Day 34 - La Móra to Barcelona (104kms)
The day started with more downtime for the kids and more work for mum & dad. With washing piling up since Lisbon, we did a couple of loads of washing while the kids swam and played. While the washing was on I went for a walk through the campground and only then discovered the true size of the setup. The heavily wooded hill behind the beach and our sites contained many a road with access to glamping-like tents, onsite huts, and even more sites for BYO tents and vans. The place was massive and by the time I got to the point (headland) that the park was built on, I had great views along the coast toward Tarragona, and back over the bay of La Móra. I took a few minutes out by myself to enjoy the beautiful coastline before heading back to pack up and hit the road.
We checked out just before midday, and we back tracked toward Tarragona to what looked like a great supermarket, but much to our surprise it was closed (and on a Friday). So without further ado, we headed along the coast road to Barcelona, where we came across an open Aldi supermarket. It was here that we learnt that it was Spain's National Day and a public holiday - hence the roads being quiet and the supermarket in Tarragona closed. We did a big shop in Aldi (probably our last) as we wouldn't be driving anywhere in Barcelona once we'd parked the campervan. We were very pleasantly surprised that one of (if not our) biggest shops only cost €102. Much much cheaper than any previous big shop of the same size.
We eventually arrived in Barcelona at about 2:30pm and didn't have too much trouble locating the car park with 24 hour security that we had read about. Barcelona (from reading) seems to have its fair share of crime, so we decided that a 24 patrolled car park fairly central to the city was a great idea - even at €30 per night for a piece of asphalt. On the way in we past the Font Màgica de Montjuïc or better known as the Magic Fountain. Even during the daylight it looked magical and not only does it have various types of water fountains for varying heights, it also seems to throw out steam/mist/smoke making for a eerie effect.
After parking our campervan delicately between other campervans, we had a quick bite and didn't waste any time before heading off in the direction of the closest Metro station to make our way to famous La Rambla. The walk to the Metro station took us back passed the Magic Fountain and through what seemed to be the exhibition precinct. At one venue, Oktoberfest was in full swing and then for us it was on to Plaza Espana for the Metro station. The area was quite pretty and from Plaza Espana it seems that there is something to see in every direction. It was hard to imagine that this was not the centre of Barcelona, but descend we did into the metro in search of La Ramba.
After a quick three stops on the L3 green line we disembarked at Drassanes and this time we were in the thick of tourist Barcelona. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but something that was a wider, a more open boulevard would probably better describe it, but instead it was a fairly narrow pedestrian mall between two lanes of traffic - one going in each direction. It was very busy, crowded and touristy, with a souvenir shop every few metres along the mall. La Rambla certainly wasn't what I was imagining.
It didn't take long before we wanted off the busy pedestrian mall, and we found a haven in Plaça Reial - Plaza Real. It is a beautful plaza tucked in away from the noise and chaos of La Rambla and was surrounded on all four sides by restaurants, cafes and retail. Despite also being busy and there not being too many places to sit and take it all it, we still managed to by ice creams and soak up the plaza and catalonia life.
After a short recess from La Rambla, it was back out into the masses to walk the remainder of the famous strip. At the very top we reached Plaça de Catalunya - a big open square which looked like the centre of Barcelona. Here we visited the official Visitor Information Centre, in search of a good city map - as we were well and truely done with city sightseeing buses. At the visitor information centre, apart from being a great source local knowledge, the girls newest craze/fad was born. The love of brochures and playing tourist information attendants. While the grown-ups left with a couple of maps and half a dozen brochures, the girls left with one of every brochure in the place. And this pile was added to with every souvenir shop/tourist information stand we walked passed. And there were lots.
After Plaça de Catalunya, Kristie was particularly keen to see our first (of many) Gaudi designs - the picturesque Casa Batlló. In 1904 Antoni Gaudi remodeled the existing building into what is today recognised as one of his masterpieces. It certainly adorns many a postcard and is a landmark building in Barcelona. The locals call it Casa dels ossos - the House of Bones, because of its skeletal like fascade. It really was beautiful to look at, but we did not venture inside, as it was late in the day and at €30 each we felt this is one we could skip. We did however wait around until dusk so that we could see the fascade lit up, before the girls had had enough for the day.
