Parul and I are spending a few days in Barcelona together. My first impression of Barcelona, coming from smaller towns of Malaga and Cordoba, was that I did not like the hustle and bustle of the big city and the big crowds that invariably result from that, not to mention the fear of pickpockets. After spending some days in Barcelona, I like it more than I thought I would. And I am happy about it.
Our days here are very unstructured, as compared to Cordoba where we spent only 2-3 days and wanted to hit many places in those few days. Here, we wake up whenever we feel like it. Having breakfast at noon is not uncommon for us here. We are trying a lot of new places, thanks to Parul for leading the charge in this area by asking recommendations from people and finding good places to eat. We can definitely recommend Billy Brunch (and my review) for breakfast and brunch, Restaurante Sesamo (and Parul’s review) for dinner, and Swagatam Restaurant (and Parul’s review) for good Indian food. Parul has definitely made our luck that we have been able to hit good restaurants in Barcelona.
I must say I was not aware of The Gaudí before I arrived in Barcelona. And that says a lot about my ignorance of architecture; Gaudí’s works are definitely unparalleled. But once we heard about him, we of course checked out La Sagrada Família. It was impressive and crowded. We decided not to go inside because of the crowds, and instead focus on other works and buildings by him. We can definitely recommend the tour of Park Güell. It is an impressive compound that he constructed, which despite its “failure” (in that it was never used for housing residents, the purpose it was constructed for) has become a UNESCO world heritage site. The night tour of Casa Milà (also called La Pedrera) was okay, although definitely overpriced at €34 per person for about an hour of the tour. We can recommend visiting Casa Batlló and appreciating its glory and beautiful facade from the street (we did not take its tour). Overall, the works of Gaudi are masterpieces, but one should first take a quick look at them and decide to visit one or two of them depending on one’s interest in more details. For us, those two happen to be Park Guell and Casa Vicens.
Barcelona has a lot more to offer of course. Its La Boqueria market on La Rambla is incredibly big. We found it surprisingly cheap for a place that is in the center of a huge touristic place. We got noodles and pasta, two glasses of juices, and fruits; all for about 11 Euros! Barcelona’s beaches did not impress me much! (I was in Malaga before this, so I might have a bias.) La Rambla is okay; definitely worth visiting once to see the hustle and bustle. The Parc de la Ciutadella is quieter than other places, but still quite crowded. A good place to take an easy stroll though. Barcelona Cathedral is impressive and worth going inside once to see the art inside.
The message about Barcelona is to pick a few places you want to see and focus on them. The only place that you should take a look at at least once is La Sagrada Familia. Everyone knows about THIS building from Barcelona. And for a good reason. Its construction started in 1882 and reached about halfway point only in 2010; it is a project of immense magnitude.