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Barcelona - Tarragona - Sitges -- thanks!

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Just got back from two weeks in Spain (including a two night side trip to Carcassonne, France) and the book and these forums were a valuable resource. I just thought I would share my thoughts hopefully to help others.

First, the preliminaries. For the fifth trip in a row, we needed no euros at all. "Tap" worked everywhere. (Except a minor thing that was all my fault). Second, the transportation in Barcelona is a joy. The subways are fast and clean and crowded but felt very safe. Once you learn the system, you can zip around almost anywhere (and for sure hit all of the highlights). Third, on those occasions when we needed a taxi, the "FreeNow" app from Lyft worked like a champ.

Now, the particulars. We stayed at the Hotel Continental as recommended, and for budget traveler or those with large families (we were there for a wedding, so the pre-trip sightseeing had as many as five different family groups), it's a perfect choice. The staff is AMAZING. The hotel is old(er) but is in a great location on Las Ramblas just steps away from Plaza Catalunya and so many great streets, shops, and museums. We loved the convenience of the 24h buffet, especially in the morning. Would definitely stay there again.

Besides general shopping and sight seeing, we did seven "attractions" listed in the book:
1. Sagrada Familia -- not to be missed (this was my third time) and having a semi-private guide for about $70 per person was definitely worth it as we not only skipped the long lines, we also got some great insights into the history and architecture

  1. Picasso Museum - my second time there, and I enjoyed this visit way more. In fact, I only remembered the last room. Has the rest of the museum been updated in the last ten years? Nothing was familiar. Definitely recommended.

  2. Nova Icario beach - first time there. We went for the quieter, kid-friendly beach, and this was one of the top highlights of the trip. We are used to beaches in the Gulf South, and it's quite different, but the two grandbugs spent hours just frolicking around and even made friends with Spanish kids there on a field trip. Definitely recommend.

  3. Chocolate Museum - second time there. That one definitely changed for the better since last time, and my grandbugs loved it. We have a cool picture of them next to the same sculpture from the movie Up as in a picture with my youngest son when he was about their age back then.

  4. Montserrat trip - third time visiting. We finally got to see Montserrat in good weather! We bought the "Tots Montserrat" card, and it was so worth it. For about $80, you get subway, train, aeire, museum, basilica, free trip to the buffet cafeteria for lunch -- basically everything you would want to do to see Monsterrat from Barcelona in one cheaper price, and with no lines.

  5. Park Guell - third time, and first time with beautiful, sunny weather. We only had time for about an hour, but it was enough to see the hill, rosary walk, the main garden areas (including some cool parakeets!) and the look out point.

  6. Mercat Boqueria -- first and last time. Honestly, very disappointing. Sure, it's fun for a few minutes to see all the stuff, but most of the food was overpriced and reheated in microwaves. Had we not gone in with the idea of eating there, maybe we would have enjoyed it more. We saw, but didn't linger, in other mercats that looked much more interesting.

  7. Lego store (Placa Catalyuna) -- we did this one because our grandkids love Legos and we had just as much fun exploring the place and making a little Lego person.

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As for Rick's recommendations on food and shopping, and our own research, here was our experience:
1. Sabater Hermanos (soap shop) -- fantastic little shop with very friendly people!
2. Bilbao Berria -- (near the cathedral) -- the best pinxtos we had in Barcelona, and great friendly staff
3. Restaurant La Morera (in the Plca de Sant Agusti) - some of the best food we had, and for sure, the best lasagna!
4. Central burgers -- oh man, this place was fantastic! It's not far from Placa Catalyuna and worth the walk. I love checking out what other cultures think are good American style cheeseburgers, and every single offering (we had about 12 people there that night all ordering different burgers) was good -- but their version of patata bravas was my favorite, hands-down
5. La Colmena Patisseria - supposedly the oldest patisseria in Barca and it was fun to visit. Good snacks.
6. Amapola bakery -- on the Las Ramblas, just a few blocks from the Hotel -- fantastic little bakery with amazing croissants and coffee
7. Darvaza -- high end Spanish / Argentian steakhouse in the Eixample, with great chops from all over the world. This was a celebratory dinner with family, and it was worth it. Amazing service too.

Happy to answer any questions if you have any. Thanks again to everyone who posts about Europe. I'm not much of a poster or questioner, but I read a lot of forum posts!

BJ

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Forgot to add -- we only ate at one restaurant in the town of Tarragona (and none in Sitges, unfortunately, but we did get a cool haircut) but it was a doozy. We wandered around until we found a tapas place called (I think) Tarraco Taverna -- but there were three little tapas places all next to each other and all of the food was good. The middle one (the one we ate at) was absolutely fantastic. Great food and great wine.

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2219 posts

Thanks for the report. We also liked the Hotel Continental when we visited years ago. Then, our room was furnished with pink plastic nightstands. Mucho funky. Friendly staff as well.

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3279 posts

Glad you had a good time.

LA BOQUERIA

It’s been quite a few years since it stopped being a market (or farmers' market) in the traditional sense — a place to go buy fresh food, like the other 38 markets scattered around the city’s neighbourhoods. For centuries, long before shops and supermarkets appeared, Barcelonians have been going to markets to stock up on fresh produce. Records of La Boqueria date back to the 12th century.

Unfortunately, the massive influx of visitors has completely changed the place. For at least the past ten years, it’s been steadily losing its traditional stalls and turning into a kind of theme park full of juice bars, sandwich stands, desserts, chocolates, and candy — nothing to do with what a market is supposed to be.

Sure, there are still some traditional stalls where you can buy fresh fish, meat, or fruit, but with all the tourist crowds and the loss of authenticity, many locals from the area just don’t shop there anymore.

There are rumours that, to cut down on the crowds of people who only come to look around and snap pictures, the city’s thinking about charging an entry fee — one that would then be deducted from whatever you spend inside the market. Locals are outraged by the idea, because a market is a public building and isn’t just a place to shop — it’s a social hub, where neighbours run into each other, chat, and pick up their groceries. For them, it’s always been a public space, and therefore free to access, just like parks, which are already “paid for” through taxes.

GETTING THE NAME RIGHT :)

There is no "Barca" to refer to the city of Barcelona, please!... that's completely incorrect.

"Barça" is the nickname of the football team (Futbol Club Barcelona), and "barca" means small boat in Catalan, the local language. Posh locals sometimes use "Barna" (BAR-celo-NA), and that's the closest to shortening the name you'll get; otherwise, normal Barcelonans always say "Barcelona". And it's pronounced "bar-sah-loh-nah", note the 'c' should sound as an 's', not a 'th' -as in thank you.

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