Barcelona Spain and car hire
Whether you intend to visit Barcelona for a city tour or a beach holiday on the nearby Costa Dorada, the best way to travel around is to hire a car from Barcelona Airport.
Close on two million people live within the boundaries of Barcelona, a centre of banking, publishing and industry. Another million live in the surrounding metropolitan area. The city's attractions for visitors are renowned the mighty cathedral, the port, gracious promenades and distinguished museums.
You have to be alert for the smaller delights: a noble patio hidden from view, a tiled park bench moulded to the anatomy, a streetlight fixture lovingly .worked in iron, a sculpted gargoyle scowling down from medieval eaves. The lively people of Barcelona know how to make money.
They spend it on flowers
The next great era, economically and artistically, came with late 19th century industrialization. Politically, the 20th century witnessed a brief revival. In 1931, Barcelona became the capital of an autonomous Catalan Republic that came to an end in 1939 when General Franco triumphed. After Franco's death, the Catalan spirit was unshackled and regional power restored to Barcelona. The capital of Wilfred the Hairy and James the Conqueror remains an outward looking, eminently European city.
A Brief History of Barcelona
Phoenicians and Greeks bring commerce and culture to Catalonia. The Carthaginians give Barcelona its original name, Barcino, in honour of General Hamilcar Barca, father of the legendary Hannibal. In the 2nd Punic War the Romans defeat Carthage; they rule Iberia for the next six centuries. By the 5th century A.D., Rome's grip slackens and Spain is overrun by Vandals and Visigoths.
The next invasion occurs in 711 when Moorish forces from Africa assail the Iberian Peninsula. As Muslim civilization takes root, Christian efforts to reconquer Spain begin. Charlemagne captures Barcelona from the Moors and Catalonia becomes a Frankish dependency called the Spanish March. Count Wilfred the Hairy wins the independence of Barcelona from the Frankish king, Charles the Bald, in 878, ushering in a period of prosperity commercially, politically and intellectually. Count Ramon Berenguer I of Barcelona draws up a constitution called the Usatges in 1060. Ramon Berenguer IV (1131-62) marries a princess of Aragon, an expansionist tactic which creates a sizeable joint kingdom.
With the addition of two dukedoms in Greece, the seizure of Sardinia and annexation of Corsica, Catalonia dominates the Mediterranean. Catalan culture flourishes, great churches are constructed and works of art created. The discovery of the New World proves disastrous for Catalonia. The Mediterranean loses much of its importance as a trading zone and Barcelona declines as a commercial centre.
Seventeenth century Catalonia rebels against Philip IV of Spain. Violent struggles continue for more than a decade, until a besieged Barcelona finally surrenders and Catalonia renews its allegiance to the Spanish crown. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), Catalonia sides with Archduke Charles of Austria. The Bourbon King Philip V triumphs and Barcelona is overrun. The Catalonian parliament is disbanded and the Catalan language banned. Catalonia becomes little more than a satellite of France.
Throughout the 19th century
Catalonia is embroiled in a succession of disastrous wars, beginning with the War of the Third Coalition in 1805 and ending with the Spanish American War of 1898. In the first, Spain was defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, and in the latter it lost the colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines.
Three decades after the empire fades away, King Alfonso XIII goes into exile as confusion and disorder grow in Spain. The Republicans, who favour socialist and anticlerical policies, gain control in several Spanish cities. Catalonia is proclaimed an autonomous republic. But Spain is a divided nation, and civil war breaks out between the conservative Nationalists and the Republicans.
Barcelona falls to the Nationalists in January 1939 and Catalonia is absorbed into General Franco's Spain. On Franco's death in 1975, King Juan Carlos I is crowned. After the years of repression, the language and culture of Catalonia flourish a new, and regional autonomy has been granted. Sightseeing The Barri Cotic (Gothic Quarter).
Old Barcelona and car hire
The old city of Barcelona can be explored by pre-booking a hire car from the airport.The nucleus of old Barcelona, the Barri Gotic is concentrated round the cathedral. Here are elements from just about every century since Iberian tribesmen first settled n the site over 2,000 years ago. On the spot where the cathedral stands today, the Romans dedicated a temple to Hercules (you will see three remaining columns in nearby Carrer del Paradis).
Two early Christian basilicas occupied the area before construction for the present Catedral de aula Eulalia between 1298 and 1454. Don't be taken in by the facade; however it dates from the end of the 19th century, when new work on the cathedral began, thanks to a subsidy from a rich industrialist.
