Barcelona - October 2023

A Few Days in Barcelona

After disembarking the Viking Saturn at the Barcelona Cruise Terminal, we prearranged an apartment stay near the harbor for four nights via VRBO. Renting an apartment allows you to immerse yourself in local life beyond an 8am-5pm timeframe. We enjoy the opportunity to shop at street markets, grocery stores and pastry shops. We tend to seek an apartment if we’re in a city for a few days. Our apartment was on Paseo de Colom, across from the Barcelona Face, by Roy Lichtenstein.

We ended up with a couple of hours between leaving Viking Saturn and our apartment check-in time. We didn't want to deal with our luggage during this time so we looked for a luggage storage location near the Cruise Terminal. We used the "Bounce Luggage Storage" app on my iPhone and found a luggage storage location about a block away from our apartment address. Bounce pre-arranges luggage storage through local businesses, such as a small store. Storage payment is done online with Bounce via credit card. There is no cash transaction with the actual storage location. Our luggage was locked in the office of a small retail store office. A photo of our luggage was provided by a store employee to document luggage acceptance. 

Groceries and Bakeries

Barcelona Face

During our apartment stays, we tend to make our own breakfasts each day. We will have lunch and dinners while out in the local town. Identifying our grocery shopping options is one of the first tasks we do after reviewing what is available in the apartment rental.

There are many small and convenient "Supermercado" shops in the Gothic Quarter, but most focus on basic essentials. We typically purchased water and snacks from them. We found Superservis (Carrer d’Avinyo 11 ) to have a broader selection of fruits, vegetables, household products, dairy items, meats and cheese. There was another store across from this Superservis that sold a variety of fresh fruit. This was a great stop for figs, bananas, melons and raspberries.

We also shopped at the Mercado de La Boqueria, a local market of independent seafood, meat, pastry and fruit vendors. There are also several Carrefour Markets in the Gothic Quarter.  

The El Cortez Ingles (at Placa de Catalunya) basement has a HUGE grocery store, along with some hot food selections. Some TripAdvisor entries rave about the Paella there. El Cortez Ingles is a multi-story high-end department store found in larger Spain cities.This basement area reminded me of a much larger US grocery superstore and was only about 16 minutes walking distance from the harbor area.  We focused our visit to browsing food selections in the basement.

On Carrer de Liberteria, near the Jaume 1 metro station, there is a Santa Clara bakery on both sides of the street. One focuses on pastries and other on sandwiches and bread. Both were excellent and maybe a 10 minute walk from the harbor. We stopped by Donatella Salento Bakery for Italian breads and pastries - but we were disappointed that it was closed each time.

Getting Around

We bought a "Tourist" Metro pass for ten rides, but only used it once with our local guide.  Instead, we used taxis - a bit more expensive than public transportation. We decided that this was better use of our limited touring time (avoiding waiting for Metro trains, changing trains, waiting for buses). When we traveled to Park Guell, we combined a 15 minute walk from our apartment and took a taxi for the remainder of the distance. This reduced our taxi fare - especially in the "stop and go" vehicle traffic in the crowded Gothic quarter streets.

Local Guide

We engaged a local tour guide (https://patrickguidebarcelona.com/) for a walking tour of Barcelona and a trip to Montserrat.  Patrick is from Chicago and has been in Barcelona for over 12 years. He has an excellent knowledge of the Barcelona area and surrounds. He speaks English, Spanish and Catalonian. Be sure to view his website - it has a wealth of information for visitors to Barcelona.

A special thanks to Dave Natale for arranging our walking tour and trip to Montserrat.

Things to Do: Gaudi Sites

Park Guell - Located on Carmel Hill, in Barcelona, this park was designed by Antoni Gaudi and was home to Eusebio Guell. The park contains mosaics, architectural elements and gardens.  It is best to buy your online timed-ticket in advance and try to avoid weekends. The park does have a capacity limit and was sold out on the Saturday of our visit. We purchased online tickets for 12 noon and enjoyed our 90-minute walk in the park. Getting to the park from the harbor is quite a walk. We found it is best to take a taxi - for either the entire or a portion on the distance. (entry fee: 10 Euro)

Palau Guell:This mansion was designed by Antoni Gaudí for the industrial tycoon Eusebio Guell. Guell became a patron and friend to Gaudi. The house was constructed between 1886 and 1888. We purchased tickets at the door. There is a good audio tour available to use (entry fee: 12 Euro).

