Barcelona Part One

 Now, a lot of people will tell you Barcelona is the greatest city on earth, and the other half will tell you its heaving with tourists, overpriced and a mess. Neither are wrong, but neither are fully correct. Yes, Barcelona is crammed full of tourists, just like Rome, Paris and London, its a honeypot for people visiting. Thats why I went, and I'm sure why everyone else goes! With it being such a huge city with so many things to do, it means you need to prioritize what you want to see, and when. I should have been more organised and booked an earlier time to Visit Park Guell, as it was rammed and I didn't quite enjoy it as much as I could have done. But I wanted to visit Poble Espanyol, and so did that early in the morning, meaning I got the place to myself. Its swing and roundabouts. Generally areas like the triumphant arch is and the arcade are never quiet. But certainly the old town and the museums are quieter in the mornings, so it's worth finding those out and enjoy the fact you've got them to yourself!

The Ramblas is a beautiful section of the old town, so easy to wander through and get lost in! Just have your wits about you, there are pickpockets here (Isn't there everywhere though?) Some great places to eat, drink & watch the day go by! There's also some fun posters around too. Like I say, a very busy area in the afternoon and evening, so go early if you want nice pictures of the lanes.

For me, I came to Spain because I wanted to see their historical heritage, particularly Roman. I'm sure those of you who read this blog often know this, but I am fascinated by the Romans. So much so, that generally speaking the Roman remains are my go to's when I'm away. Spain is a country with a rich Roman Heritage. I remember seeing somewhere that is had the third most Roman sites for visitors in the world (Behind Turkiye and obviously Italy)

Barcelona was a good place to start. I know I've also said this before, but you can display a couple of columns in a room and it can look boring. Or, you can display a couple of columns in a room painted a colour that both contrasts and compliments the columns and suddenly you've got a must visit site. These three columns are pretty much all that remains of the Temple of Augustus, however, its the room that displays them that makes them so beautiful. They were found during construction work, and reassembled in this free gallery. There's a couple of information panels there, but not much more. Also, there's a fun little antique sign that directs you in!

Also, not far away is the old Quarter, also known as the Gothic quarter, where you can see the restored & re-developed old walls. It's another great place to stop for a break and enjoy some very refreshing Horchata (I'm very aggrieved because I just cannot find any good Horchata in the south of England, anyone know of anywhere?) It is absolutely delicious, and I couldn't seem to get enough of it while I was in Spain. It also has less calories than ice cream if you needed any more encouragement!

Also, Barcelona has a great Metro system, it will get you virtually anywhere you wish to go. It's super easy to use, especially as I would avoid staying slap bang in the centre, where even hostels are changing a fortune! The metro is also interesting because most of the stations I used were very uniform and lacked much decoration, and they all had nice names, except for the one station called Clot. The only way to make it sound any better would be to change the name to La Moist Clot!