The interior is laid out in classic Catalan Gothic form, with three aisles neatly designed to produce an effect of grandeur and uplift. Impossibly slender columns soar upwards to support the nave; muted golden light filters through 500year old stained glass one of the most striking characteristics of Catalan Gothic architecture. Below the altar lies the Crypt 65 of St. Eulalia, the 13yearold martyr to whom the cathedral is dedicated.
Basrelief carvings on the 14th century alabaster sarcophagus supply vividly gruesome details of her torture and execution. Behind the altar, in the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament, have a look at the Christ of Lepanto. Juan de Austria carried this sacred image during the decisive sea battle of Lepanto (Spaniards and Venetians versus the Turks), and legend has it that the image of Christ moved its body at precisely the right moment to escape a bullet.
Pride of the Cathedral Museum, with its religious paintings and sculpture from the 14th century onwards, is undoubtedly the Piedad del Arcediana Despta, executed in 1490 by Bartolome Bermejo on commission from an egocentric archdeacon, who is pictured kneeling in the foreground of this transcendental Biblical scene. The nearby Carrer de la Tapineria where cobblers made shoes called tapb1leads to Plac;;a de Berenguer el Gran. Behind the modern equestrian statue of Ramon Berenguer III (who ruled Catalonia from 1096 to 1131) stands a reconstructed Roman wall. You can follow the wall for a fair dis tance on either side of the Plalaca de I'Mgel.
Not far away is the Museu de la Ciutat (Museum of City History), housed in a stately 16thcentury palace. There are paintings, tapestries, maps and documents of municipal import. But the real spectacle is below ground, for beneath the museum are the remains of a settlement the Romans called Julia Faventia Augusta Pia Barcino. Houses, a drainage system, roads and marketplaces have been excavated. The well lit, clearly documented underground archaeological zone now extends as far afield as the cathedral.
The museum windows face onto (King's Square), where, in the Middle Ages, farmers sold their produce and locksmiths made bolts. Here, too, is Salo del Tinell (Tinell Hall), where Columbus may have been welcomed by Ferdinand and Isabella on his return from America. The extraordinary span of the meeting hall's ceiling, without a column or support, represents a remarkable technical feat.
Beside the hall, the Archives of the Crown of Aragon contain documents dating back to the 9th century, as well as some very ancient books. Two other highly important buildings of medieval civic architecture remain to be visited: the Generalitat (provincial Council) and Casa Gran or Ajuntament (City Hall), facing one another on Plaz;a de Sant J aume. The Generalitat is the seat of the Catalonian Parliament. This ceremonial 15th century structure hides a surprise or two: the overpowering ornamentation of St. George's Room and an upstairs patio with orange trees. The Casa Gran still serves, from time to time, for meetings, and the impressive 14thcentury Sa1a del Consell de Cent (Hall of the Council of One Hundred) does honour to any assembly.
La Rambla Barcelona and car hire
Discover Barcelona and La Rambla and hire a car from Barcelona Airport.
Barcelona's best known promenade, La Rambla, descends gradually but excitingly from Plaza de Catalunya to the port, a distance of about a mile. Like the women of Barcelona, La Rambla is full of life, self assurance and charm. Almost every visitor succumbs to the attractions of this boulevard, thronged day and night with a fascinating crowd of people, animals and things.
Every couple of cross streets, the Rambla's character changes. So does its official name: Rambla dels Estudis, Rambla dels Caputxins, Rambla de Santa Monica and others-five in all which explains why very often it's simply referred to as Les Rambles.
To walk down La Rambla's full extent from the Plaza de Catalunya to the Monument a Colom (Columbus Monument) is an experience, an entertainment and an education. You can buy a canary, a monkey, a mouse or a turtle; a carnation, an orchid, a potted plant or a bird of paradise flower, a packet of nuts or one cigarette from a newsstand. Here the bookstalls stock all the papers and magazines of Europe, gypsies insinuate hot watches, lottery sellers flutter tickets practically guaranteed to win you a million. Visit the fronton to see a game of pelota (calledjaialai in the Basque country). The ball flashes around the court at speeds of up to 125 miles per hour. The betting around you is even more frantic; split tennis balls stuffed with gaming slips whizz overhead.
Places to go in Barcelona
Need a rest? Stop at one of the multitude of bars and cafes lining La Rambla while traffic streams by in a seemingly endless flow, barely noticed except by the waiters, brandishing their trays aloft, who dodge to and fro to their sources of supply between serried ranks of cars. Alternatively, leave bustling La Rambla, go through a small arcade and find yourself in the quiet, stately Plal;a Reial, the city's finest square. Or simply hire a chair on the Rambla. People watching is a cheap entertainment by any standards, and there's hours worth to watch.
