Brigitte and I will be visiting Barcelona in a couple of weeks time and would be ever so grateful for a few useful tidbits on what to do/see/eat/drink. We've booked an apartment in the Ramblas area, so accomodations are set.

Just be prepared to eat dinner at midnight. Restaurants don't even open til 11 or so. If you are staying at a decent hotel, ask the concierge where a good tapas bar is.

Try to see a flamenco show there. They are pretty impressive.

Barcelona is one great city. Try to eat at some of the restaurants down by the Olympic Village. Dinner starts at 8 or 8:30PM. Also, all the Gaudi architecture is truly incredible. I still cant believe the contribution that this genius made to the world of architecture. ENJOY!

Barcelona is a wonderful place - staying on Las Ramblas is a good idea - its very central to the different sections of the city. Strolling Las Ramblas is a great way to get the flavor of the city, especially on the weekend. Check out the big food market.

Be sure and spend time in the Gothic Quarter - La Seu cathedral from the 14th Century is lovely. There are lots of small restaurants in this area. It's fun to scope the area out in the daytime, find a place that looks interesting and then come back in the evening. You don't have to wait until 11 to eat dinner; many places are open at 9 or so, although 11 or 12 is more fashionable. It's good to adopt the local schedule and take a nap in the afternoon, then do some more sightseeing in the early evening, hit some tapas bars and then have dinner.

Paseo de Gracia goes off another direction from Plaza de Cataluna (at the top of Las Ramblas). Wonderful shopping, Dali sidewalks and Gaudi buildings. Of course, Gaudi's Sagrada Familia church is spectacular and worth at least a few hours. Also take a taxi up to Parque Guell to see the Gaudi ceramic designs and the nice view of the city (much better on a clear day).

The underground in Barcelona is quite good; there is also a nice train to the very modern airport (a '92 Olympics perk). The Olympic Village is worth a short visit, but a bit dull. We enjoyed the Museo Joan Miro very much as well.

A nice day trip is down to Tarragona to see the extensive Roman ruins. The trip down the coast (about 45 minutes each way) is pretty and Tarragona itself is a nice change from busy Barcelona.

Have fun - Barcelona is very sophisticated but not as snobby as some places such as Paris.

I love Barcelona and will second Kurt's suggestion of checking out the Passeig de Gracia for the fabulous Gaudi architecture. Definitely not to be missed.

In terms of food, my friend and I ate at every bloody tapas place on Passeig de Gracia between Avinguda Diagonal to Grand Via de les Corts Catalanes, and I am not kidding. They were all just great. I mean, how hard is it to mess up tapas? And like sarecca said, I found lots of restaurants to be open well before 11 p.m., if not packed.

Las Ramblas is centrally located but quite noisy, especially on weekend nights. Even so, we opted for a back room in small pensionne that had a little balcony and a wonderful view of the Gothic Quarter.

I guess the Picasso museum is world class, but I wouldn't know about that since we got there five minutes before it closed.

[This message has been edited by essxjay (edited 02-02-2000).]

Have paella at Los Caracoles in the old city. You walk through the kitchen to sit down and there are balconies where you can watch the chefs cook on a huge wood burning stove. Bread in the shape of a snail (carcole). A terrific town.

Thank you all for your great advice and suggestions. What would we do without FT? Were I to rely on my personal realm of friends and neigbours in the physical world for travel tips, I'd get as far as Toronto, London and possibly Chicoutimi.

Cheers,

Rick

You'll find most of Barcellona like Carre St. Denis and Vieux Montreal multiplied over and over and over again. Plus that wonderfully wild Gaudi and other belle epoque moderne architecture.

The bus and metro system is superb, so just buy a couple of multi-day passes for about C$6 a day and wonder around town. Try to get to places like Gaudi's Le Pedrera early in the day to avoid crowds, particularly on the weekend. And enjoy wandering through the stonework of the Sagrada Familia as a mid- afternoon diversion. To better understand Catalonia and the psyche and history of the region, do make the National Museum in the restored harbour one of your first stops, even if you don't understand the language, the exhibits invoke the story well. (It is very much like the National Museum in Old Quebec.) So whether you agree with "nationalism" or not, you'll better understand the cultural and historical things that do make Catalonia different from the rest of Spain. (Sound a bit familiar, eh?)

Barcelona is a walking city, once you get to the various quarters, so take comfortable shoes.

I'll look forward to sharing thoughts about the city when we meet in Montreal in July. As you can read from the other messages, few people visit Barcellona without becoming captivated by it.

Take a day trip to the abbey at Monserrat
Great collection of art that was donated by camels trying to get through the eye of a needle. Take the train and ride the funicular cable car - make sure it is not a windy day as they sometimes stop the funicular cable car.