Sammi Christina Barcelona Strolling La RamblaBarcelona is truly one of my favorite cities to spend a few days. It is lively, artsy, musical, quirky, filled with museums, and the food is fantastic!
I have written loads about Barcelona on other web pages, and links for more information are on this page, to your right under General Information. The earlier posts I did for the Girls' Cruise in 2007 are here. The last ones for the Med 2010 Cruise can be found here. You will find videos, some in-depth information about museums, art, Gaudi, etc. These older blogs were written with overnight stays in mind. Since we only have a day visit, I will try to cover some highlights of things to see and do in just one day.
The Sagrada Familia is one of the major sights in Barcelona. If we want to go there we should take a taxi as soon as we get off the ship. Another Gaudi sight would be Parc Guell. Again, we'd take a cab as soon as we get off the ship.
La Rambla is an interesting place to stroll and we can walk there from the port. It is filled with shops, cafes, restaurants, and all the odd characters of Barcelona. Along the boulevard we can view some of Gaudi's works, an original Miro mosaic, a fantastic market, and many other curiosities.
From La Rambla we can cut through one of the tiny little streets and head over to the Barrio Gotic, or the Gothic Quarter. It's certainly worth a visit. Not far is the Chocolate Museum. How about Ben Hur made entirely of chocolate?
We might also decide to hang around in the Port Vell - Port Olimpic area, a few blocks from our port. The aquarium is there, as is an IMAX theater, some interesting shops, and good restaurants.
Another interesting place to spend some time is the Poble Espanyol, or Spanish Village. Located in the Montjuic area, we'd take a taxi from the port. This is a living museum that is filled with buildings from all other Spain. They moved they entire buildings there to show the various styles of architecture found in the country. Within these buildings you'll find artisans such as leather workers, silversmiths, weavers, etc. all creating wonderful things to buy. There are also restaurants and cafes to enjoy. The place is set up as a village and it is a beautiful place to spend a few hours and to pick up some reasonable hand crafted gifts.
Another idea is to see a few sights, do some shopping, and then find a waterfront restaurant like Luz de Gas, get a table and munch tapas and drink Sangria or Rioja until it's time to return to the ship.
