Wikimecum:Barcelona, Spain
As one of the largest cities in Spain, Barcelona is a great place to experience Spanish culture. Along with Spanish, some citizens also speak Catalan since Barcelona is part of the cultural community of Catelonia. Among the Spanish and Catalan cultures, you will find great food, great sightseeing, and great shopping. For those of you interested in seeing a bullfight, Barcelona is not the place to go - it is the biggest anit-bullfighting city of Spain. Bullfighting is more popular in the south of Spain, and usually ends in September.
Traveling to Barcelona
The easiest way to get to Barcelona is by air. Ryanair offers cheap flights from Venice to Barcelona, but if you are planning on taking a lot of luggage, I would recommend searching for flights offered by major airlines. I flew one way from Rome to Barcelona for 90 dollars (including one very large suitcase) on Lufthansa. Once you arrive in Barcelona at Aeropuerto de Barcelona, you are still a ways from the city. You can take a bus or cab into the city. The cab costs about 30 euros and is the easiest option, while the bus is about 11 euros and will not bring you directly to your hotel or hostel.
Where to Stay
I stayed at the Hotel Regencia Colon, which is a cheaper version of the Hotel Colon, and it is located right in the center of the Barri Gotic, or the Gothic Center. The Gothic Center is a great part of Barcelona to stay in, it is near many of the popular tourist attractions.
Sightseeing
In the middle of the Gothic Center is the Cathedral of Barcelona.
It is a large Gothic church and if you are interested, they offer tours of the church. If you go in December, you will find a Christmas Fair right in front of the church offering only nativity accessories and Christmas plants. The holidays are not commercialized like in the U.S., and traditionally in Spain, 3 Kings Day on January 6th is the day of exchanging presents. They are much more focused on the religious aspect of Christmas. To learn more about the Gothic Center, you can stop at an information center (marked with a big "I" on your map), and take a 13 or 14 euro tour. Basically you walk in circles around the church for an hour and a half, but the guides are very knowledgeable and try to keep it interesting. Be prepared to wear a dorky headset because Barcelona is very loud. The tour usually leaves at 10am.
Barcelona is very well known for La Ramblas, a long, wide, pedestrian road running up and down through the Gothic Center. La Ramblas is filled with all different kinds of vendors and street actors dressed as statues. If you put money in the street actors hat/cup/etc., they will usually move and do something interesting. As for the vendors, towards the middle of La Ramblas is the bird and flower section. Apparently birds, hamsters, and rabbits are popular pets because there are hundreds of them for sale. At the top of La Ramblas is more expensive, while at the bottom near the harbor is the cheaper and more dangerous section. Be careful, because La Ramblas is known as the worst place in Europe for pickpocketing.
When looking at a map of the Gothic Center, in between the Church and La Ramblas running parallel to La Ramblas is what I like to call "the fake Ramblas". There are many side alleys that connect this road to La Ramblas, and while La Ramblas has lots of stores on either side, the fake Ramblas has a better selection for shopping. It is the cheaper section of Barcelona - so if you walk up the fake Ramblas away from the harbor, it turns into the "$30,000 district", rather than the "$30 dollar district".
The harbor in Barcelona is beautiful, and in the harbor area you can visit the Picasso Museum, and a Chocolate Museum.
If you are interested in Picasso, you can stop at any information center and take a 14 euro Picasso tour that usually leaves at 10:30am. The Picasso tour starts near the top of the Gothic Center and leads you down towards the Harbor at the end. You stop at "Els Quatre Gats", Picasso's usual hangout, and I would definitely recommend eating lunch here. You leave off at the Picasso Museum and your entry is included with your tour price.
The Chocolate Factory was kind of boring because everything is in Spanish and its just filled with fake Chocolate statues.
The Market, "El Mercato". Right off of the Ramblas, the market is a huge open-air building filled with anything you can imagine. Toward the back and middle are little stands that offer tapas-type food and drinks. If you're lucky you can snag a barstool, but they're usually filled with locals. The food is really good, a good option if you're hungry in the late afternoon before dinner. Towards the front of the market are fruits and vegetables, you can buy fresh fruit smoothies and fruit salad. Further in are beans, mushrooms and things, olives, etc. and then in the back is the fish, poultry, and other animals I couldn't determine. I swear I saw a skinned squirrel but I'm not positive. You'll see lots of suckling pigs and hairy birds complete with heads. The fish section is stinky and slippery. Most people don't speak English, but its pretty easy to buy stuff. I think the market is open from 8am-8pm, so its open for most of the day.
If you want to take an open air bus tour, you can buy tickets through your hotel or the information centers. There are 2 or 3 routes that you can take for 1 day or 3 days and get on and off when you want. You don't really need this for the Gothic Center since its only about a 30 minute walking radius at the most.
Tips
Pronunciation: Many people pronounce Barcelona as "Barthelona". The same goes for Gracias - "Grathias".
Food!: For breakfast we usually had pastries from little shops, there were many places in the alleys between the fake Ramblas and the real Ramblas. There are some restaurants that offer breakfast, but I don't think its quite like the usual American breakfast food.
Lunch usually starts around 1:30, many restaurants don't open until then and will get crowded around 2pm. A lot of places offer a menu, first, second, and dessert including your choice of drink. There are usually 3 choices for each course, and wine, water, or beer for drinks. This is usually a really good deal. Right behind the market to the right is a great lunch restaurant called "Terrace Bar Restaurant Ra". They offer a daily menu that is SO GOOD. For only 10.99, you can sit outside and watch people line up and wait for tables. Its very popular for locals, and you know that the food is fresh since they are located right behind the market. Get there around 1:30, you'll beat the rush.
As a mid-day snack, try Churros and Chocolate, delicious fried dough sticks that come with a cup of super thick hot chocolate, and dip.
For dinner, I hope you like to eat late because restaurants open for dinner around 8 or 9pm, and usually get crowded around 10pm. Spain is known for "tapas", which is lots of little dishes of all kinds of things. Figure about 2-3 dishes per person, and share everything. It's a great way to try new things, and try to find a place with English translations, otherwise you never know what you'll end up with. Seafood is very popular, along with potato dishes.
Nightlife: They stay out really late. For many, dinner is over around midnight, and then they go to clubs, bars, or just wander La Ramblas.
Shopping: If you like cheap trendy clothes (for girls.. sorry I didn't shop for men) - try to find a Bershka or Stradivarious. The clothes are really cheap, and really cute. There are the usual Zara, H&M, and department stores, and I found that clothes and shoes were cheaper in Spain than in other parts of Europe.
Weather: I went from December 17th to the 21st and it was sunny, beautiful, and 60 degrees. Its usually a bit colder at that time of year, but it's warmer than Italy.
--Jkent 00:09, 12 January 2009 (UTC)