Filling a day in the city where you can combine a love of art and culture with sun, sea and sand is an easy task for our lucky couple
Carolyn & Mark
The adventurers:
CAROLYN (29) and MARK (32) live and work in Birmingham and have been together for a year, having met through a matchmaking friend. They share a common love of travelling to new places, sampling the local cuisine when they get there and even having a go at the lingo.
Mark’s job as an international trade adviser at the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce involves a bit of international travel, and he’s visited some exciting places over the past six years, including Japan, South Africa and Iran.
Carolyn is a regional manager for the Arts & Business consultancy, advising arts organisations on fundraising. She moved to Birmingham 11 years ago – from a farm in Wales – to study music, and these days plays trumpet in Birmingham Symphonic Winds, travelling to places like Ireland, Germany and Chicago with the group. She achieved one of her personal travel goals in 2006 when she went to Peru and trekked the Inca Trail – even bumping into one of her university pals halfway up the mountains! Mark, meanwhile, has many tales to tell from his days as a holiday rep in the Med after graduating – but we can’t put many of these in print!
Their next travel ambition is to head to New Zealand for a holiday incorporating all their favourite pastimes: skiing, enjoying stunning scenery, relaxing on white sandy beaches… Plus, there are a few thousand sheep to remind Carolyn of her Welsh roots! They just have to save a few pennies first, so in the meantime we sent them a bit closer to home, to explore beautiful Barcelona…
DAY
1
15:45 Sagrada Família
En route to our hotel, we hopped off the Metro at La Sagrada Família – designed by the infamous modernist architect Antoni Gaudí and arguably Barcelona’s most recognisable sight. Work began in 1882 by a different architect, Gaudí took it on in 1884 and other architects have continued ever since. and it’s still not finished! If you have a head for heights you can take a lift (or walk if you’re feeling energetic) up one of the towers for a bird’s eye view of the city.
17:00 Casa Batlló
From the hotel we wandered up Passeig de Gràcia, one of Barcelona’s main shopping streets, though it was window shopping only at Cartier, much to my disappointment (and Mark’s relief!). Our Gaudí experience continued at Casa Batlló, another one of his buildings. As we wanted to catch the sunset from the roof terrace, we fast-forwarded some of the audio guides (as informative as they were!) to admire the colourful, swirling chimney pots.
www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/gaudi/casa-batllo.html
18:00 The Barri Gótic (Gothic Quarter)
Taking a detour off La Rambla – the main strip of the Gothic Quarter – we passed the cathedral, where a bric-à-brac market was in full flow in the square. The maze of narrow cobbled streets here can be tricky to navigate, even with a map. There are plenty of hidden gems to stumble across, like the pretty courtyard of the Museu Frederic Marès. Souvenir shops line the streets, as well as little eateries – perfect, as by that time Mark was getting thirsty (for a beer) after all the exploring!
DAY
2
18:30 Tapas treats at Cafe el Paraigua
Barcelona is famous for its chocolatiers, so a visit to Cacao Sampaka (www.cacaosampaka.com) while we were in the Gothic Quarter was a must. After eventually deciding which flavour to buy (raspberry) we headed into Café el Paraigua (2 Pas de L’Ensenyança) to sit for a bit over an early evening beer and tapas of tortilla and chorizo sausage to stave off our hunger until dinner later. The friendly barman even offered us another guidebook for some added advice.
21:00 Dinner at Agut Restaurant
After a quick change back at the hotel, we returned to the Gothic Quarter for dinner at a family-run Catalan restaurant, Agut (16 Gignàs). The sirloin steak with truffle sauce, washed down with a local Rioja was delicious, and pudding was even better – you can’t go wrong with a double chocolate tart and cream! After a much-needed stroll to aid digestion, we ended up in one of the many and diverse bars around La Rambla, sipping caipirinhas and listening to live jazz at Soul Club (9 Carrer d’en Rull).
9:00 La Boqueria Market
One of the oldest and largest markets in Europe, La Boqueria is a foodie’s paradise – so it was right up my street! We breakfasted on fresh fruit smoothies and pastries while discovering amazing displays of every kind of seafood, meat, fruit and vegetables, sweets – even snails! It all looks so bright and beautiful – it’s fascinating just to look, but we bought our own spicy chorizo sausage so we could recreate our tapas experience when we got home.
10:00 A stroll on the seafront
At the end of La Rambla we reached the Marina Port Vell (Old Port) and walked to the beachside area of La Barceloneta, taking in some refreshing sea air to blow away the cobwebs. While Mark envied the array of posh boats, I made some new friends with La Parella (The Couple) by Lautaro Diaz – one of the numerous public art sculptures that can be found all over Barcelona. We also encountered a giant smiling lobster and Barcelona Head – a 14m pop-art homage to Gaudí by Roy Lichtenstein.
10:45 Port Olympic
One of the best things about Barcelona is that it’s a city break with a beach – even if it was too cold to paddle when we were there! Port Olympic was created for the 1992 Olympic Games and it features a long walkway connecting the beaches of La Barceloneta and Icaria. There are restaurants, bars, a casino and more public art – this time a huge bronze whale! – all on the seafront. After our long walk to get here our legs were protesting, so we hopped on the Metro for an easy ride back into town.
11:00 La Rambla
We began to wind our way back to the hotel via one last wander along the bustling La Rambla. This can take a while as it’s a kilometre-long walk of entertainment, such as painters, a Ronaldo wanna-be doing fancy football skills, colourful stalls and statue artists every few metres – and they’re not easy to distract, as Carolyn found out!
11:30 Cafe Zurich
Just time, then, for a quick drink at the renowned Café Zurich (1 Plaça Catalunya), perfectly placed at the start of La Rambla to sit in the sun and watch the world go by. We indulged in one last treat by ordering the stickiest, sweetest hot chocolate we’ve ever tasted – the perfect way to end a perfect 24 hours..
We stayed at H10 Universitat – just off Plaça de Catalunya and hard by the Gothic Quarter in central Barcelona. A four-star hotel, H10 Universitat has a relaxed atmosphere with clean contemporary décor.
On checking in we received a complimentary glass of cava, which was very welcome after the thirsty work of our travels! And the nice touches continued when we entered our room to find a platter of fresh fruit and a box of chocolates each.
We were lucky enough to have one of the larger rooms, complete with a balcony giving views across the rooftops of the city centre. The hotel is brilliantly located to explore Barcelona, whether by foot or using public transport, and the staff are friendly, attentive and were only too happy to help us make our dinner reservation for the evening.
Our writers stayed in the four-star H10 Universitat Barcelona (21 Ronda Universitat, www.h10hotels.com, tel: +34 933 427 850). It’s available to book from £101 (€113) per night per room on a room-only basis (based on twosharing), including free wi-fi connection for all guests. To book, visit www.bmibaby.com, where you can search for hotels and apartments in all bmibaby destinations. Powered by Europe’s leading travela nd leisure website, www.lastminute.com
