Best of Barcelona

[Mellissa Solin]

In the spring of 2008 we took at 9 day trip to Barcelona and Paris and it was one of the best trips we ever took. We flew from Minneapolis to Newark and then Newark to Barcelona.

We landed in Barcelona and headed to drop off bags and explore the city before we could check into the hotel. We spent a few hours wandering around La Rambla and checked out the market.

We stayed at the Le Meridian near the Ramblas and really enjoyed being able to walk to all the sights and tapas restaurant. Lonely Planet and Rick Steves are our guide books of choice and take a look to see what each recommends as the “must see” places. Review the must sees and pare down the list to what is really important to you, if you love art maybe see two or three museums but if paintings aren’t your thing do the most popular so you can see and appreciate and the move on to other things. Our must see things in Barcelona were the market, La Rambla, the Barri Gotic and the works of Gaudi including La Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, La Pedrera and Park Guell. A few of my favorite pictures from the Gaudi works.

Another must do in Spain is to walk around in the evening and walk from tapas bar to tapas bar trying all the delicious bite sized foods. Besides tapas Spain is known for Paella and it is a most try, even in 2008 I was taking pictures of my food. More than a year before the blog!

Stay tuned next Thursday for Paris! Missed Peru, Mexico City andNicaragua?

Favorite Part: Walking around the neighborhoods and trying all the tapas

Not So Favorite Part: Having to wait 6+ hours after we landed to check into the hotel and shower. There is nothing I like less than not showering daily.

[David Paul Appell]

Glad you loved Barcelona -- it's one of my favorite cities on earth (well, I may be a little biased because I lived there), and your pictures brought me back. Moltes gràcies!

[FAMILY RECOMMENDS]

Barcelona and Paris are two of our favorite cities in the world! Great places to take children, for the mix between "cutural" (museums, architecture, sculptures) attractions and "mudane" (boat rides, funfairs, science museums, aquariums) attractions. Visit our blog in Portuguese (for the time being - English translation on the way) familiarecomenda.blogspot.com