After a quick trip on the Metro we were back at the grand Plaça d'Espanya. A short walk back up the hill and we were back at campervan before dark for dinner and the girls to play the first (or many) games as tourist information specialists. They would open out a map and point out places of interest, then get a brochure and talk imaginary people (or dad) through the brochure, all while circling and underlining the important information. It was fun to watch.
We checked out just before midday, and we back tracked toward Tarragona to what looked like a great supermarket, but much to our surprise it was closed (and on a Friday). So without further ado, we headed along the coast road to Barcelona, where we came across an open Aldi supermarket. It was here that we learnt that it was Spain's National Day and a public holiday - hence the roads being quiet and the supermarket in Tarragona closed. We did a big shop in Aldi (probably our last) as we wouldn't be driving anywhere in Barcelona once we'd parked the campervan. We were very pleasantly surprised that one of (if not our) biggest shops only cost €102. Much much cheaper than any previous big shop of the same size.
We eventually arrived in Barcelona at about 2:30pm and didn't have too much trouble locating the car park with 24 hour security that we had read about. Barcelona (from reading) seems to have its fair share of crime, so we decided that a 24 patrolled car park fairly central to the city was a great idea - even at €30 per night for a piece of asphalt. On the way in we past the Font Màgica de Montjuïc or better known as the Magic Fountain. Even during the daylight it looked magical and not only does it have various types of water fountains for varying heights, it also seems to throw out steam/mist/smoke making for a eerie effect.
After parking our campervan delicately between other campervans, we had a quick bite and didn't waste any time before heading off in the direction of the closest Metro station to make our way to famous La Rambla. The walk to the Metro station took us back passed the Magic Fountain and through what seemed to be the exhibition precinct. At one venue, Oktoberfest was in full swing and then for us it was on to Plaza Espana for the Metro station. The area was quite pretty and from Plaza Espana it seems that there is something to see in every direction. It was hard to imagine that this was not the centre of Barcelona, but descend we did into the metro in search of La Ramba.
After a quick three stops on the L3 green line we disembarked at Drassanes and this time we were in the thick of tourist Barcelona. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but something that was a wider, a more open boulevard would probably better describe it, but instead it was a fairly narrow pedestrian mall between two lanes of traffic - one going in each direction. It was very busy, crowded and touristy, with a souvenir shop every few metres along the mall. La Rambla certainly wasn't what I was imagining.
It didn't take long before we wanted off the busy pedestrian mall, and we found a haven in Plaça Reial - Plaza Real. It is a beautful plaza tucked in away from the noise and chaos of La Rambla and was surrounded on all four sides by restaurants, cafes and retail. Despite also being busy and there not being too many places to sit and take it all it, we still managed to by ice creams and soak up the plaza and catalonia life.
After a short recess from La Rambla, it was back out into the masses to walk the remainder of the famous strip. At the very top we reached Plaça de Catalunya - a big open square which looked like the centre of Barcelona. Here we visited the official Visitor Information Centre, in search of a good city map - as we were well and truely done with city sightseeing buses. At the visitor information centre, apart from being a great source local knowledge, the girls newest craze/fad was born. The love of brochures and playing tourist information attendants. While the grown-ups left with a couple of maps and half a dozen brochures, the girls left with one of every brochure in the place. And this pile was added to with every souvenir shop/tourist information stand we walked passed. And there were lots.
After Plaça de Catalunya, Kristie was particularly keen to see our first (of many) Gaudi designs - the picturesque Casa Batlló. In 1904 Antoni Gaudi remodeled the existing building into what is today recognised as one of his masterpieces. It certainly adorns many a postcard and is a landmark building in Barcelona. The locals call it Casa dels ossos - the House of Bones, because of its skeletal like fascade. It really was beautiful to look at, but we did not venture inside, as it was late in the day and at €30 each we felt this is one we could skip. We did however wait around until dusk so that we could see the fascade lit up, before the girls had had enough for the day.
After a quick trip on the Metro we were back at the grand Plaça d'Espanya. A short walk back up the hill and we were back at campervan before dark for dinner and the girls to play the first (or many) games as tourist information specialists. They would open out a map and point out places of interest, then get a brochure and talk imaginary people (or dad) through the brochure, all while circling and underlining the important information. It was fun to watch.
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