Barcelona - 16-18 June 2017 - with Marieke

Barcelona here we come

A long weekend Barcelona with Marieke (16 -18 June 2017).

When all goes well Marieke will be finishing her studies at the University of Barcelona. We invited her to travel with us to Barcelona to give her a short impression of the city where she will probably live for 5 months.

We didn't visit all the highlights coz there was far too little time, and moreover, Marieke will have lots of time to visit all the sites when she lives there. As it was extremely warm for the time of the year (around 30 C), we made a tour with a hop on-hop off open bus, which showed us all the sights.

Of course we shopped a bit and had great food and wine.

We stayed in a nice apartment in the middle of town in the Eixample barrio, which made us feel if we lived there. Loved it, although it was of course too short.

Some pictures to tell the story:

Friday, 16 June: arrived in Barcelona: barrio Eixample, time for a late lunch.

it's warm, Marieke bought a cool fan, which she lost a day later :-(

First stop: Gaudi's parc Guell: wow how this has changed since we were here 7 years ago. Nowadays one has to pay to be able to enter the area of the mosaics

a cold beer tastes great when it's this warm

Tapas and drinks at a very Spanish bar with lots of things happening in front of us: never a dull moment.

the vibrant district El Raval, with on the right the Museum of Contemporary Art

vibrant indeed

Sunday, 17 June: hop on-hop off - exploring the city

Montjuic hill where a lot of museums and sports grounds are, and which hosted the 1929 International Expo as well as the 1992 Summer Olympics  

at the left: Marieke in front of the beach, which she plans to visit frequently when living here. top right: Casa Batllo, one of the famous Gaudi buildings in the city

modern buildings and tourists near the harbour, with top right the Casino.

La Boqueria market, where we both bought delicious Spanish cured ham

and ... an oyster for me 

We walked through the Gothic district to the old harbor (Port Vell) where we had a late lunch/early dinner at one of the posh restaurants. We ordered paella and a great bottle of white wine.

light from above (in one of the old churches we passed)

Concluding the day with the 'Font Magica Montjuic': the water and light show, which takes place every evening  

Sunday, 18 June: Sagrada Familia and a relaxing lunch 

after breakfast at  the Cafe Zurich on Plaza Catalunya we visited the Sagrada Familia. We didn't enter (no tickets available) but lingered in the parc. 

After exploring the Raval district we found a cool place to have dinner outside.

subway

going to fetch our suitcases

On our way to the airport. It was a too short but great trip