The Mercat de Sant Josep (Boqueria), St. Joseph's Market, faces La Rambla. You have to wander among the eye catching displays to appreciate the wealth of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and seafood available here. The fish are lovingly laid out on crushed ice. Just beside the market, in the graceful Palau de la Virreina, many an exhibition of more than local interest takes place. The palace also houses the remarkable permanent exposition of the Coleccio Cambo, where each one of 50 choice works is a masterpiece.
The Rambla leads on down to the Columbus monument and the port. Whether you stay in the shade of the tall plane trees on the promenade or cross the traffic to window shop along the edges of the street (where you can buy anything from a guitar to a deepsea diving bell), you'll want to walk the Rambla from beginning to end and back again. For this is surely where it's all happening.
On the other side of La Rambla, entering at the Plaza del Teatre, are the noisy streets of the infamous Barri Chino (Chinatown). Al The energetic yet graceful national dance of Catalonia, the sardana, with its haunting woodwind accompaniment, hypnotizes Catalans wherever they may be.
The Sardana Dance Barcelona
The exact origins of this disciplined ring dance are unknown. But in the Iliad, Homer describes a Greek dance very like the sardana, and researchers suggest that Greeks may have introduced it to Catalonia when they were established in Ampurias and elsewhere on the coast. The deceptively simple looking sardana is danced in normal everyday clothes, except on special occasions, and very often Catalans simply put their satchels, bags or briefcases in the centre of the circle.
The dancers form a circle which grows as newcomers join it. If it proves unwieldy, they simply form another. If they run out of room, they make circles within circles. Each group has a leader who keeps meticulous time and signals changes. If he makes one error his ring loses its rhythm and can't complete the final step in time with the band.
The wonder of the sardana, quickly noted by visitors, is the spirit it generates. The dance performed in many resorts on weekend evenings cuts all barriers. Doctors and farmers dance together; longhaired students join the same circle as middle aged housewives. They may have little in common in everyday life, but the sardana reminds them that, whatever their social differences, they are Catalans. Even tourists can, technically, join in. In actual fact, prudence is advisable.
There is a fairly strict rule that puts an end to most tourists' ambitions: no local would ever move into a circle that has a much higher standard of dancing than he is capable of, and the uninitiated visitor might thus 'find himself edged out.Though prostitution was outlawed in Spain in 1956, the colourful denizens of Barri Chino's bars have, one might gather, yet to be notified, and the area has a classic air of portside lowlife.
Montjuic Barcelona Spain
Montjui'c is a modest mountain less than 700 feet (some 200 metres) high. It long had only military significance. But Barcelona's World Exhibition of 1929 saw hundreds of buildings planted upon its hillsides. One of them, the Palau National, houses the Museu d'Art de Catalunya (Museum of Art of Catalonia), a great collection of medieval art; another, the Palace of Graphic Arts, has been turned into the Museu ArQueologic (Archaeological Museum), displaying prehistoric finds from Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
The Museu Etnologic Colonial (Ethnological Museum) of Montjuic is devoted to specimens gathered by expeditions to exotic far-off places. While the newest museum on the mountain, opened in 1975, goes under the unwieldy name of Fundacio Joan MiroCentre d'Estudis d'Art Contemporani. This complex of original concrete and glass buildings Barcelona pays tribute to the great Catalan artist Joan Miro.
Perhaps the most popular sight of Montjulc is Poble Espanyol, a five acre exhibition of Spanish art and architecture in the form of an artificial village designed to show off the charms and styles of Spain's regions. The Waterfront Glass and steel commercial castles may come and go, but the Drassanes, or medieval shipyards, are special. From these royal dockyards were launched the ships which carried the red and yellow Catalan flag to the far corners of the world as it was known before Columbus. Since 1941 the Museum Maritime (Maritime Museum) has occupied the site. An annexe of the Maritime Museum is moored at the wharf of Port de la Pau (port of Peace): a fullsized replica of the Santa Marta, Columbus's own flagship. You may board the floating mini museum any time during the day.
The Picasso Museum Barcelona
The Museum Picasso is located in three contiguous 13thcentury palaces in Carrer de Montcada, a short walk inland. Though Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born in Malaga, he came to Barcelona at the age of 14 to study art. The museum displays examples of his early work, as well as a selection of paintings, drawings and prints spanning the decades from the 1920s through the '60s. The Ensanche, the new city which grew beyond the medieval walls in the 19th century contains some of the most creative buildings ever designed, the work of Barcelona's inspired art nouveau architects at the turn of the century. The Aerial ropeway over Barcelona’s port offers panorama of lively city.
