Gaudi's Barcelona

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona - ESPANA

Pics by Teliung

I stopped for a few hours in Barcelona on the way to Milano and it was worth it. Barcelona is not only pretty but must be one of the most efficient city in the whole of Europe. The people are nice and hospitable and it was easy to explore the city as the metro and public system is so efficient - especially the nice and modern train station.

For e.g. the left-luggage is so easy to find and conveniently located and must be one of the most efficient system thruout Europe. The tourist info office is also very efficient that you can inform the front desk how many hours you have and they can advise you in 5 seconds what you should cover and exactly where to get the next public transport. Conveniently all the major sites are within the metro stops, which really saved time. All the tourists info and brochures are also free unlike in many European cities say Italy and Berlin (which I found out later).

Since I have only like 4 hours, I decided to do only Sagrada Familia and walk about the town center and park a bit. I also got a break when a group of tourists decided that we'll get a better discount for the entrance fee with more people in the group, so a bunch of us were invited to join them so that we got a 25% discount off the entrance ticket, which I have no complaint at all :) Sagrada, Gaudi's masterpiece is a steep climb but the view from the top is quite worth it.

I breezed through Barcelona, but it is a city one probably want to do in more depth, perhaps best with a bunch of frens - as it is known for its party atmosphere and lots of great place (especially some of the gardens and other Gaudi's masterpieces..that I really wanted to explore but limited by time) and interesting food to check out. As I keep saying, the Spanish hospitality is one of the most professional thruout Europe. Unfortunately, my last attempt to hunt for the most famous Churro-con-Chocolate (fried doughnut dipped in chocholate) throughout Spain, with Barcelona as my last stop, failed ): Striked that out from my to-do list (to eat churro in Spain), the last churro I tried was in Disneyland in Los Angeles!