All the tourists and travellers who visit Spain love our town Barcelona, no less than Sevilla, Toledo, Santiago de Compostela, or Granada. Barcelona is a dream come true. Please, come to my hometown! I invite you.
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Sagrada Familia is our pride
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In Barcelona, a city founded more than 2000 years ago, you will have all the advantages of o big city but not the inconvenient. The population is about 1.650.000 inhabitants (3 millions if we add the small towns around), the second in Spain after Madrid, but you can walk everywhere since the main interesting places to visit are close to each other. The tourist attractions are the 12 Antonio Gaudi monuments, such as the Sagrada Familia temple (we hope to finish it in the year 2020), the Park Guell, the Casa Batllo and Casa Mila in the Paseo de Gracia. The Gothic quarter, with the 13th century cathedral, the narrow streets, the remains of the old synagogue and the Romans columns are also worth a visit. One of the jewels of Barcelona is the Ramblas, one of the most beautiful street in Spain, a semi pedestrian boulevard in the centre, from Plaza Cataluna to the Colon (Columbus) monument, in the port, full with terraces filled with tourists eating paella and drinking sangria, kiosks offering lovely flowers and exotic fish and parrots, the pleasant Mercado de la Boqueria, shops selling Mexican sombreros and Andalusia regional dressed dolls, or castanuelas to play flamenco, dozens of artists playing music or performing shows, etc. The Ramblas is a theatre in the open air, day and night, because Barcelona never sleeps. After dinner at 10 PM you can go to any show at 1 AM, then to a pub at 3AM and at about 5 AM there are streets kiosks where you can have “breakfast” consisting on hot chocolate and “churros” (Spanish delicious sweets), and then you can go to sleep.
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This is our Olympic Stadium, where play the football team Espanol
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Around Plaza Espana, in the Montjuich mountain, we have the Olympic stadium (we celebrated the Olympic Games in 1992), a museum dedicated to Juan Miro, the Pueblo Espanol (over one hundred reproductions of the most beautiful architecture of the 17 autonomies of Spain), the Mirador del Alcalde (for amazing panorama views), and the Magic Fountain, which during the nights offers a very pleasant show of light, music and water that you will never forget and the song “BARCELONA” by Montserrat Caballe and Freddy Mercury, AND IT IS FREE!. For a good panoramic view of the city, please catch the teleferic from Montjuich Mountain to the Barceloneta area crossing our port.
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| What's really great: |
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In Plaza Espana you can catch the train to Montserrat (1 hour)
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Near Barcelona you should not miss the incredible and beautiful Montserrat Monastery, in a rocky mountain, with the statue of the black virgin, and its museum containing paintings by Dali, Picasso, Miro, El Greco, old Italian masters and several French impressionists. Montserrat Monastery is one of the holiest places in Spain, together with the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral (considered the Third Rome), and the Basilica del Pilar, in Zaragoza. From Plaza Espana there is a direct train to Montserrat basement combined with the teleferic up there.
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We have an exotic Aquarium in Barcelona
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We have a beautiful aquarium in the port, in an place called Maremagnum, where there are many cinemas, discos, restaurants and shops.
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Musicians in Barrio Gotico, where is the cheap Youth Hostel in Calle Hospital
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I live with my parents in Barcelona, and never been to a hotel in my hometown, but I have received foreigners friends and they lodge in the Youth Hostels, There is one that is a rip-off, in Plaza Real, too expensive because it is centrically located, practically in the Ramblas,. But is better the other youth hostel in Street Hospital, much cheaper, about 20 euros a bed in dormitory, and also close to the Ramblas. If you want a 3 stars hotel, in the Metro they advertise RUBENS, which I think is OK, for 45 euros a single and 60 a double. There is another youth hostel besides this hotel. The Metro station is VALLCARCA, at 5 minutes walking from the PARK GUELL. If you are student and plan to spend in Barcelona over one month, then there is a Students Centre, in Street Rocafort, where local people rent rooms for under 300 euro a month. I do nor remember the number, but if you are really interested, please tell me and I will check for you.
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| Nightlife: |
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My birthday all my friends came with me to Razzmataz
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One of the best discos in Barcelona is RAZZMATAZZ, in Pueblo Nuevo, where all the best musicians play when they come to Barcelona: Dream Theater, Accept, Within Temptation, etc. By the way, Sharon, singer of Within Temptation, is pregnant! She will have a baby in January 2006. Congratulations! (see my profile picture with her, which was taken when she came to Barcelona this year).
