Hola from Barcelona!

Posted by holly on Jun 14, 2009 in Blog, BlogSherpa, Europe

Wow, it’s hard not to make the title sound like a ‘wish you were here’ postcard

So, it’s day three here in Spain (or four, it’s all running together), and this is the best work week I think I’ve ever had. Landed at 7am on Saturday and got to our hotel to find it wasn’t ready, so we all ditched our stuff and, because this was really our only free time in Barcelona, (screw the jet lag!) hopped on the hop on hop off bus touristic for an overview of the city. Saw all the main sights, Montjuic, the Port Olympic, Colom, Barri Gotic, etc, but honestly it will be easier to remember once I’ve had the pics developed because i’d been up for more than 24 hours at that point. The goal was to stay awake to get onto local time and, with the help of caffine and lots of aimless walks down the Ramblas, I made it until 11pm before I crashed.

So far I’m really loving this city. Staying at the beautiful Catalonia Duques du Bergara hotel beside the Placa Catalonya, it’s a perfect location with great ambiance and an incredible amount of marble. Barcelona is a city for wandering, and eventhough I’m a total Spanish newbie, I feel totally comfortable here. The first vibe you get from a city makes a huge impact, and this one is great.

Yesterday we started the working part, touring the Norwegian Gem and Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas cruise ships. Really impressed with the Voyager, if I sailed that’s the one personally I would choose. Loved the central shopping promenade, it looked just like a mall. The Gem was good, but most people found the gaudy coulour scheme jarring. I loved it, but then again I am twenty years younger than most of my co workers and I my tastes are a bit out there on a normal day!

Got finished with work about dinner time and wandered back up Las Ramblas, finding the coolest bar on the planet along the way, right by the wax museum. I think it was called el bosc de les fades, or the magical forest, but I’ll double check my Spanish later. It was filled with trees, even coming out from the table centers, the bar was all carved out of fake rock and there was a blue grotto waterfall/fountain in one area. I have never been in a more family-friendly bar in my life. It was so funny watching everyone’s faces as they walked in, looked around in wonder and then started taking pictures.

The metro here, and in any city, is a thing of beauty and for 1.35 Euro we were at the incredible La Sagrada Famillia cathedral in less than ten minutes. Grabbed a nice German tapas (meatballs, beer rings, wurst and pizza, I don’t get it either, but it was good) dinner on the Place du Gaudi, seated at one of the sidewalk people-watching tables. It was a great location for under $12 a person, drinks included. Saw the lights of the cathedral go on at 10pm, and it was cooler than I could have imagined. I mean, really, what was that guy on when he designed it? There amongst the prerequisite saints and angels there are carved frogs and a christmas tree covered in doves and a pile of oranges. WTF ? But most importantly, now I feel I’m truly in Barcelona, now that I have seen the one place more than any other that differentiates this city from any other.

Loving this city so far. I’m not actually going to see any of it today as I have 12 hotels to tour (oh my god! This one has a sink too!), but a job is a job. I wanted to get a bit of an overview posted, but hopefully I’ll get to blog tonight about all the cool little things that have happened, like the naked bike people with the pool noodles….