Barcelona - Your 'do not miss' list

[ahoymatey3]

Nice website for the restaurant. Looks beautiful, and not terribly expensive. Do they have menus available in english?

[Member]

Email: asador@adaroranda.com

 

Many thanks.

[cavkc]

Sorry I don't have an English menu, although I know they do at the actual restaurant.

 

We just asked for a mixtures of house speciality starters, which were gorgeous, things like roasted peppers, various cold meats, etc. Oven roast lamb is their speciality for main course, you order it by the quarter, half or full ! You really could not make this dish at home, as it is cooked in a huge clay oven.

 

They also brought us a bottle of Cava (the local sparking wine), free of charge and liquours after the meal - all very well received :D

[ahoymatey3]

As long as they have one at the restaurant. I've been learning spanish, but that was complex. I hate seafood so I need to know what I'm ordering. The lamb sounds excellant.

[critterchick]

ahoymatey3, the official language in Barcelona isn't Spanish anyway, at least not Castillian. They speak Catalan, which is quite a bit different according to DH (he does the Spanish, I do the Italian & we pray that the Frenchman we're talking to speaks English, LOL). Most of the restaurants we ate in, including the greasy spoons, had English menus or translations.

[Emmie]

Hi, all! I plan to post my review soon, but I just got home today! :eek:

 

Barcelona was not our favorite port. I think a major reason for this was the time factor. The Bus Touristic is a wonderful idea, but please know that if you have ANY concern about time constraints, it can cause stress. It took us about 90 minutes to get from the Columbus statue to Sagrada Familia, and then after we finisehed in the cathedral we had to wait for 4 buses to pass before we could get onto one.

 

Now, we were there on October 31, a Friday, lots of tourists, day before a major holiday (All Saint's Day), and the city was PACKED. Also, we had time to be concerned with because we had to be back on board at 5 PM. For folks who have a day or more to explore things would be much more smooth. However, for folks who are there on a port call, please just know that it might get a bit frustrating. Our day finished with a mad dash down La Rambla to catch our shuttle back to the ship. It just made things very hectic.

 

Take care,

Emmie

[mik]

If you haven't booked your hotel already, I've just posted a review on the H10 Plaza Catalunya. It was small, right on the Plaza, reasonable, spotless, and offered extras such as extensive breakfast buffet, and complimentary snacks and drinks all day long. See details in my posting today.

[ahoymatey3]

OK, i need more things to do. Celebrity just changed the itenirary. We'll be docked for 3 days :eek: which is very disappointing. I'm sure BCN is nice but I didn't want to spend 6 days there.

[AgSg]

Hi

You will love Barcelona, it is one of our favourite cities which we have visited several times.

 

Things we would not dream of missing are:-

 

Park Guell Gaudi - walk to the very top and you will have the most amazing views of Barcelona. Some wonderful Guadi works as well. Allow a good couple of hours for visiting here.

 

Sagrada Familia Cathedral - this is the really famous one that is not yet finished

 

La Pedrera Casa Mila - probably the most well recognised Gaudi building

 

We were also taken to a very large Fort, high up on the hills overlooking the cruise harbour, again with wonderful views of the city. I've racked my brain but I can't remember what it is called, well worth visiting though

 

We have never managed to actually see them, but the Magic Fountains of Montjuic are supposed to be very good.

 

Also, for a very traditional but wonderful meal, visit El Asador De Aranda restaurant, their lamb is the best in the world ! www.asadoraranda.com

We have been known to visit Barcelona purely to eat at this restaurant!

 

Enjoy Barcelona

Cavkc,

 

We also love Barcelona and always looking for new places to explore.

 

The Asador has four locations, do you recommend anyone in particular. The menu looks fantastic. There is one near Plaza de Catalunya, but I wonder if it more tourist oriented.

 

Please let me know.

 

Thanks,

Albert

[ahoymatey3]

Sorry I should have said, we ate at the Pau Claris 70 restaurant, which is very centrally located.

