48 Hours in Barcelona Part 2

18-32 Hours

Hotel Arts

After being woken up by the sun entering our room, Gran and I went to get a two day pass with the Barcelona City Tour seeing as we wanted to cover most of Barcelona in our day and half left. With the tickets we got a map and a pair of headphones each which we got to keep. After looking at the map we could see that east/green route had more to offer in a day. This bus route takes 2 hours and 15 mins however if you manage to get off the bus at certain stops you can easily make the journey last 5 hours. The bus starts and ends at Catalunya square. Gran and I were lucky as we were the first people on the bus meaning we got a pick of seats on the upper deck. This route starts by taking you along the four beaches of Barcelona. If we had more time I would have defiantly had gone on the beach with an hour for sunbathing. After viewing the beaches from the road we then saw some of the buildings that we had seen yesterday with the tour giving us information about them. The two buildings that have stuck in my mind was the Hotel Arts and Barcelona Biomedical Research Park which looked like a curved building however when you got to the middle you could see that part of it was hollowed out. Near these two buildings are two sculptures one that represents a fish that is made out of stone, steel and glass which was created by Frank O. Gehry in 1992 for the Olympics. The other sculpture is a building that has a stone ball balancing on the edge with a glass pyramid behind it.

Geometry

After we left the seafront and started to head more inland by using Avinguda Diagonal which a road that goes from the west to centre to the east of barcelona. It is one of Barcelona biggest roads that cuts the city into two. On this road there is lots of shops from high street to designer. There is also a tram service that covers most of the street. Along Avinguda Diagonal is the Torre Agbar which is 38 story skyscraper which is cigar shaped with it being lit up at night by 4,500 LED lights.

Torre Agbar

After a short journey we were at the Sagrada Familia, which is a church that is still being built and is predicted to take 30 years to finish. Work started in 1882 and was designed by Antoni Gaudi who has other buildings in the city. His style stands out from other buildings with it being said he was inspired from ordinary objects such as fruit which you can see on the outside of the Sagrada. Although I wanted to go in and see what it was like on the inside, the queue was too long with it taking up to 2 hours before we got through the doors. We felt we wanted to see the rest of the city with the time remaining.

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

When we got back on the bus we choose to get off at stop 13 which was Park Guell which was another work by Gaudi. This park is a photographers paradise with the different types of stone used throughout, a mosaic dragon and seats, it has a lot to offer. At the top you can see a panoramic view of Barcelona.

Park Guell

The next place of interest was Casa Mila or La Pedrera as it is commonly known was also created by Gaudi. This is the most famous house that he created. The balconies on the outside of the building we said to be inspired by seaweed and the sculptures on the roof to look like helmeted soldiers. In Casa Mila you got to go on the roof were you could see Barcelona all around you as well as this you got to see his work in miniature in the attic of the building and an apartment that was built for Roser Segimon and Pere Mila.

Helmeted Solider- Casa Mila

Seaweed Balconies- Casa Mila

When the tour finished we decided to go on the Rambla again but this time visit the Mercat De Sant Josep which sold fresh meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, smoothies, nut, spices and much more. Everything the market sold looked so appealing that you wanted to buy everything that they had to offer. It has been said that not only do housewives shop there but the city's top chefs do too.

Mercat De Sant Josep

For dinner both Gran and I agreed that we didn't want to eat on the Rambla after a disappointing meal the day before. However after walking down one side of the Rambla we both saw a restaurant called the Attic which you had the choose to eat indoors or on the terrace overlooking the Rambla. After looking at the menu we both decided to give it a try. It was one of the best restaurants I ever been to with tasteful meals and creative deserts such as red fruit foam. When we finished the meal we went back to our hotel via the metro to go on the Terrace Bar again as this would be our last night up there.

Attic