CRUISE LINE & TRAVEL FORUM
2007 Spanish Dream Cities:
2007 Spanish Dream Cities:
Copyright Core Script used by Julian Bray to support a fully interactive PowerPoint lecturn or podium delivered theatre presentation. This would be followed by a detailed question and answer session, the data is updated prior to each presentation so information given below will by now be out of date even though this version was last aired during September 2007. A later version will appear on the authors computer.
(C) Julian Bray 2007
1. We park the ship in the dock area, and a shuttle bus is available, but for those who relish a 35 minute walk to the start of the foot of the Ramblas, you’ll be more than rewarded with the splendid architecture of the old port buildings and window displays of the maritime museum – totally missed if you take the bus - you’ll also come across the old decorative port buildings, the Olympic loops and a short diversion right takes you to the waterfront and a line of glass bottomed boats for hire, square riggers and masted vessels. These are all to be found in the marina to the front of this point.
2. Although there are plenty of historical monuments in the Old Town, Barcelona is best known for the scores of buildings in the Eixample left by the artistic explosion of Modernism, in the decades around the turn of the last century.
3. To find this, walk the entire length of the Ramblas, the name derives from the old Arabic ramla which loosely translated means sand but refers to the bed of a seasonal stream paved over in medieval times. As you stroll up the Ramblas take time to visit the fruit, flower, vegetable and fish market. This is about half way up on the left hand side entered through an imposing covered wrought iron archway, the displays of fruit flowers, vegetables and seafood are as good as you’ll get in the Harrods food hall, the stall holders, many have been here for generations take great pride in the display and welcome any compliments you may care to give them.
4. There is also a coffee bar and tapas to be had here and at half the price of the street side Ramblas cafes. In fact three good well patronized places for tapas, coffee or beer. The most famous one being the Pinotxo – a stand up tapas snack bar. Having been refreshed, leave the market continue your walk up the Ramblas passing the many street mime and statue artists, if you take a picture, they will want paying so have a bag of small change with you. Its street entertainment anyway and they work hard for it.
5. You’ll pass the bird stalls, flower stalls and news stands, One the right hand side you’ll find the wax museum and for a good laugh – not for children- the exotic museum- find out what the very naughty Spaniards did at the turn of the century, as they run early 1920’s what the butler saw type films alongside some of the more obvious and graphic exhibits – not everyones cup of tea perhaps, but take it as a fun exhibit. The horse drawn taxi carriages, typical, the man is in the shade whilst the poor old horse stands patiently in the hot sun waiting for the next fare. Just as they have done for decades.
6. In complete contrast lunchtime music concerts are at the Santa Maria Del Pi and nearby on a lower level some of the Roman remains mainly tombs are to be seen. These are populated by a variety of cats who are fed and maintained by the city but however appealing they seem to be they are feral and will lash out if they think you are getting too close.
7. As you reach the end of the Ramblas, pass over the Placa de Catalunya square and Gaudis clutch of buildings await you. But before you do, to the left of the square is a huge C&A store, they may have long gone from the UK, but in Europe there are over a 1000 still going strong with good value cheap fashions and clothing of all kinds.
8. At the other end of the scale is the impressive white faced El Corte Ingles – a cross between John Lewis, Selfridges and Harrods, or a fashionable upmarket departmental store.
9. If you are shopping bound, a definite must. The bargains and sale goods are usually at the top of the building opposite the restaurant and bar. Better still ladies you do the shopping and we males can cool off in the air conditioned bar!
10. Please, please, please however watch your valuables in and around the Ramblas and other touristy areas. Highly professional pick pocket gangs do operate from time to time, but are usually being chased by the police! It’s a regular cat and mouse game.
11. Ladies, Handbags on straps across your shoulder with your arm firmly on the outside of the bag. A simple but effective precaution. Gentlemen, wallets and billfolds deep in your front trouser pocket, never ever in your back pocket. The thieves these days simply use a razor to cut open the fabric on your back pocket, you’ll not even feel it…they work in packs so the lifting is ultra smooth and very quick…this caution equally goes for all large cities these days, such is the world we live in…
12. In
13. I should also add that if your onboard account (usually settled weekly) is automatically cleared by credit card and you use the same credit card account to make a purchase in say Barcelona, chances are that your card will be temporarily blocked as the credit card computer smells a rat and cannot work out how you are in Florida USA and Barcelona, Spain at the same time! So ideally use one card to settle the on-board account and another to make local purchases at the ports of call. All is not lost however as a telephone call to the card company can usually put matters right.
14. This City has always open to outside influences because of its location on the coast, not too far from the French border,
15. For a whistle stop tour of the city, the liveried double deck open top buses operated by Barcelona Tours offer a convenient way of taking in many of the sights. As they are a step on, step off service at any point of the circular route you can visit, then return, pick up a following bus to continue the tour. Taxis in
16. So in the time we have and the best tip of all is not to try and pack too much into the day, you will not be able to see it all, trust me on this. Here are some of my top tips:
17. Sagrada Familia The worlds most famous unfinished church – the temple dedicated to the Sacred family and a must for all Gaudi fans. The word is that someone forgot to get planning permission for the construction and this has only just, in 2007,come to light.
18. Museu Picasso. Dedicated to this iconic artist and he liked to call
19. The Ramblas as we have already discovered, buskers, street artists, flea markets, an amazing fruit and flower market – hosting the cheapest tapas and coffee bar really for stall holders and the locals - but half the price of the rambas facing cafes and bars just a few yards away.