 

Worth bearing in mind, a lot of restaurants don't open untl 9pm as the locals tend to eat very late. We booked a table at Asador for 9pm and were the only people there until 10pm - I couldn't eat a big meal that late though & still have a good nights sleep!

 

Honestly, you must must have the oven cooked lamb if you do go to this restaurant

 

it looks yummy

[AgSg]

Hi

You will love Barcelona, it is one of our favourite cities which we have visited several times.

 

Things we would not dream of missing are:-

 

Park Guell Gaudi - walk to the very top and you will have the most amazing views of Barcelona. Some wonderful Guadi works as well. Allow a good couple of hours for visiting here.

 

Sagrada Familia Cathedral - this is the really famous one that is not yet finished

 

La Pedrera Casa Mila - probably the most well recognised Gaudi building

 

We were also taken to a very large Fort, high up on the hills overlooking the cruise harbour, again with wonderful views of the city. I've racked my brain but I can't remember what it is called, well worth visiting though

 

We have never managed to actually see them, but the Magic Fountains of Montjuic are supposed to be very good.

 

Also, for a very traditional but wonderful meal, visit El Asador De Aranda restaurant, their lamb is the best in the world ! www.asadoraranda.com

We have been known to visit Barcelona purely to eat at this restaurant!

 

Enjoy Barcelona

The fort on top of the hill which overlooks the port is called Catell de Montjuic.

 

The Magical Fountains of MontJuic are a fantastic water, light, and music show. Next time you go make a point of seeing them. Unfortunately, I don't know if they run all year.

[leighuf]

OK, i need more things to do. Celebrity just changed the itenirary. We'll be docked for 3 days :eek: which is very disappointing. I'm sure BCN is nice but I didn't want to spend 6 days there.

 

I'd spend 6 days in BCN in a heartbeat!

[critterchick]

I'd spend 6 days in BCN in a heartbeat!

 

It would be easy, especially if you go outside the city limits. I recommend Rick Steve's Spain book - he talks about things to do in Barcelona and several side trips that you could do in a day or overnight.

 

Barcelona wouldn't be my first choice for 6 days (Venice or Florence would), but there's plenty to keep you busy and fascinated.

[cavkc]

We have only eaten at one of the Asador restaurants, the one at Pau Claris 70, which is very centrally located. We are in Barcelona next June and July and will definitely be eating there.

 

Thanks for letting me know what the fort was called, it was annoying me that I couldn't remember :) .

[ahoymatey3]

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I'm going to stop at B&N to pick up rick steve's guide. I've been so bummed about missing rome, i haven't been able to do any additional planning. finally reached acceptance about it, so i can get back to planning.

[ahoymatey3]

I picked up rick steve's guide and phrasebook today. Thanks to whoever suggested it. :)

[tclowe]

We spent about 5 or 7 days post-cruise in Barcelona (during 9/11) so our Med. cruise was cut short with less ports. But we loved Barcelona as well! Other suggestions is a bullfight (we went and I couldn't stomach seeing the poor bull being stabbed! But plenty of others enjoyed the fights a lot.)

 

We had fun seeing a Flamenco dance performance in the evening. This performance was a combo with dinner included. We asked to skip the dinner (cold buffet and things didn't look appealing) and offered to pay cash for our admissions to the performance only. No Problem. I think we paid $20 per person (incl. 1 or 2 free drinks). Those Flamenco dancers were very skilled and flirted from the stage with my 2 year old son throughout the performance. This restaurant was located along Las Ramblas.

 

Take the Funiculars up to the high points of the city. I think there were 2 different cable car rides going up to different parts of the city. Your Bus Turistic ticket includes an admissions discount to many attractions in the city. We used the coupon book to take the cable cars, to enter the museums and cathedrals, and to enter their casino (just for a look and made a small donation ;-{)

 

This was a wonderful city to visit, and the streets were clean and wide.

Have a wonderful time.

 

Cynthia