Greatest of them all was Antonio Gaudi, a controversial genius who died in Barcelona in 1926, run down by a tram. Take a look at some of Gaudi's famous projects: Palau Giiell, just off the bustling Rambla, is noted for its innovative facade, decorated with imaginative ironwork. Casa Mila (La Pedrera), a block of flats on the corner of Passeig de Gracia and Carrer de Provenca, has an undulating facade and a roof terrace with weird formations covering chimneys and ventilators.
Casa Vicen, Gaudi's first big commission, sports the distinctive ironwork and tile that became the hallmark of his style. Parc Giiell started out as a suburban real estate development which failed. Count Gtiell and Gaudi wanted to create a perfect garden city for 60 families.
But only two houses were sold (Gaudi bought one of them). Explore the grounds and discover that the plaza is in fact the roof for what would have been a marketplace supported by a thicket of mock classical columns. The last column in each regiment is playfully askew.
Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia (Holy Family), Gaudi's eternally unfinished sandcastle cathedral, must be seen; you may not believe it. Wild and wonderful, it is an extravagant hymn to one man's talent and faith. Many Catalans look on this stupendous church as an extension of their own faith and strivings; their donations keep the construction work going.
Barcelona food
The Catalans appreciate hearty dishes based on honest ingredients fresh from the farm and the sea. If you share this enthusiasm, some memorable treats are in store. Since the Mediterranean is near at hand, the accent is on fish. Here are some of the varieties you'll be offered, normally fried or grilled: lenguado - sole; mero - sea bass; salmonetes': Mediterranean red mullet; calamares - squid; gambas prawns (shrimp); langostaspiny lobster.
Perhaps the greatest speciality of Catalonia is zarzuela, a triumphant concoction of up to a dozen different kinds of seafood, including prawns, shrimp and clams, octopus, squid and various white fish, all topped by a brandy and wine sauce, or try a stimulating salad of cod, beans, pickled onions and tomato. Xato (pronounced shoat) de Sitges is a related, but more complicated salad including anchovies, tunny fish or cod and a hot sauce made of olive oil, vinegar, red pepper, diced anchovies, garlic and ground almonds.
Pa amb tomaquet goes well with any salad. Peasant style bread, in huge slices, is smeared with fresh tomato and grilled. Butifarra, a rich pork sausage, may be served with chips, vegetables or eggs. Habas a la catalana are broad beans cooked with ham and butifarra. The sweetest temptation of all is crema catalana, custard with a glazed caramel topping.
Barcelona and Tarragona wines
The provinces of Barcelona and Tarragona produce good wine. Priorato is a well-known red wine of the region. White or rose Tarragona wines are notable. Penedes can be red or white. In Sitges a dessert wine, malmsey (malvasfa in Spanish), is produced. And the Penedes region is a major source of the world's bestselling white sparkling wine, unofficially called Spanish champagne. Sangria, a mixture of red wine, lemon and orange juice, brandy, mineral water, ice and slices of fruit, is rather like punch.
Shopping in Barcelona
Barcelona, with its fashionable shops, offers variety and quality, but no single street or neighbourhood will satisfy Your window shopping. The 75 commercial area is so extensive that you might have to walk miles to compare quality and value. Visitors from abroad can obtain a 10 per cent discount thus: 1) The shop will give a form to be duly filled up; one copy stays with the seller, the three others are for the tourist. 2) These three copies are to be presented at customs at the same time as the goods. 3) The sum represented by the discount will be forwarded by the shop to the tourist's home address.
What to buy in Barcelona
Catalonian ceramics range from the primitive to the sophisticated and they're always original. An intensive cottage industry along the coast produces leather goods, mainly handbags and items of clothing. The quality of the leather and the workmanship is erratic and so is the style you have to look around. High fashion shoes and boots are top class but expensive. Embroidery, lacework and woven goods such as rugs and bedspreads are produced in coastal villages which keep alive the old patterns and skills. Jewellery, either simple modern designs or traditional styles with lots of silver or gold filigree, can include bargains for the knowledgeable.
For less expansive budgets, there are records of Catalan music the sardana played by those reed bands, or emotional choral works.
Or local glasswork, such as the parron, from which wine is projected through the air to the consumer. Among the best buys of any trip to Spain are alcohol and tobacco, which remain inexpensive by European and American standards. Look for antiques in the shops concentrated around the cathedral. Dealers carry the real thing, as well as reproductions; sometimes the dividing line becomes blurred.
