Ross & Kara's Catalan Adventure - Day 2: On The Buses
Getting Our Bearings
Thursday 27th October, 2016 - 21:00 - Barcelona's Old Town
So today felt a bit more like a "holiday". We started the day at a respectable hour, waking up at 9 or so and getting some food before our first proper day of "adventure". I tried my best to have what I recalled was a "proper European breakfast". This basically means "bread, cheese, sausage and something with chocolate in it." Upon trying to warm up my pain au chocolat, I discovered that our oven doesn't bloody work! This somewhat diminishes the good feelings I had about our "home-base". It feels like this place with its 6 flights of stairs, bed on a stack of wooden pallets, broken oven and the smallest shower I've ever turned off with my back, may be a bit of a disappointment. That being said, it has air-con and wifi, so it's swings and roundabouts!
A curious pigeon, and the narrow streets criss-crossing the old town.
Our little roof-terrace.
We started today with a trip to a small bakery, so that Kara could eat a little "Tarte Poma" before we boarded the bus. We perched on a bench in Placa de Catalunya so that Kara could eat in comfort. I took in the open square with its many statues and pillars. Barcelona's open spaces often seem to be saturated with beautiful embellishments that make the most of the space and exist in a widely diverse range of styles. When we got to the bus stop to board the "Bus Turistic", we realised just how popular the service was going to be. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the front of the line, but once we were aboard, it was a very pleasant experience, as we cruised down Passeig de Gracia, the audioguide speaking about the incredible "Modernisme" inspired buildings, as well as the marvellous lamp-posts, which were designed by Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi's influence is undoubtedly prominent throughout the whole city. Our first bus trip took us along a street with many Gaudi-designed buildings and features, past his magnum opus; La Sagrada Familia, which is the biggest church I have ever seen. I am very much looking forward to seeing it in more detail, but I'm not sure what day that'll be.
A strange and upsetting tradition of throwing your tour headphone away.
Gaudi's Lamp-posts lining the Passeig de Gracia.
We finally stepped off the bus and ascended the hill to "Park Guell", originally designed by Gaudi as a residential area set amidst a British styled garden complex, the park is quite a striking feat. It's a maze of criss-crossing stone paths, set amidst palm trees, cacti and numerous other exotic plants. We didn't end up going into the Gaudi museum there, as we had started quite late and wanted to get as much done as possible while we had the bus ticket.
Gaudi's designs seem natural and unnatural at the same time.
Park Guell is as surreal in its design as any other Gaudi creation.
On the way down the hill, we stopped to get an ice-lolly. There are small stalls and cafes that sell these fantastic lollies, made from 100% fresh fruit juice. I had a multi-coloured lolly, made with kiwi and mango. The kiwi segment still had the black pips in it! Fresh fruit and veg seems to be a prominent part of the cuisine in Spain, with markets and stalls all over. I have read that the supermarkets are seen as an expensive alternative to eating fresh produce. This is something I'd love to see making it across to the UK.
We rejoined the bus tour after a short wander around Park Guell and continued on to "Monestir Pedralbes", but unfortunately it was closed for the afternoon. After a quick tour of the 14th century facade, we rejoined the bus tour and finished up at the bottom of the Barri Gothic, where we left to go and seek our dinner. We are most definitely still getting used to the schedule that Spanish shops and restaurants keep, especially when it comes to feeding time. Since we'd eaten out at a burger place yesterday, we had set out to eat at a place in the Barri Gothic. The place is somewhat ominously called "Sports Bar". Our timing was off by at least 2 hours, it seems, as we arrived at 5.30 and found the staff cleaning up in preparation for the late shift. We decided to take a wander around the old town for a while, and I was disappointed to find that it's often the same copy and paste design, with places selling tacky souvenirs, overpriced hippy clothing, shoes, belts and handbags.
After a somewhat disappointing ramble, we decided to stop at a bakery that had been calling to us for a while, called "Macxipa". According to the paper bag that the food came in, the company has been baking since 1903, and our experience suggested that they've put the time to good use. The food was very cheap compared to the other bakeries that we'd seen, and it's super tasty. I brought a chocolate croissant style pastry called a "Caracola" home for breakfast, and it's tough to resist it. I feel like it will become a frequent stop as it's virtually on our doorstep.
Kara's burger from "Little Bacoa". Her favourite burger of all time.
Kara didn't feel like walking to Sports Bar, so we decided to go to "Bacoa"; a burger bar that I had read loads of reviews for, and I was quite happy for a chance to compare it to La Central. We bought it and brought it back up to enjoy. We are 2 for 2 when it comes to tasty burgers! I can definitely recommend anywhere that makes a burger that Kara will finish without ketchup.
Tomorrow will possibly involve a trip to the Aquarium and one or more of the museums in the Barri Gothic. With any luck and a bit of planning, we'll have another exciting day and lots of great food.
Yes, yes. I know I talk about food a lot, but as someone who doesn't really drink, I find myself enjoying the simple things, instead of local wines and beers. The food in Barcelona is great, especially the burgers we had. It wasn't all good eatin' on this trip, but the first two times we went out for food were great. It really is a big deal for Kara to eat an entire burger sans ketchup, so we'd both really recommend Little Bacoa. La Central was still my top-pick from Barcelona, but that's enough talking about burgers for now.
The bus might be a stereotypically touristy thing to do, but Barcelona is a big city, spread out over a large area. The bus helped us realise where major streets meet, and how we were placed in relation to a lot of the places we'd planned to visit anyway. At 28 Euros for a ticket, it's not cheap, but if you're smarter than we were and get up early enough to make the most of your day ticket, you can take in a lot of sights without worrying about the time slipping away. I was quite sad to have missed out on seeing the Monestir Pedralbes, but the outer building was still gorgeous, and it was nice to have a little bit of peace and quiet at the edge of the city before we boarded the bus back in.
I'm glad we had the respite, because on our bus that took us around the hills, we had to share a confined space with a little English kid who was yelling questions back to his parents who were sat three rows behind us. At first it was kind of endearing, but it quickly became so irritating that I just wanted to get off the bus and wait for the next one!
This day was also our first experience of Gaudi's work, with a drive-by of Casa Batllo, La Pedrera, La Sagrada Familia and a trip to Park Guell. I was impressed by the surrealist visions that jumped out of his work, but this was just a taster of what was to come, later in the trip.