Barcelona was the first overseas trip Peter and I took together and its still one of our favorites. The weather in Barcelona that February was great: not too hot, not too cold. We were always outside and walked everywhere. Barcelona is the perfect combination of a bustling city with great sites, food, and architecture but it also has a vacation feel with sunshine, palm trees and a grand mediterranean beach.
La Rambla
We stayed on the famous La Rambla and so each day started and ended with a stroll down the wide tree lined pedestrian boulevard. La Rambla is full of cafes and souvenir kiosks and lots and lots of tourists. You’ll probably end up walking down La Rambla at some point because it connects so many different neighborhoods. It starts in the center of Barcelona at the intersection of the old city and the newer 19th century Eixample neighborhood. To the east is the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter). Continuing past the end of the La Rambla you’ll end up right at the water.
Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter)
The Barri Gòtic neighborhood dates back to 133 BC when the Romans built a walled settlement called Barcino. You can find the remains of the wall scattered throughout the neighborhood.
The gothic quarter is made up of narrow winding streets with many shops and restaurants and very few cars (because the streets are so tiny). As soon as you enter the neighborhood it feels like a corn maze and you never know where you’re going to come out. Its always a surprise to stumble upon a familiar landmark again: “Oh, I remember this building from yesterday” or “Wait, we were just here 10 minutes ago!”.
There’s plenty of shopping in the Gothic Quarter. We hunted down the original espadrille store of Barcelona, La Manual Alpargatera, which opened back in 1941. There were stacks and stacks of espadrilles and the store felt very authentic especially when trying to communicate without a common language. I was thrilled walking out of there with my new espadrilles but once I got home I realized that they weren’t very comfortable. This store gets an A for experience and a C for comfort.
La Seu Cathedral
One Barri Gotic landmark that’s hard to miss is the Barcelona Cathedral (La Seu Cathedral). It towers above its closely packed neighboring buildings. It was built during the 14th-16th centuries and is dedicated to their first patron saint, Eulalia, who lived during Roman times and was persecuted and killed because of her faith.
The interior is impressive but our favorite part was the quiet halls wrapping along the outer walls. From there we snapped many photos of our favorite courtyard, the ‘Well of Geese”, where 13 white geese are kept (the number signifying the age when Saint Eulalia lost her life).
February Festivals
When we arrived in Barcelona we quickly learned that some crazy things happen in February. Blurry eyed from our red eye flight we tried to take a quick nap in our hotel room but we were suddenly woken up by a small (but loud) parade marching right below our window. Over that first weekend we were often confronted with strange sights. These two big babies, for example, hanging out in front of the Cathedral:
It turns out that we happen to arrive during the final days of the festival of Saint Eulalia and there were several different celebrations going on throughout the old town. For example, while exploring the Gothic Quarter, we shared the streets with a bunch of drumming bands, each band wearing bright matching colors.
On Sunday we stumbled upon a grand parade marching down La Rambla. It was the final celebration of Eulalia and included The Giants which are the larger than life figures that are often incorporated into parades. Each district in the Catalan area has its own Giants couple, male and female, usually representing neighborhood characters. These Giants attend parades and special events. Barcelona has an additional single (and slightly smaller) Giant who represents the 13 year old Eulalia.
The Festival of Lights also happens throughout the winter festivals in February. A selection of architecture is eliminated by a light show designed by local artists. We caught one of the shows while we were there.
Montjuic Mountain, Miró Museum
Mojuic is a large hill overlooking the harbor. The most fun way to get there is via the Port Cable Car (which is an experience in itself). You can also take a Funicular rail way from the Metro station. We did both!
Besides the views, Monjuic has several tourist attractions. We visited the Miro museum (Fundació Joan Miró) which has the largest collection of his works in the world. The foundation was started by the artist himself and contains his paintings, drawings, sculptures, textiles, and ceramics as well as exhibiting contemporary artists from the 20th and 21st centuries. The rooftop terrace displays his colorful statues and has great views overlooking Barcelona.
Port Cable Car
The Port Cable Car opened in 1931. It runs from the beach to Mount Montjuïc. From the beach side, you ride an elevator up to the top of the tower. The ten minute ride has views of the harbor and the city. If you plan to take photos, make sure you’re amongst the first to board so you can secure a place near the windows.
Beach
Barcelona is perched right on the Mediteranean. It was our final day of vacation and we couldn’t believe that we hadn’t even ventured down to the water yet. As it turned out we had saved the best for last! The beach front was beautiful and it was a treat to dip our feet into the water in February!
We started our waterfront tour by walking towards the Barceloneta neighborhood in search of a restaurant that we’d read had the best paella in Barcelona, Can Majo. We found the restaurant with outdoor seating available right on the beach and watched people stroll past while enjoying our yummy lunch. Did you know that locals never eat paella for dinner. It’s meant to be served during lunch only (and shared!).
After lunch we strolled along the shore and took some pictures of Frank Gehry’s huge fish sculpture built for the 1992 olympics and then walked down towards the sail shaped W hotel for a quick drink in their hip lobby.
Gaudi, Gaudi, Gaudi
Gaudi is Barcelona and Barcelona is Gaudi. You can’t visit Barcelona without getting to know one of their most famous residents, the architect Antonio Gaudi. His works are all over the city. Its such a big part of being a tourist in Barcelona that his sights get their own page here.