Close on two million people live within the boundaries of Barcelona, a centre of banking, publishing and industry. Another million live in the surrounding metropolitan area. The city's attractions for visitors are renowned the mighty cathedral, the port, gracious promenades and distinguished museums.
You have to be alert for the smaller delights: a noble patio hidden from view, a tiled park bench moulded to the anatomy, a streetlight fixture lovingly .worked in iron, a sculpted gargoyle scowling down from medieval eaves. The lively people of Barcelona know how to make money.
They spend it on flowers
The next great era, economically and artistically, came with late 19th century industrialization. Politically, the 20th century witnessed a brief revival. In 1931, Barcelona became the capital of an autonomous Catalan Republic that came to an end in 1939 when General Franco triumphed. After Franco's death, the Catalan spirit was unshackled and regional power restored to Barcelona. The capital of Wilfred the Hairy and James the Conqueror remains an outward looking, eminently European city.
A Brief History of Barcelona
Phoenicians and Greeks bring commerce and culture to Catalonia. The Carthaginians give Barcelona its original name, Barcino, in honour of General Hamilcar Barca, father of the legendary Hannibal. In the 2nd Punic War the Romans defeat Carthage; they rule Iberia for the next six centuries. By the 5th century A.D., Rome's grip slackens and Spain is overrun by Vandals and Visigoths.
The next invasion occurs in 711 when Moorish forces from Africa assail the Iberian Peninsula. As Muslim civilization takes root, Christian efforts to reconquer Spain begin. Charlemagne captures Barcelona from the Moors and Catalonia becomes a Frankish dependency called the Spanish March. Count Wilfred the Hairy wins the independence of Barcelona from the Frankish king, Charles the Bald, in 878, ushering in a period of prosperity commercially, politically and intellectually. Count Ramon Berenguer I of Barcelona draws up a constitution called the Usatges in 1060. Ramon Berenguer IV (1131-62) marries a princess of Aragon, an expansionist tactic which creates a sizeable joint kingdom.
With the addition of two dukedoms in Greece, the seizure of Sardinia and annexation of Corsica, Catalonia dominates the Mediterranean. Catalan culture flourishes, great churches are constructed and works of art created. The discovery of the New World proves disastrous for Catalonia. The Mediterranean loses much of its importance as a trading zone and Barcelona declines as a commercial centre.
Seventeenth century Catalonia rebels against Philip IV of Spain. Violent struggles continue for more than a decade, until a besieged Barcelona finally surrenders and Catalonia renews its allegiance to the Spanish crown. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), Catalonia sides with Archduke Charles of Austria. The Bourbon King Philip V triumphs and Barcelona is overrun. The Catalonian parliament is disbanded and the Catalan language banned. Catalonia becomes little more than a satellite of France.
Throughout the 19th century
Catalonia is embroiled in a succession of disastrous wars, beginning with the War of the Third Coalition in 1805 and ending with the Spanish American War of 1898. In the first, Spain was defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, and in the latter it lost the colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines.
Three decades after the empire fades away, King Alfonso XIII goes into exile as confusion and disorder grow in Spain. The Republicans, who favour socialist and anticlerical policies, gain control in several Spanish cities. Catalonia is proclaimed an autonomous republic. But Spain is a divided nation, and civil war breaks out between the conservative Nationalists and the Republicans.
Barcelona falls to the Nationalists in January 1939 and Catalonia is absorbed into General Franco's Spain. On Franco's death in 1975, King Juan Carlos I is crowned. After the years of repression, the language and culture of Catalonia flourish a new, and regional autonomy has been granted. Sightseeing The Barri Cotic (Gothic Quarter).
Old Barcelona and car hire
The old city of Barcelona can be explored by pre-booking a hire car from the airport.The nucleus of old Barcelona, the Barri Gotic is concentrated round the cathedral. Here are elements from just about every century since Iberian tribesmen first settled n the site over 2,000 years ago. On the spot where the cathedral stands today, the Romans dedicated a temple to Hercules (you will see three remaining columns in nearby Carrer del Paradis).
Two early Christian basilicas occupied the area before construction for the present Catedral de aula Eulalia between 1298 and 1454. Don't be taken in by the facade; however it dates from the end of the 19th century, when new work on the cathedral began, thanks to a subsidy from a rich industrialist.
The interior is laid out in classic Catalan Gothic form, with three aisles neatly designed to produce an effect of grandeur and uplift. Impossibly slender columns soar upwards to support the nave; muted golden light filters through 500year old stained glass one of the most striking characteristics of Catalan Gothic architecture. Below the altar lies the Crypt 65 of St. Eulalia, the 13yearold martyr to whom the cathedral is dedicated.
