| The
first thing that is going to hit you when you arrive in Barcelona is the
beautiful architecture all around you. Then as you start cruising around,
the next thing that is going to knock you off your feet is that those amazing
Gaudí creations you've seen so much of in photos are standing.......actually
I'm not going to tell you where they stand because it will spoil the surprise,
but you will be surprised where they are. You'll know what I'm babbling
on about when you see for yourself.
Next
you'll be pleasantly surprised at just how helpful and friendly the people
are for a city of it's size. Whatever your preconceptions are of the Catalonians,
they'll soon melt away as they do their best to make you welcome in their
stunningly beautiful city.
The
gay area is called L'Eixample or nick named GayEixample and is north-west
of the center of town within walking distance but can also be reached by  Metro
from either the Universitat or Urgell stations. If you get off at Urgell
take the Villarroel exit. The gay scene is lively and there's plenty of
variety. Everything you'd expect from a major city's gay scene but with
the added bonus of bronzed Spanish boys all over the place. Eixample is
pronounced eye-sham-play.
To
top it all off, you have
Sitges
just down the road which you must check out as well. It's an easy 35 minute
train ride away from Sants train station, or better yet, from Paseo de
Gracia station near the gay village.
The
best way to see all of the major sites in Barcelona is to take the Tourist
Bus (Bus Turistic) from Plaza Catalunya in the center of Barcelona. It's
just 18€ for 1 day or 22€ for 2 consecutive days. There's 44
stops along the route, and you can get off where ever you like, then hop
on one of the next buses that come along. There's 3 distinct routes, and
your ticket covers you for all of them. The north
route, south route andFórum
route. Each stop is announced in English,
and you'll find info about each one in the guide they give you. The entire
tour of all 3 routes, if you don't stay at any location, lasts 5 hours.
Barcelona
won the 1999 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for its architecture. This is notably,
the first, and as of 2006, only time the winner has been a city, and not
an architect.
Barcelona's
top attractions |
