johnsunter.com >> adventures - europe >> city visits 1 >> barcelona 1
5 Hours in Barcelona (1/2).
I am sat at Barcelona Airport at 12 lunchtime, and my flight doesn't leave until after 10pm.
I decide to get the bus into town, and do some sight seeing.
Is it possible to tour a whole city, in 5 hours ?.
Armed with my DK eyewitness guide I set off to find out.
The bus (which takes only fifteen minutes to reach the city, and runs every 6 minutes 24 hours a day) arrives Plaça Catalunya, the central square in Barcelona.
I wander further into the old town.
The most famous street in Spain. I walk down the Rambla.
I really thought it was superb the way all the bars, cafe's etc were centered around one place.
I could see why so many "cultured" Stag and Hen Do's are now held there.
Placa Reial, Barcelona's most lively square, just of the Rambla.
There were many nice cafe's there, and a lovely outdoor market was in full swing.
I continued down the Rambla, and saw lots of people selling souvenirs (but these weren't tacky), offering to draw/paint pictures of me, a guy balancing footballs (he was up to 5 when I left) and various musicians.
At the bottom of the Rambla, the Collumbus Column.
It is said to be positioned on the first spot that Christopher Collumbus set foot back on land, after discovering America.
It is inscribed with the word TIERRA, and shows him pointing. The basic idea, is it captures the moment he first set eyes on America.
A tower for cable cars, connecting the waterfront and montjuic.
Montjuic hill overlooking Barcelona.
I really wanted to climb it, the views of the City are said to be spectacular, but time was scarce, and it just wasn't possible to fit it into my itinery.
Rambla de Mar in Port Vell, at the bottom of the Rambla.
Rebuilt for the 1992 Olympics, Port Olympic is 2 miles long.
There were Palm tree's running all the way along the see front, and people roller skating, cycling and walking dogs.
It has beautiful Sandy beaches.
Considering its called Port Olympic, the only sport going on while I was there, was a volleyball competition, with a DJ playing really loud "euro" pop.
I was quite surprised at how many people had come out to sunbath.
Its hard to imagine loads of people in London, popping out after work, wearing bikini's and sitting around Canary wharf :)
The Arts hotel and the Torre Mapfre, the 2 buildings on the water front, are both 44 stories high, and the highest in Spain.
The one on the left is the Arts hotel, and the one on the right is the head office, of various companies.
