Beautiful Barcelona!

We returned from our weekend trip to Barcelona yesterday, and the word that best describes our stay there is "WOW!" What a lovely, modern, clean, and friendly city! It truly surpassed our expectations, and I would dare say that it is now one of our favorite cities anywhere. I had long desired to go there and had built it up somewhat in my mind, so I was worried that I might be a little disappointed. I was worried for no reason though, because it was just beautiful!

Here's some of the highlights:

A must-do, even if it is touristy, is to walk along Las Ramblas, a almost mile-long pedestrian promenade full of tourist shops, restaurants, street performers, flower vendors and caricature artists. It is a bit of a haven for scam artists and pickpockets because of its popularity with tourists, but we experienced no problems whatsoever. Just east of Las Ramblas is the Barri Gòtic, the oldest part of the city with narrow, alley-like streets that open onto quaint little squares. It's the perfect place to wander and "get lost" for a few hours!

The famous Sagrada Familia cathedral is another stop on the tourist trail. The outside is much more impressive than the inside, at least at this point. Even though the project began way back in 1882, it is still under construction , and from what I read it won't be finished until at least 2026 - yikes! It was designed by the famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, and it has an incredibly unique style as far as religious buildings are concerned. One façade is very ornate, while the other has a much more modern, geometric look. There's supposed to eventually be a third façade as well, but it hasn't been started yet. When you go inside you have the option of taking an elevator to the upper level for another 2 Euro, but the line was so long that we didn't think it would be worth the time.

We visited one of the most incredible indoor/outdoor markets I've ever seen, located just off Las Ramblas. There we purchased the ingredients to assemble a picnic lunch, which we enjoyed on the patio of the guesthouse we stayed in with our friends Carl and Margaret (Margaret is a fellow student at the University of Kent, and they were visiting the city at the same time).

The Parc Güell, perched high on a hill overlooking the city, was well worth a visit despite the uphill walk to get there. It was also designed by Gaudí, and combines interesting architecture, sculpture, decorative tilework, gardens and sweeping views of the city and the Mediterranean. The whole place has a rather whimsical feel to it, making it about the most unique park I've visited. We hiked even higher above the park, to the top of the hill where there is an overlook about 267 meters (800 ft.) above sea level. Gorgeous views!

There is a long waterfront promenade that straddles the city and the beach, and it's a great place to wander, people-watch and admire the scenery. There's also a good choice of restaurants and a large shopping mall.

One might not expect this from Spain, but it's obvious that this city is run very efficiently. On Friday evening around 7PM, in one 45-minute stretch I saw three city workers cleaning the sidewalks - that's three of them working individually in different places, not all together! The metro service is also about the most efficient I've seen anywhere. Not once did we have to wait more than 4 1/2 minutes for a train, and we rode it at all hours, and on Saturday.

The food, the wine - both were terrific! The restaurant prices were also very reasonable - much more reasonable than here in Brussels, in fact!

To sum it up, I would highly recommend this city as a destination for just about anyone. It's not quite as full of history as London or Rome, but what it lacks there it makes up for in atmosphere, cuisine and natural beauty.

Picture #1: The four of us out for the evening
Picture #2: View down a narrow street in the Barri Gòtic
Picture #3: The entrance to Parc Güell
Picture #4: View over the city from the top of the hill, above Parc Güell - this is the center one of three panoramic shots I took
Picture #5: Part of one of the façades of the Sagrada Familia