Review of our pre-cruise stay in Barcelona

[queenL]

Day I of pre-cruise stay in Barcelona

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187497-d1722409-Reviews-Eric_Vokel_Boutique_Apartments_Gaudi_Suites-Barcelona_Catalonia.html

 

We stayed at Eric Vokel Apartments. We really needed the space since we all wanted to stay together. We rented a 2 bdr apt, with full kitchen, internet, washer/dryer and 2 bathrooms. The prices were slightly less than a hotel of similar quality. It was about a 20-30 minute ride from the airport (40E including baggage fees). It was in a good location…a few blocks from Sagrada Familia. It was near a major hospital, Metro, shops, restaurants, grocery stores and banks. The apartment itself was very nice, modern décor, clean and spacious. I will caution that this may not be the place for people with mobility issues. The elevator is about 3’x3’. It is the only elevator in the building. This made for a challenge with luggage. We each rode up separately with our bags. Large strollers would be impossible. The stairwells weren’t much better, they were narrow and winding. The elevator lets you off at a landing between each floor but the rooms were actually located either one flight up or down. Taking stairs at some point was inevitable.

 

We did have a few snags though. They gave us the wrong room initially (1bd, 1bth) and had no other rooms available. So, we had to make do with a smaller apt the first night. The second night they switched our rooms but forget to leave the key for us, so we had to wait awhile to get in. (There is only someone at the front desk during business hours) After the mishaps, things improved for us leaving me with a positive overall impression.

 

We weren’t able to check in early so we left our luggage in the hotel lockers and decided to go explore. Our first stop was Sagrada Familia. Again, this was within walking distance of the apartment. I was surprised at how long the lines were for admission, given that this was the “off season”. At any rate the line moved quickly. Admission was 12E (10E for seniors and students). This place is amazing. I’m not one to be moved by cathedrals but this is certainly unlike anything you’ve ever seen. How in the world Gaudi sat down and came up with this is mind boggling. The attention to detail is truly amazing. We didn’t take the elevator. The lines to ride to the top were over 90min long. Plus, while we were there one of the elevators broke and so the wait times got even longer. We stayed for about 2 hours. Then we returned to the apartment to check in. The rest of the evening was spent eating and getting situated.

 

 

Day 2

 

We decided to take the HoHo. There is a stop near the apt so this became a convenient form of transportation for us. There are 2 HoHo companies: Barcelona Bus Touristic (BBT) and Barcelona City Tour (BCT). The first few BBT’s drove by already full and there were long lines of passengers waiting to board. I looked ahead at Barcelona City Tour (they stop nearly side by side) and it was near empty. So, we decided to go with them. Consistently throughout the trip we saw buses that were full/near full on BBT but BCT was only semi-crowded. If you want, the entire tour is narrated, just plug in your earphones and you can hear all about the landmarks you are passing. I quickly became a fan of the HoHo. I love to take photos and it was a great way to see the city, take a lot of pictures without actually having to go to all the places. I always found a space on top. The bus went everywhere we wanted to go. We never had to wait longer than 10-15 minutes for the next bus to come. Perhaps my only criticism was that most stops the busses only run one way. Prepare to do a full circle if you need to go back one stop. That could be time consuming, so lump your stops together to maximize your time. One day passes were 22E(18E for seniors) (14E for children ages 4-12) 2 day 29E (22E for seniors)(18E for children ages 4-12) under 4 were free. The prices were the same for both buses.

 

First stop was La Padrera (11E). The line was not too bad. Another awesome Gaudi work, just the second stop and I’m already a fan of his. The roof top is a definite must see. The face sculptures are worth a visit by themselves. I’m so glad I left the stroller downstairs. A few tight spaces, narrow, winding stairs leading to the roof. It would have been more trouble than it was worth to have the stroller.

 

Casa Batillo (14 E) – If you use HoHo you get a 10% discount here. It was a much shorter line to enter. Still very nice, but La Padrera was better. I stayed about an hour at each of these places (Casa Batillo and La Padrera) but I was moving along quickly. I’d say 2 hours is probably best if you don’t want to rush around. The elevators go all the way up. However, there were lines to take the elevator. Each floor (I think there were 7 to 8 total) you could get off and explore. If you needed the elevator, you really had my sympathy here. Ten to fifteen minutes to explore each floor, then a 10 minute wait to take the elevator up to the next one. Again, I was really glad I left my stroller for these sites.