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This pub where I am with friends is called Hawaii Hai Kiki, near plaza Universidad
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There are two areas for pubs, in the barrio Gotico you can go to the disco/pubs very popular with foreigners and are free of charge, you only pay for the drinks (not compulsory): FONFONE, and SALA APOLO. In the Street TALLERS there is an Irish pub very popular with great atmosphere. This Tallers street (calle) has many shops selling music in CD with all kind of groups.
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we needed more wine for our dinner in FREE WAY
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FREE WAY is your best choice in Barcelona and the management is Argentinean. The address is: c/ Mallorca 191, and tf. 93 4512047. It is a self service but the meats are served by Argentinean chefs before you, so you can select the parts of the meats that you want and you can repeat as many times as you want. The same happens with the shrimps and other “mariscos” (seafood). There are plenty of salads and desserts, especially Argentinean delicatessen DULCE DE LECHE (a kind of delicious crepe). Drinks are not included, but a bottle of Spanish table wine, 750 millilitres, costs 5 euro, and if you want Rioja or Ribera del Duero, the best in Spain, then it will cost you from 10 to 15 euro the bottle. Beer, half litre cost 2 euro. The price of lunch is 9 euro without drinks, and 13 euro in the evenings. Saturdays and Sundays are somewhat higher (16 euro). There are many Chinese restaurants where I go with my friends when we do not have much money (very often) where we pay 5 euro buffet libre.
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Discoverer Cristobal Colon. But the caravel SANTA MARIA is not anymore
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This monument to Columbus was built in 1888 for the first International Expo in Barcelona.
Its height is 51 metres, but there is a lift to the top from where you can admire the Ramblas. Around the monument there are scenes explaining the first voyage of Columbus to America in 1492, and his arrival to Barcelona in 1493 to meet our Catholic Kings.
Besides it there was an accurate reproduction of the SANTA MARIA caravel (used by Columbus) that I loved very much when I was a child and where I used to play with my friends after school. But in 1987 a group of fanatic members of a nationalist political party in Barcelona burned it because of its reminiscence of the Spanish discovery of America (Just for comparison purposes: do you remember the Taliban of Afghanistan blowing up the great Buddha statues of Bamian?). That is why I do not like many nasty politicians.
Fortunately, the Columbus monument is metallic and they can not destroy it, and all the foreigners and Spaniards alike can enjoy
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Published on Thursday October 27th, 2005
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Wed, Feb 21 2007 - 05:40 PM
 by travler
| Excellent report on a city I like a lot. |
Mon, Jan 22 2007 - 05:58 PM
by mrscanada
| I'm so glad you showed the pictur Sagrada Familia in your report. I love all of the buildings he built. Great report full of a lot of information |
Sun, Nov 06 2005 - 11:39 AM
by jorgesanchez
| Muy buen report sobre una ciudad de coña! |
Wed, Nov 02 2005 - 11:51 AM
 by peresabate
| molt bo isaac salutacions |
Sat, Oct 29 2005 - 04:51 AM
by downundergal
What a great report. It is not easy to write about your home town but you have done an excellent job of it. I liked your humour too.
Kerrie:-) |
Sat, Oct 29 2005 - 02:08 AM
by horourke
| I love this report. Thank you for recalling happy memories to us. |
Thu, Oct 27 2005 - 05:36 PM
by toribio
Thu, Oct 27 2005 - 05:13 PM
by akhila
Thu, Oct 27 2005 - 03:35 PM
by eirekay
Isaac, GREAT report. It is always terrific to see a place from the perspective of one who lives there!
Eire |
Thu, Oct 27 2005 - 10:47 AM
by gloriajames
hiya Isaac!
Nice first report and good effort! Love your Gaudi pic. Hope that I get a chance to visit Spain someday!
Keep your good work flowing
Gloria |
Thu, Oct 27 2005 - 09:46 AM
by davidx
| Sometimes it can be hard to write about your home town but this is excellent. Some of your museums deserve a mention too - but there's not room for everything. |
Thu, Oct 27 2005 - 09:34 AM
by etelka610
| Hi Isaac, thankyou for this report on you home town. I have not been to Spain yet but Barcelona will certainly be high on my list when I do go. |
Thu, Oct 27 2005 - 09:31 AM
by magsalex
| Somewhere i hope to get to in the near future so some useful information. |
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