Photos From Visits To Barcelona As Part Of Cruises

[Keith1010]

Thank you for sharing. November will be our first time in Europe.. will do at least 3 nights pre cruise and one night post cruise in Barcelona.. Great photos.

 

You are very welcome.

 

Wishing you a wonderful time visiting Europe for the first time.

 

Keith

[EnricM]

You will see amazing architecture as you walk around.

 

 

Built in 1895, this neo-classical building was designed by Enric Sagnier -one of the famous Modernist architects alongside Gaudí, Puig i Cadafalch or Domenech i Montaner. There are quite a number of other buildings in the city designed by this architect, some of them you probably have visited, like the impressive church on top of Tibidabo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enric_Sagnier

 

The building in the picture originally served as the port's customs replacing the old building, built in 1790 (https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duana_de_Barcelona#/media/File:Subdelegaci%C3%B3_del_Govern,_fa%C3%A7ana_Marqu%C3%A8s_de_l%27Argentera.jpg) located near Estació de França station, by La Ciutadella park.

 

These days is one of the post office hubs in the city and there's also something from the IRS there.

[vnb2003]

Keith1010, thank you very much for sharing! It will be our first time to Barcelona and we look forward to see this beautiful city.

[Keith1010]

EricM, thanks for the additional information.

Keith

[Keith1010]

Keith1010, thank you very much for sharing! It will be our first time to Barcelona and we look forward to see this beautiful city.

 

vbn2003...you are very welcome.

 

I wish you a wonderful time in this beautiful city.

 

Keith

[vnb2003]

EnricM,

 

Thank you as always for very interesting details. Your help in our search and planning is really appreciated :)

[EnricM]

There is also items for dessert.

 

 

For further details, Keith is referring to the Mercat de la Boqueria, off Les Rambles at number 91. The earliest record about this market dates from the year 1217 albeit at that time it was located a few yards from its current location and consisted of temporary stalls in the open air, many of them set up by farmers from the villages surrounding Barcelona, who came to sell their wares in the city: http://www.boqueria.barcelona/home

 

For decades it has been one of the reference fresh food markets of the city, albeit each of the 10 districts has at least two or three like this one -not as famous though, except for Santa Caterina. These, alongside the traditional neighbourhood "colmados" (convenience stores), had been the backbone of the food providing business for Barcelonians before the irruption of the supermarkets in the 20th century. Sadly though, La Boqueria is dying from its popularity among visitors and these days is less and less a fresh food market and turning gradually towards a sort of food court like premise aimed to the passer-by -especially visitors- so it has lost some of its charm. Still, it's very worthwhile a visit, especially if you love food: http://infocatalonia.eu/w/nCRZw

 

Yet if you want to avoid crowds, you might try instead of the above mentioned Mercat de Santa Caterina. Located near the Cathedral in the Old City, it's very easily reachable from the port and you can equally experience how our fresh food markets are without the crowds of La Boqueria. Besides Santa Caterina has two added bonuses: one archaeological and one architectural. Firstly, in a restoration some years ago, some of the oldest remains of Barcelona were uncovered, a settlement dating 4000 BC from which a few bits and pieces are visible in a "backroom" at the back of the market. Granted, you need to like archaeology to appreciate this setup -nothing IndianaJones-like, sorry, just a bunch of stones, LOL! The second one is in the internal wooden structure of the market and most especially the roof: http://barcelona-home.com/blog/wp-content/upload/2013/11/santa-catarina-market.jpg This was designed by a well-known local architect, Enric Miralles, who also designed the building of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. The shape of the roof emulates the waves of the Mediterranean and it's brightly decorated with tiles in the typical colours found in the Mediterranean forests.

[EnricM]

@Keith1010, I hope you don't mind me including some comments on your pictures...

[Keith1010]

EricM, excellent information.

 

Keith

[Keith1010]

@Keith1010, I hope you don't mind me including some comments on your pictures...

 

EricM, not at all. I like what you have written.

 

Keith

[EnricM]

One last thing, LOL!.... Keith was purchasing his racquet at a very popular sports store here in Europe -headquartered in France- which has large megastores in many capitals, including Barcelona. The one Keith went is located in Carrer Canuda, a narrow street in the Old City, but if you are a sports fan and you do have the time, there are other stores from the same brand, one located in Illa Diagonal and the other in Port del Fòrum, which are far bigger and contain a lot more items to choose from... and from any sport you can think of (I wouldn't be surprised if they also had gear and equipment to play marbles, hahaha!). The one you went Keith I always felt a bit claustrophobic as it's located in a very "compact" premises, maybe it's just me though.

 

Sorry for this ridiculous avoidance in naming the store, but it seems we "local at ports" are always considered guilty of promoting when naming names, even if it's just informative -like anyone can see in this post- and then one's posts magically disappear, so in order to save myself another anger I better stop short of naming. Just google "tenda esports Barcelona" (attention: this is just generic for "sports shop" !!!). Surely you'll easily find the one Keith went to :)

[Keith1010]

EnricM, we will be in Barcelona later this year and I will be sure to ask for more specifics on how to get to those stores.

 

I remember going to one other store but couldn't find what I wanted there.

 

Keith

[Biris]

Thank you for sharing those wonderful pictures. Will there be a review soon?

[Keith1010]

Biris, I am glad you enjoyed the photos.

 

I sort of structured this more or less to give people an idea of some sites they can visit and just a feel for the city and had not planned to do a review this time around.

 

Keith

[EnricM]

Sure Keith, but I've already had my brushes with the mods in the past for apparently being too specific -it seems the acceptable role of the locals at port is rather a greyish area- so I prefer if you look me up in TripAdvisor, where private messaging is available. My nick there is the same and I drop by the Barcelona and Catalunya forums from time to time.

[davidnkim]

Thank you! We are going for the 1st time at the end of April and just winging it b4 and after the cruise so this really helps!

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

[Keith1010]

Thank you! We are going for the 1st time at the end of April and just winging it b4 and after the cruise so this really helps!

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

 

You are very welcome.

 

Wishing you a wonderful time.

 

Keith

[RJB]

Thanks for the great pictures. Just as I remember Barcelona. Will keep looking to see if you post more. :):):)

[Keith1010]

Thanks for the great pictures. Just as I remember Barcelona. Will keep looking to see if you post more. :):):)

 

RJB...You are very welcome.

 

Keith

[CPPADILLA]

Thanks so much for sharing your fantastic photos. Will be in Barcelona in October, your photos have made me even more excited to go there.

[Keith1010]

Thanks so much for sharing your fantastic photos. Will be in Barcelona in October, your photos have made me even more excited to go there.

 

Paula and Charlie...

 

You are very welcome.

 

Wishing you both a wonderful visit.

 

Keith

[Belle]

Thank you Keith for the beautiful pictures. Brings back memories and I may be going again.

What months were the pictures taken in?

 

EnricM thank you for the information you gave. Hope to read more.

[Keith1010]

Thank you Keith for the beautiful pictures. Brings back memories and I may be going again.

What months were the pictures taken in?

 

EnricM thank you for the information you gave. Hope to read more.

 

Belle, you are very welcome.

Keith

[tassietravellers]

Great photos thanks for posting, we will be there for the first time in early June. So many lovely places to see. Hope we get good weather too, we plan on just walking the city and taking it all in! :-)

[Keith1010]

Great photos thanks for posting, we will be there for the first time in early June. So many lovely places to see. Hope we get good weather too, we plan on just walking the city and taking it all in! :-)

 

You are very welcome.

 

Wishing you a wonderful trip.

 

Keith