 

Casa Amattler- You can’t really tour this place. The lobby area is open and it has a nice gift shop. There is no charge though. I’d allow about a half hour to explore this area.

 

All three of Gaudi’s Casa’s are practically side by side. This makes it really easy to see them all without losing time to travel. This is also a great area to walk around. The Passeig de Gracia area has plenty of shops and restaurants. We killed a lot of time just browsing around in the stores. I coined this street, the Rodeo Drive of Barcelona. A lot of people strolling along, pricey boutiques just a great area to window shop.

 

 

Day 3

 

Initially, we planned to use the train to get around today. However, we loved the HoHo experience so much that we decided to stick with it instead. We visited Parc Guell (free). The HoHo drops you off a few blocks from the park. It was very nice but crowded. I took plenty of nice photos and there were really nice views if you went all the way up.. There were street entertainers, vendors and standard park stuff like playgrounds and picnic tables.

 

Placa Catalunya(free) - Not too much to see here, just a square and a fountain. We did pass through though on the way to Las Ramblas.

 

Las Ramblas (free) - It was here that we ate our first good meal in Barcelona. A place called LaPoma. The past few days we found random restaurants near the apartment that left much to be desired. Today we decided to eat in a different area. As we walked along the strip we saw the street entertainers and browsed the shops (plenty of places to exchange currency here). We went to the infamous Mercat De Boqueria had a delicious smoothie and wandered around looking at the attractive food displays.

 

 

Day 4

 

We used metro today (bought one T-10 pass for all of us 8E or 9E). I quickly found myself missing the HoHo. We got on the wrong train accidentally, and travelled a few stops before we realized it. Of course there is no view and there were tons of stairs. I carried the stroller up and down so many flights I lost track. We were headed to Montserrat to the monastery. The T-10 got us to Placa Espanya, then we paid 16E RT each for the Renfe train to Montserrat (which includes the rail car transfer that takes you up the mountain to the monastery. I think the cable car transfer costs a little more.

 

Montserrat was a beautiful and very peaceful place. We went into the cathedral and saw the Shrine of the Black Madonna. We browsed around at several of the souvenir shops and ate lunch in the café. You could easily kill an entire day here but we rushed back because I wanted to see Poble Espanyol as well. I’d say travel time one way from our apartment to Montserrat (including wait times/changing trains) was a little over 2 hours. It was worth it to travel here, but only if you have a few days to spend in Barcelona.

 

We returned to Placa Espanya about 5pm we did a drive by of Palau Nacional and immediately hopped the city bus (1.6E) to Poble Espanyol (6.6E). We had some paella and enjoyed an excellent strawberry cheesecake gelato. I loved the shops out here. I collect art glass and sculpture. There were plenty of nice artsy finds here. The next day we boarded the ship and left Barcelona behind.

I must say I was a little nervous with all the pickpocketing threads I read on these boards prior to our departure. We had no Packsafe products whatsoever. My mom wore a small purse across her chest. My father and I both wore the waist wallets underneath our clothes. I carried a camera (outside the case, around my neck) and backpack everywhere I went and we had no trouble with pickpockets.

[HazeGray]

My curiosity is whetted. What is the difference between the Barcelona Bus Touristic (BBT) and Barcelona City Tour (BCT) HOHO buses?

[queenL]

My curiosity is whetted. What is the difference between the Barcelona Bus Touristic (BBT) and Barcelona City Tour (BCT) HOHO buses?

 

None that I could tell. They are just different companies running the same tour. The stops seem to be the same, the price was the same. One was just consistently more crowded. Maybe someone who rode BBT can offer a little more insight.

[BermudaMom]

Hi,

 

Can you tell me if you were able to purchase the HOHO ticket on board the bus? I've read different things. Some say yes and others say no, that you need to go to one of two central offices. We will be staying at the Barcelona Arts Hotel a bit outside the main area on the beach and I did read in someone's post that there was a stop right outside that hotel but haven't been able to confirm that. If you or anyone knows if there is one there or very near there, I'd appreciate your confirming that.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Peg

[queenL]

We bought our HoHo ticket on the bus. We just walked on and paid the tour assistant. I would try and avoid large bills though. They didn't seem to keep much change.