February 2000, and off to Barcelona for a 4 day break. The idea, as usual, is to go someplace warmer than the UK at this time of year. So the eastern side of Spain, at the western end of the Mediterranean sounds attractive. My idea, as usual, is to see a bit of the place but not do a lot. Sitting in a street cafe and watching the world go by sounds ideal. But the Mrs. wants to explore - this sounds ominous, she thinks I'm putting on weight after giving up smoking, so it looks like I'm going to get some exercise. It had better be worth it.

Getting there
Mid-week scheduled BA flight from London Heathrow. Flight time, a bit under 2 hours, totally uneventful. Arrive mid-morning, on time - early even. Barcelona Airport turns out to be modern and spacious and not too busy. Immigration - slow, a touch of Spanish mañana perhaps. Local time is an hour ahead of ours - odd as Barcelona is on the same longitude as the UK.

Airport Transportation
The airport is about 16 Km from central Barcelona, but there are buses, trains and taxis into town. Spoilt for choice really. At the beginning of a break, you've got lots of loot, and the guidebook has already told you that the price of a cab won't be crippling. So grab a cab as he knows where he's going - we hope. It's helpful if the driver speaks some English, then you can confirm the price. Later, when you've sussed out the lay of the land, foot power and trains come to the fore. Anyway catch a cab straight into the city.

The Hotel Oriente
Barcelona has plenty of hotels in the central area, from 1 star back packers' hostels tucked away in the side streets to 5 star palaces on the main avenues. A trawl of the net has already shown that the booked hotel is right in the middle of the main drag, and goes on to describe it's 'faded glory'. Now that tells us there's a 3 star hotel in the main area of town, but doesn't explain why what once was a real up market hotel is now only worth 3 stars. Turns out the answer's simple - planning and preservation regulations. The Hotel Oriente was built about 120 years ago, and because it's slap bang in the middle of La Rambla, you can't just pull it down and build a new hotel. You can modernise it, but let's face it, there's only so much you can do. Mind you, it makes you wonder what was on the site of the brand new shiny bank next door, before the brand new shiny bank appeared next door - if you get my meaning. Either way, the hotel is comfy, the rooms are clean, the price is right, with the bonus of being right where the action is.

La Rambla
How to describe it? It's a broad avenue. It's about 1 Km long, from the centre of town to the harbour area. Traffic is confined to single lanes either side of a wide central reservation. The central reservation is all shades of a street market (although not too packed during the day). La Rambla is home to the opera house, a couple of theatres, dozens of shops selling everything from very elegant leather goods to tourist tat, several night spots and a million restaurants, tapas bars and general drinking holes. At night, it feels like half of Barcelona empties itself into La Rambla and the immediate side streets. At night the streets are packed, the shops are packed, the street market is packed and worst of all, the eating places are packed. A little tip: the locals tend to eat late - 20:00 to 22:00, so if you want an uncrowded meal, find a restaurant about 19:00 (although a lot of them don't open until 19:30 or later).

Follow La Rambla down to the sea and just before you get there, it opens out on to a large square and the 'Monument a Colom'. Christopher Columbus is stuck on top, pointing out to sea. Now to do that, means he has his back to the city, and some of the locals look on this as some kind of an insult. Win some, lose some. The guide book also warned that this end of La Rambla is the red light district. All I can say is, I looked, but all that was obvious was the 'Museum of Erotica', which seems to be ploy to improve the takings of the waxworks rather than anything real interesting.

Now having said the traffic in La Rambla is fairly restricted, the surplus traffic has to go somewhere - and it's between you and the sea. Take care crossing the road. The locals aren't as bad as the Portuguese, but they don't take kindly to stupid tourists wandering around in the road.

The 'Custom House' building is particularly photogenic. But watch out if you're trying to take a photo. Walking backwards whilst trying to frame up the building isn't a good idea unless sudden wetness is your idea of fun. Walk too far back and you'll end up in the marina - it's unfenced. The other thing is the decking. It's wooden, but instead of sloping gently down to the water, it drops in steps - except, no steps, just sudden steeply sloping bits which take you unawares.

