Last autumn, Sara, Elwin, Yit Ling and I decided to go to Barcelona just before Autumn/Winter term started. SPAIN WON THE FIFA 2010 WORLD CUP! Yay! I organised our first Flat 11 trip and booked via Lastminute.com. No, we did not go to Barcelona to celebrate Spain as FIFA champions. But it definitely biased my selection of places to go in Autumn and Winter! Our flights and hotel was £245.21 per person. It was a good deal as we stayed in Hotel Derby, a 4* Hotel located next to Barcelona's Diagonal commercial and business area. We went to Barcelona on the 12th of September to the 16th of September (5 days, 4 nights), flew via BMI Baby from East Midlands Airport to Barcelona.
It was our first time taking BMI Baby, and we had no complaints. The seats were comfortable enough, the restrictions were not fussy and checking in was easy, plus it was punctual. We have heard great things about Barcelona, but yet to experience anything from the great city... until September 12th :)
Upon arrival, we took a cab and went to our hotel, checked in, freshen up and we were out and about, exploring the fabulous city!
The 4 of us
I know what you are thinking right now. Of all places to eat.... WHY KFC? We were very, very hungry and we went into the first fast food restaurant we can find :P
One can choose to rent a bicycle and explore the city
One of the metro stations. 1 thing I realised about the Spanish Metro stations. They are bright, punctual and very clean. Which is definitely very pleasant and makes the surrounding safe. I've been around Italy and their metro stations are nowhere near the Spanish ones. Time to invest for a better infrastructure and maintenance, Italy! With the deepening Eurozone Crisis, it'll be much more difficult for investments for a better infrastructure and needless to say, maintenance.
Around Passeig de Gracia
The author and her 2 friends. Credits to Elwin for the photo :)
Bank of Spain
There were stalls that sells beautifully painted stoneware
The shopping area
El Corte Ingles
We took a night bus tour to several places.
Gaudi's Sagrada Familia at night
Then, we went for the fountain show:
Palau Nacional, which houses the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya at night
The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc. It's a fountain located at the head of Avenida Maria Christina in the Montjuïc neighbourhood. Built in 1929 for the Barcelona International Exposition, it is housed at Palau Nacional on the Montjuïc hill.
Here are 2 videos I took of the fountain show:
That pretty sums up the Day 1 of our Barcelona trip!
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