MNAC, National Art Museum of Catalonia. They are a must see thing to do in Barcelona. Around 2.5 million people attend the different shows at the Magic Fountain.
The Magic fountain has thirteen different choreographies – three film music spectaculars, six classical music, one zarzuela, a twentieth and twenty-first century remix, an 80s-90s remix and Barcelona, by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé.
The Magic Fountain has a water recirculation system which uses ground water, following the introduction of a drought decree earlier in the year by the Catalan government, the Generalitat.
The Magic Fountain is one of the city’s most important landmarks. Carles Buigas was asked to design it for the International Exhibition of 1929. He had the innovative idea of giving the water movement and adding light, colour and sound. He created the fountain as if it was a river at the foot of the Palau Nacional with raging waters racing down the mountain to reach the Magic Fountain before “dying” in the sea on Avinguda Maria Cristina.
The Magic fountain is open to everyone and free.
Operation times: Winter: (October to end May):
Friday and Saturday in operation from 19.00 to 21.00
Light and music show at 19.00. 19.30, 20.00 and 20.30
Please note that the Magic fountain is closed for 4 to 6 weeks for annual maintenance in the winter months.
Operation times: Summer: (April to end September):
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in operation from 20.00 to 23.00.
Light and music show every 30 minutes from 21.30, 22.00, 22.30 & 23.00
Arc de Triomf
Recommendation:
The Arc de Triomf is a triumphal arch built with colorful brickwork in mudéjar style.
Exposition Entrance
This beautiful arch was built for the 1888 Universal Exposition, which took place at the Parc de la Ciutadella. The Arc de Triomf, situated at the end of a wide promenade, served as the exposition’s main entrance.
Source
La Rambla
Recommendation:
La Rambla or Les Rambles is the most famous street in Barcelona. The wide boulevard connects the Plaça de Catalunya, a busy square, to the Monument a Colom, a tall column erected in honor of Christoffel Columbus.
The often crowded street is popular with tourists and locals alike. The middle part of the Rambla is pedestrianized and bordered by trees. Kiosks, flower stalls, animal stalls and street artists are in abundance here. Traffic passes on either side of the pedestrian area.
Güell Palace
Recommendation:
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (Reus, 1852 – Barcelona, 1926) built Güell Palace commissioned by Eusebi Güell (Barcelona, 1846-1918), who wanted a new house in Barcelona, in Nou de la Rambla street. Güell Palace was in fact the only building that Gaudí actually completed and has undergone no significant alterations since then. This makes is one of Gaudí’s most communicative works, a piece of architecture of complex eloquence.
Güell Palace was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 2 November 1984 for its contribution and influence on technique and form in modern 20th-century building and for its remarkable creative character.
Opening hour
Tuesday to Saturday (inclusive), from 10:00 am to 2:30 pm. Closed on public holidays.
Source
Museu De La Xocolata
Recommendation:
Museu de la Xocolata (Catalan for “Museum of Chocolate”) is a private museum, owned by the Gremi de Pastisseria de Barcelona.
The museum opened in 2000, at Carrer Comerç 36, in El Born, Ciutat Vella, on the ground level of an old barracks.
Many of the displays are chocolate sculptures, including various well-known Barcelona buildings, and illustrations from various stories.
Our Comments:
This is nice trip for one hour. Also on entrance, when you buy tickets, they give you a chocolate.
There is history of chocolate and also on exit, in cafe, you can drink, hot and cold, home made chocolate. It was testy.
Opening hour:
Monday to Saturday, 10 am – 7 pm and on Sundays, 10 am – 3 pm
The museum is closed on Tuesdays except for bank holidays
Location: Comerc 36, Barcelona
Price: Single ticket: 4,30 €
Official site
Information source
Catalonia Princesa ***
Recommendation:
Location: Carrer del Rec Comtal 16, Barcelona
Our Comments:
Generally this is nice hotel with testy breakfast and nice rooms, but one thing was towels smell bed.
Casa Vicens
Priority:
is a family residence in Barcelona (Catalonia), designed by Antoni Gaudí and built for industrialist Manuel Vicens. It was Gaudí’s first important work. It is added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Works of Antoni Gaudí” in 2005. It was built in the period 1883-1889 and is located at Carrer de les Carolines 24, in the Gràcia district of Barcelona. The site was small (smaller today after the widening of the street) and conventional structures already existed in the area. Nevertheless, the house is sizeable, measuring some 12,500 square feet (1,160 m2) on four levels.
National Palace
Priority:
Barcelona’s Palau Nacional appears, at first glance, to be a very grand, old building. Looks can be deceiving! This sprawling structure that houses the National Art Museum of Catalonia was actually built in 1929 for the International Exhibition.
Located on top of a magnificent hill called Montjuïc, the views from the Palau Nacional are unmatched anywhere else in the city, and the museum is surrounded by a handful of other museums, allowing visitors to spend lots of time up on the hill, appreciating a number of cultural experiences.
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Restaurants
We come to Barcelona at about 11PM and we was hungry. We tried to find some restaurant with testy food, but realize that all restaurants are closed. So we eat in Macdonald’s this time. Good that fast food is opened all time 
.
Trobador
Priority:
A salad was with plastic, steack isn’t testy without taste. Salmon was not cooked. And when we asked to cook it, them just put it to microwave.
Location: Rossello 255, Barcelona
Links
Official site
Taller de tapas
Priority:
The restaurant was not far from our hotel. I tried stack tapas and it was tasty.
Location: Comtal 28, Barcelona
Links
Official site
Attica
Priority:
In the restaurant was nice service with testy food. And there was nice view to Rambla on second flour.
Phone: 933 024 866
Location: Comtal 28, Barcelona
Links
Official site
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