Basrelief carvings on the 14th century alabaster sarcophagus supply vividly gruesome details of her torture and execution. Behind the altar, in the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament, have a look at the Christ of Lepanto. Juan de Austria carried this sacred image during the decisive sea battle of Lepanto (Spaniards and Venetians versus the Turks), and legend has it that the image of Christ moved its body at precisely the right moment to escape a bullet.
Pride of the Cathedral Museum, with its religious paintings and sculpture from the 14th century onwards, is undoubtedly the Piedad del Arcediana Despta, executed in 1490 by Bartolome Bermejo on commission from an egocentric archdeacon, who is pictured kneeling in the foreground of this transcendental Biblical scene. The nearby Carrer de la Tapineria where cobblers made shoes called tapb1leads to Plac;;a de Berenguer el Gran. Behind the modern equestrian statue of Ramon Berenguer III (who ruled Catalonia from 1096 to 1131) stands a reconstructed Roman wall. You can follow the wall for a fair dis tance on either side of the Plalaca de I'Mgel.
Not far away is the Museu de la Ciutat (Museum of City History), housed in a stately 16thcentury palace. There are paintings, tapestries, maps and documents of municipal import. But the real spectacle is below ground, for beneath the museum are the remains of a settlement the Romans called Julia Faventia Augusta Pia Barcino. Houses, a drainage system, roads and marketplaces have been excavated. The well lit, clearly documented underground archaeological zone now extends as far afield as the cathedral.
The museum windows face onto (King's Square), where, in the Middle Ages, farmers sold their produce and locksmiths made bolts. Here, too, is Salo del Tinell (Tinell Hall), where Columbus may have been welcomed by Ferdinand and Isabella on his return from America. The extraordinary span of the meeting hall's ceiling, without a column or support, represents a remarkable technical feat.
Beside the hall, the Archives of the Crown of Aragon contain documents dating back to the 9th century, as well as some very ancient books. Two other highly important buildings of medieval civic architecture remain to be visited: the Generalitat (provincial Council) and Casa Gran or Ajuntament (City Hall), facing one another on Plaz;a de Sant J aume. The Generalitat is the seat of the Catalonian Parliament. This ceremonial 15th century structure hides a surprise or two: the overpowering ornamentation of St. George's Room and an upstairs patio with orange trees. The Casa Gran still serves, from time to time, for meetings, and the impressive 14thcentury Sa1a del Consell de Cent (Hall of the Council of One Hundred) does honour to any assembly.
La Rambla Barcelona and car hire
Discover Barcelona and La Rambla and hire a car from Barcelona Airport.
Barcelona's best known promenade, La Rambla, descends gradually but excitingly from Plaza de Catalunya to the port, a distance of about a mile. Like the women of Barcelona, La Rambla is full of life, self assurance and charm. Almost every visitor succumbs to the attractions of this boulevard, thronged day and night with a fascinating crowd of people, animals and things.
Every couple of cross streets, the Rambla's character changes. So does its official name: Rambla dels Estudis, Rambla dels Caputxins, Rambla de Santa Monica and others-five in all which explains why very often it's simply referred to as Les Rambles.
To walk down La Rambla's full extent from the Plaza de Catalunya to the Monument a Colom (Columbus Monument) is an experience, an entertainment and an education. You can buy a canary, a monkey, a mouse or a turtle; a carnation, an orchid, a potted plant or a bird of paradise flower, a packet of nuts or one cigarette from a newsstand. Here the bookstalls stock all the papers and magazines of Europe, gypsies insinuate hot watches, lottery sellers flutter tickets practically guaranteed to win you a million. Visit the fronton to see a game of pelota (calledjaialai in the Basque country). The ball flashes around the court at speeds of up to 125 miles per hour. The betting around you is even more frantic; split tennis balls stuffed with gaming slips whizz overhead.
Places to go in Barcelona
Need a rest? Stop at one of the multitude of bars and cafes lining La Rambla while traffic streams by in a seemingly endless flow, barely noticed except by the waiters, brandishing their trays aloft, who dodge to and fro to their sources of supply between serried ranks of cars. Alternatively, leave bustling La Rambla, go through a small arcade and find yourself in the quiet, stately Plal;a Reial, the city's finest square. Or simply hire a chair on the Rambla. People watching is a cheap entertainment by any standards, and there's hours worth to watch.