Port Vell
Across the bridge and into the Port Vell complex. Quite nice as tourist traps go. It's pretty new and I guess it's a manufactured name. It's got the feel of a municipal clean up of a grotty port area, so to disguise it, they changed the name. That said, it's distinctly aimed at the tourist, with the up-market marina, the touristy shopping mall, the fast food places (and a couple of up-market restaurants), the IMAX cinema, the multi screen complex, and a pretty neat aquarium - well worth a visit. And on a Sunday, it hosts an open-air art market as well.

Churches
One thing Barcelona does have is churches, although they aren't particularly ornate. One area of confusion is the Cathedral. All the tourist books, maps and everything have pictures of some way-out building on the front. If you don't read the words or even if you do, it's easy enough to assume that it's the Cathedral. It's not. The real Cathedral lurks in the middle of the 'Barri Gotic' and is one of the world's great gothic buildings. Inside, though is not so marvellous. There's a number of altar pieces many of which are really old and interesting - but apart from the altars, that's it - even the roof bosses are boring. Ok, one novel idea, the cloisters are the home for a flock of geese. So contrary to the usual idea that cloisters are a peaceful place, this one bucks the trend with some interesting honking noises - different. If you want to photograph the frontage, go there in the afternoon.

So what is this place on the front of the travel books? It's La Sagrada Familia, or is that the place it's at? Either way, it was started about 1928, it's still nowhere near finished - and it's huge. Not just huge, but weird. Ok, one end is modernistic but 'clean' with it's four curved towers. (Can't think why it reminds me of the entrance to the 'caves of the Morlocks' from the 1950's film of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine - what a warped mind I must have.) Nor can I say that the two sky hooks, which seem to be a permanent feature, improve the looks any. But the other end - now that's something else. It's sort of  like the 'clean' end, but it's been attacked by a massive blow lamp. It looks like it's been partially melted. Not only that, there's a gigantic Christmas tree between the two inner towers, complete with white doves. Altogether, it's 'warped sense of humour meets a Star Wars disintegrator canon'. To photograph the weird end properly, get there in the morning.

So from those two photos, guess who did it the wrong way round, turning up at the Cathedral in the morning, and then trying to make the best of the weird end of La Sagrada Familia in the afternoon. That's the problem with digital cameras, poor over exposure compensation. Open 'em up too wide and the picture flares out.

Is There More
Of course, Barcelona is a large city, and I've only mentioned some of the places within walking distance of the hotel (remember, my idea was to relax, not to go on route marches). I haven't mentioned the Zoo, or the parks, or the Olympic village, or the old fortress or the Museum of Culture, and plenty more - well I have mentioned them now. The underground railway, the Metro, is the quickest and easiest way of getting around. It's a flat fare for any trip but read the signs carefully, as, when we were there the 10 trip ticket was transferable. They didn't seem to mind us using one ticket and passing it across the barrier. A 10 trip ticket is about half the price of 10 single tickets - and when you're a tourist, traipsing around the city one or two stops at a time, it's surprising how many short journeys you make.

Was it worth it
Oh yes. I like new places which aren't too busy or too frenetic. Barcelona has a nice laid back feel - except when you're in a hurry, and they aren't - then it's populated by idiots who don't seem to understand urgency - but it's all in the mind. Of course, February is hardly the tourist season, so you don't get the full picture. But then, I don't like visiting hot places and in February, the weather was nice and pleasant (although a little cooler than expected at night). The sun shone, it didn't rain, and only a bit of one day was overcast. My ideal weather really.

Four days seems about right. Plenty to do and see without getting bored, and plenty left unseen and undone in case we end up there again. Did I get home refreshed and ready to return to work? Bit of a toughie, that one. I'd probably walked further in 4 days than  in the previous month. I'd probably slept more soundly because of the unaccustomed exercise. When I got home, I needed a holiday to get over this one - but as no-one was offering an indefinite time on a paradise island in the south Pacific, I guess I could say that the break was just what I needed - totally different from the daily grind.

Updated: 01/10/03