20. Museu Nacional D’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) The National Museum of Art celebrates the grandeur of Romanesque and rubs up uncomfortably against gothic art, the two periods where Catalunya artists were pre-eminent in
21. Parc Guell. Pure Gaudi and a playground for grown ups, contorted stone pavilions gingerbread houses and buildings. A whole host of surreal ceramics that no one would get away with today!
22. La Seu A majestic gothic cathedral identifies the old town with visits ideally concentrated on the inspiring palm filled cloister and the roof terrace – always worth a visit.
23. If you have children in tow The Placa de Vincenc Martorell Childen can play in the traffic-free sqares playground whilst parents make use of the café nearby and in sight of the playground.
24. L’Aquarium Located at Port Vell, walk through a glass tunnel with the sharks safely on the other side of the glass.
25. Parc d’Attractions This overlooks the city on the upper levels of Tibidabo, traditional fairground ride meet state of the art high tech experiences.
26. Parc Zoologic Its all here everything you would expect a well organized zoo to have and all contained within well manicured parklands.
27. On a clear day the cross harbour cable car is an experience, if its cloudy well don’t bother!
28. The mirador de colon is the amazing monument commemorating the visit of Christopher Columbus in 1493, he was received with much ceremony by the catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella.
29. Make no mistake in Barcelona Columbus is still regarded as the Discoverer of America! The column is 52 metres high and a lift will sometimes take you up to the viewing platform but I hasten to add its never been operating whenever I’ve been around. This is also the gateway to the old port Port Vell and Barceloneta area which has a whole array of water based and waterborne attractions.
30. Another port of call is
31. Contrast this with the old town, narrow alleyways teeming with markets and all kinds of street activity. The museum next to the cathedral, houses the many treasures belonging to the cathedral which denuded of treasure still has a lot to offer. Its known as the new cathedral having been built over the site of a former one. The styles are largely baroque and neo-classical church. The golden yellow tiled dome or cupola was built between 1812 and 1838 and is one of
32. No vist to
33. Well where do you start with
34. The old jewish quarter
35. To make sightseeing that much easier I would suggest that Constitution Avenue, the Avenida de la Constitucion forms the mental centre line for your area of exploration as it neatly divides El Arenal and Santa Cruz districts and this is where the most notable buildings, museums and churches are located. The orange TUSSAM bus routes serve the area well look for the circular C3 or C4 or any route that will take you to
36. If you are taking the tours then all is mapped out for you and the ship will wait for the coaches if they are delayed but if you are travelling independently please understand that it does take extra time to get back to the ship which will leave on time with or without you! Taking a taxi for four can sometime work out cheaper but be certain to negotiate the fare inn advance of take it
38. right by Jerez pronounced HEREZ the centre for tasting Sherry and all in the heart of Andalusia, we can either stay and visit the many sites around access Seville just under fifty miles inland and served by a motorway near a national park, the Donana, Europe’s greatest wetlands covering an area of over 185,000 acres, which teems with birdlife hiding in the sand dunes and marshes. Andalusia is the southernmost region of
39. The interiors of this region especially the arid areas around
40. If you are heading for Seville you’ll pass near the national park, tours are strictly controlled to preserve the environment which includes wild cattle at the waterholes, Imperial eagles, very rare, fallow Deer, Greater Flamingos in the salty lakes and marshes and also home to the Lynx, Europes rarest mammal.
41. Around sixty breeding pairs of the almost extinct Spanish Lynx are said to be in the
42. In yet another contrast our voyage takes us to Mallorca where we dock in
43. What a delight this city is the old and the new, A favourite of
44. The capital of the Balearic s,
45. The tourist office has list of over 40 nearby beaches, many a mere bus ride away; one popular but busy destination is El Arenal. If you like seafood as only the Spanish can prepare it, there is a café bar for local fishermen from the trawler fleet, you walk up a nondescript stairway pass through a terrible fly-blown bar to enter into sea food heaven.
46. Don’t try and select from the menu simply ask the waiter what they are having for lunch! Wash that down with a couple of carafes of local white wine and it will be time to board the ship again!
47. But for those who could not face yet more food, the old town of Palma with its beautiful Gothic cathedral set imposingly near the waterfront and narrow cobbled streets of the old town, you can spend hours just looking around.
48. The clash of historic styles is a result of repeated battles, colonisation, plundering. The Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans , Moors and Turks have all been this way and left their mark.
49. In the 13th century the Catalans brought their language, but as elsewhere it is now a dialect and our friends in
50. To sample the luxury lifestyle, albeit briefly, take a taxi trip to Andratx, once just thirty years ago, when my ex-mother in law had a villa here, it was just a tiny fishing village, today it is a fashionable marina and residential town, a two bedroom apartment would cost today around £750,000 or 1.5 million dollars, a whole avenue of waterside restaurants and bars awaits.
51. A huge seafood or meat paella and a few bottles of the Spanish version of champagne CAVA would add to a blissful encounter with this island. If we had more time here I would suggest a trip to Soller and Pollensa, where a number of film stars have their discreet retreats behind gated estates, but even they have to shop sometime!
52. Shopping: two words: leather goods. IF you are independently travelling, it is probably better and cost efficient to get a taxi splitting the fare (euros here) between four/five people, negotiate the rate before starting or take the taxi meter reading, the taxis are well controlled and the drivers knowledgeable even if some extended part of his family owns the destination or beach he is taking you too.
53. On no account hire mopeds, however cheap and attractive, the rates are. They are dangerous, many ‘b’ roads are full of potholes, locals have yet to discover the art of signalling but drive on the horn, the insurance cover offered is always inadequate. In the time we have it is probably a good idea to take the excursions offered by the ship but whatever you do.
(c) JULIAN BRAY 2007 A LATER VERSION WILL BE ON THE AUTHORS OWN COMPUTER!