The Mercat de Sant Josep (Boqueria), St. Joseph's Market, faces La Rambla. You have to wander among the eye catching displays to appreciate the wealth of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and seafood available here. The fish are lovingly laid out on crushed ice. Just beside the market, in the graceful Palau de la Virreina, many an exhibition of more than local interest takes place. The palace also houses the remarkable permanent exposition of the Coleccio Cambo, where each one of 50 choice works is a masterpiece.
The Rambla leads on down to the Columbus monument and the port. Whether you stay in the shade of the tall plane trees on the promenade or cross the traffic to window shop along the edges of the street (where you can buy anything from a guitar to a deepsea diving bell), you'll want to walk the Rambla from beginning to end and back again. For this is surely where it's all happening.
On the other side of La Rambla, entering at the Plaza del Teatre, are the noisy streets of the infamous Barri Chino (Chinatown). Al The energetic yet graceful national dance of Catalonia, the sardana, with its haunting woodwind accompaniment, hypnotizes Catalans wherever they may be.
The Sardana Dance Barcelona
The exact origins of this disciplined ring dance are unknown. But in the Iliad, Homer describes a Greek dance very like the sardana, and researchers suggest that Greeks may have introduced it to Catalonia when they were established in Ampurias and elsewhere on the coast. The deceptively simple looking sardana is danced in normal everyday clothes, except on special occasions, and very often Catalans simply put their satchels, bags or briefcases in the centre of the circle.
The dancers form a circle which grows as newcomers join it. If it proves unwieldy, they simply form another. If they run out of room, they make circles within circles. Each group has a leader who keeps meticulous time and signals changes. If he makes one error his ring loses its rhythm and can't complete the final step in time with the band.
The wonder of the sardana, quickly noted by visitors, is the spirit it generates. The dance performed in many resorts on weekend evenings cuts all barriers. Doctors and farmers dance together; longhaired students join the same circle as middle aged housewives. They may have little in common in everyday life, but the sardana reminds them that, whatever their social differences, they are Catalans. Even tourists can, technically, join in. In actual fact, prudence is advisable.
There is a fairly strict rule that puts an end to most tourists' ambitions: no local would ever move into a circle that has a much higher standard of dancing than he is capable of, and the uninitiated visitor might thus 'find himself edged out.Though prostitution was outlawed in Spain in 1956, the colourful denizens of Barri Chino's bars have, one might gather, yet to be notified, and the area has a classic air of portside lowlife.
Montjuic Barcelona Spain
Montjui'c is a modest mountain less than 700 feet (some 200 metres) high. It long had only military significance. But Barcelona's World Exhibition of 1929 saw hundreds of buildings planted upon its hillsides. One of them, the Palau National, houses the Museu d'Art de Catalunya (Museum of Art of Catalonia), a great collection of medieval art; another, the Palace of Graphic Arts, has been turned into the Museu ArQueologic (Archaeological Museum), displaying prehistoric finds from Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
The Museu Etnologic Colonial (Ethnological Museum) of Montjuic is devoted to specimens gathered by expeditions to exotic far-off places. While the newest museum on the mountain, opened in 1975, goes under the unwieldy name of Fundacio Joan MiroCentre d'Estudis d'Art Contemporani. This complex of original concrete and glass buildings Barcelona pays tribute to the great Catalan artist Joan Miro.
Perhaps the most popular sight of Montjulc is Poble Espanyol, a five acre exhibition of Spanish art and architecture in the form of an artificial village designed to show off the charms and styles of Spain's regions. The Waterfront Glass and steel commercial castles may come and go, but the Drassanes, or medieval shipyards, are special. From these royal dockyards were launched the ships which carried the red and yellow Catalan flag to the far corners of the world as it was known before Columbus. Since 1941 the Museum Maritime (Maritime Museum) has occupied the site. An annexe of the Maritime Museum is moored at the wharf of Port de la Pau (port of Peace): a fullsized replica of the Santa Marta, Columbus's own flagship. You may board the floating mini museum any time during the day.
The Picasso Museum Barcelona
The Museum Picasso is located in three contiguous 13thcentury palaces in Carrer de Montcada, a short walk inland. Though Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born in Malaga, he came to Barcelona at the age of 14 to study art. The museum displays examples of his early work, as well as a selection of paintings, drawings and prints spanning the decades from the 1920s through the '60s. The Ensanche, the new city which grew beyond the medieval walls in the 19th century contains some of the most creative buildings ever designed, the work of Barcelona's inspired art nouveau architects at the turn of the century. The Aerial ropeway over Barcelona’s port offers panorama of lively city.