Casa Batllo: This house was built in 1877 and was owned by Josep Batllo, a wealthy textile industrialist. Batllo engaged Gaudi to redesign the house exterior and interior in 1906 to reflect a unique , modern and marine-oriented design. This house is very popular and attracts many visitors each day. We purchased early access tickets which are available for the first two groups of the day - 8:30am and 8:45am. These are marketed as ‘less crowded’ but the number of people in these groups still seemed somewhat large. This tour should be on your schedule. Tour takes about 75 minutes. (entry 29 to 45 Euro).

If you have time, you could also consider a visit to Casa Mila, the last house designed by Gaudi in 1906-12. This house is on the block across from Casa Batllo. 

Sagrada Familia: Construction of this church started in 1882 by Francisco de Paula del Villar and Gaudi became the chief architect in 1883. Gaudi's plan would transform the church into an Art Nouveau and Late Gothic design. The Sagrada Familia was only 25 percent complete when Gaudi died in 1926. The current architect anticipates construction and decorative elements will be completed around 2032.

A must see - even if you’ve been before.  We last visited Sagrada Familia about 20 years ago and there has been substantial construction completed since this date.  

In the late afternoon, we enjoyed viewing how the sunset lights up the church interior via orange and red stained glass windows. We’re told in the morning AM, the green and blue stained glass on the other side of the church interior is less brilliant. When purchasing tickets online, you are able to select the date and time of your visit. (entry 26-36 Euro).

Within Sagrada Familia, there is a Passion Tower optional tour for which we purchased access as part of our ticket package. After taking an elevator to the top of the tower, there are 426 spiraling steps to get down - in a narrow (one-person wide) stairway that can have some very dark areas, depending on the time of your visit. Frankly, I had to stop at one point as I couldn’t see the next step. My wife used her phone flashlight to help light the stairway. The viewing options from the periodic view areas are somewhat limited and there is a small wire mesh that interferes with photos. The time of day of our might have had something to do with the lighting (sunlight) of the stairs (we went at 5pm). This tour is not advised for those with walking challenges or height concerns.

 

Things to do: Art Museums

There are many museums in Barcelona. We viewed an Alphonse Mucha exhibit at Palau Martorell. This museum holds over 3,000 works of Mucha. The current exhibit displays about 80 of the artist's posters and photographs. (entry $10-15 Euro)

Things to Do: Montserrat

The Montserrat mountain and monastery are important locations and symbols of Catalonia. The Benedictine Monastery in
Montserrat was founded in the 11th century and is currently the home of 80 monks. The Black Madona in the Montserrat Basilica is the patron saint of Montserrat. Due to visitor popularity, there are timed tickets for entry into the Basilica.  

A drive from Barcelona to Montserrat parking area can take 60-90 minutes, depending on the route and traffic. Alternatively, there are trains from Barcelona to Montserrat. There is also a cable car from a lower parking area to Montserrat. A drive in a personal car reduces the travel time as it avoids dealing with public transportation transfers. It is best to avoid weekends for this trip and start early in the morning from Barcelona (e.g., 8am). There are available hikes - but longer hikes will require more time at the site. We spent about 3.5 hours in Montserrat. There are cafes and a cafeteria available for visitors.

Things to Do: Dining 

Bodega Barritz 1880: If you're unfamiliar with tapas, this is a good place to start. The restaurant had a good pre-fixe offering, including an appetizer, four daily special tapas and a digestive drink for two (40 Euro for two). This location is only a 10-15 minute walk from harbor.

El Xampenyet: This small restaurant in the El Born district is a favorite of both locals and tourists. The restaurant has been in operation since the 1920s. For dinner, doors open at 7pm. If you're hoping for a seat at a table, be sure to queue up no later than 6:45 or, better still,  even earlier. We lined up at 6:45 and the tables filled just as we reached the head of the line. We ended up dining while standing up at the bar. The food was excellent. There are many tapas on the menu and it was difficult to decide which to order - we watched what others were ordering and followed suit.

La Mar Salida: Located along the harbor, this restaurant is known for its sea food. We thoroughly enjoyed a seafood Paella order for two. As dinner in Barcelona is often later in the evening, we had a late afternoon lunch at La Mar Salida.

Momo Avinyo: The tapas were very good here (try the delicious eggplant with honey and cheese). We added three other tapas (Spanish omelette, Fisherman mussels and grilled shrimp). Some Tripadvisor reviews suggest the Paella here can be a hit or miss. This restaurant was about a 5 minute walk from the harbor.

Don’t forget to try the local Sangria!