Greatest of them all was Antonio Gaudi, a controversial genius who died in Barcelona in 1926, run down by a tram. Take a look at some of Gaudi's famous projects: Palau Giiell, just off the bustling Rambla, is noted for its innovative facade, decorated with imaginative ironwork. Casa Mila (La Pedrera), a block of flats on the corner of Passeig de Gracia and Carrer de Provenca, has an undulating facade and a roof terrace with weird formations covering chimneys and ventilators.
Casa Vicen, Gaudi's first big commission, sports the distinctive ironwork and tile that became the hallmark of his style. Parc Giiell started out as a suburban real estate development which failed. Count Gtiell and Gaudi wanted to create a perfect garden city for 60 families.
But only two houses were sold (Gaudi bought one of them). Explore the grounds and discover that the plaza is in fact the roof for what would have been a marketplace supported by a thicket of mock classical columns. The last column in each regiment is playfully askew.
Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia (Holy Family), Gaudi's eternally unfinished sandcastle cathedral, must be seen; you may not believe it. Wild and wonderful, it is an extravagant hymn to one man's talent and faith. Many Catalans look on this stupendous church as an extension of their own faith and strivings; their donations keep the construction work going.
Barcelona food
The Catalans appreciate hearty dishes based on honest ingredients fresh from the farm and the sea. If you share this enthusiasm, some memorable treats are in store. Since the Mediterranean is near at hand, the accent is on fish. Here are some of the varieties you'll be offered, normally fried or grilled: lenguado - sole; mero - sea bass; salmonetes': Mediterranean red mullet; calamares - squid; gambas prawns (shrimp); langostaspiny lobster.
Perhaps the greatest speciality of Catalonia is zarzuela, a triumphant concoction of up to a dozen different kinds of seafood, including prawns, shrimp and clams, octopus, squid and various white fish, all topped by a brandy and wine sauce, or try a stimulating salad of cod, beans, pickled onions and tomato. Xato (pronounced shoat) de Sitges is a related, but more complicated salad including anchovies, tunny fish or cod and a hot sauce made of olive oil, vinegar, red pepper, diced anchovies, garlic and ground almonds.
Pa amb tomaquet goes well with any salad. Peasant style bread, in huge slices, is smeared with fresh tomato and grilled. Butifarra, a rich pork sausage, may be served with chips, vegetables or eggs. Habas a la catalana are broad beans cooked with ham and butifarra. The sweetest temptation of all is crema catalana, custard with a glazed caramel topping.
Barcelona and Tarragona wines
The provinces of Barcelona and Tarragona produce good wine. Priorato is a well-known red wine of the region. White or rose Tarragona wines are notable. Penedes can be red or white. In Sitges a dessert wine, malmsey (malvasfa in Spanish), is produced. And the Penedes region is a major source of the world's bestselling white sparkling wine, unofficially called Spanish champagne. Sangria, a mixture of red wine, lemon and orange juice, brandy, mineral water, ice and slices of fruit, is rather like punch.
Shopping in Barcelona
Barcelona, with its fashionable shops, offers variety and quality, but no single street or neighbourhood will satisfy Your window shopping. The 75 commercial area is so extensive that you might have to walk miles to compare quality and value. Visitors from abroad can obtain a 10 per cent discount thus: 1) The shop will give a form to be duly filled up; one copy stays with the seller, the three others are for the tourist. 2) These three copies are to be presented at customs at the same time as the goods. 3) The sum represented by the discount will be forwarded by the shop to the tourist's home address.
What to buy in Barcelona
Catalonian ceramics range from the primitive to the sophisticated and they're always original. An intensive cottage industry along the coast produces leather goods, mainly handbags and items of clothing. The quality of the leather and the workmanship is erratic and so is the style you have to look around. High fashion shoes and boots are top class but expensive. Embroidery, lacework and woven goods such as rugs and bedspreads are produced in coastal villages which keep alive the old patterns and skills. Jewellery, either simple modern designs or traditional styles with lots of silver or gold filigree, can include bargains for the knowledgeable.
For less expansive budgets, there are records of Catalan music the sardana played by those reed bands, or emotional choral works.
Or local glasswork, such as the parron, from which wine is projected through the air to the consumer. Among the best buys of any trip to Spain are alcohol and tobacco, which remain inexpensive by European and American standards. Look for antiques in the shops concentrated around the cathedral. Dealers carry the real thing, as well as reproductions; sometimes the dividing line becomes blurred.
Labels: La Rambla Barcelona and car hire, Old Barcelona and car hire
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