Off to Barcelona on Thursday for a long weekend break

Another tip regarding food. Dont eat in any of the pop up restaurants on La Ramblas. Do your own research on places around you.

Also like any major big city central area be aware of pick pockets so keep your phone,wallet etc in inside pockets or if you are going with a partner she should use a handbag that goes over her shoulder and not carried in her hand.

 

apart form the Sagrada Familia etc my one abiding memory of Barcelona was going to Guell Park - into a large kind of grotto and there was a small orchestra playing there - unexpected and a joy to listen to.
Barcelona - enjoy!

 

Can second that point. Spent 2 hrs in police station. To get a crime number after our lass got her purse nicked. Inconsiderates no one spoke English. .
On a funny note asked this bloke what time the fountain show kicked off thinking it’s looking a bit sparse crowd wise. Looked at his watch and said “tomorrow” visited later in week had her purse nicked whilst watching. See 1st paragraph.

 

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I'm not like Nudger and don't want to start another thread.

Has anyone been to Vienna? I'm off in the New Year with the Mrs - staying in an apartment just outside the centre, AirBnB. Brilliant website that by the way.

Cheers for any feedback.

 

The Concert Hall is said to be the best concert hall in the World. Tickets for the annual New Years Day Concert sold out last February! - but I guess the place well worth a visit.
St Stephens Cathedral impressive and there's the famous Ferris Wheel.
And I have a memory of many cake shops displaying fantastic 'wares.'

 

yes, I’ll dig out any research and reply in depth tomorrow, fantastic place...giant linzer biscuits... nyom!

 

I spent a week in Barcelona a few years ago , great city , great food . We went to Sitges for the day on the train had a fantastic fish lunch on the beach front , I don’t know if it was Gay week in Sitges but I could confidently say we were the only straight couple in the resort

 

in Sitges every week is gay week!

 

Close by to Barcelona is Montserrat monastery. The view from ground level up the mountain is sensational. The monastery well worth the visit. If you like that sort of thing that is.

 

Thought it might be !!

 

Ok, here's a few thoughts. We only had two nights there in December 2014, primarily going to the absolutely amazing Christmas markets there. There were loads, whether they are there into January still, or if they have some fairly permanent stalls, I don't know, but there was a huge market in front of the Town Hall (the Opera House is the other side of the road I think). And where I had an infamous giant linzer biscuit. Crumbly shortcakey jammy and half dipped in dark chocolate.... ok... i'm having a moment! As you'd imagine, there are plenty of coffee houses and sweet stuff galore. I'm partial to a bit of sachertorte.

There is a chocolate called MozartKugeln. Well, there are a few varieties and its everywhere. The missus loves marzipan and its supposed to be a marzipan cream inside, but she wasn't fussed, feel free to try but you're not really missing anything if you don't.

Vienna is a decent size, but you can still get around on foot. For me, Vienna is a city to walk with eyes open, often looking up. Its grand beyond belief and you can see it had huge wealth in its formation with fabulous churches, theatres, squares and some of its more typical buildings would stand out in many cities.

If you want to do museums and like a bit of history about the city (and there is a lot of history!), I very much recommend Eye Witness Travel Guides (published by DK). Huge amounts of detail and will highlight just about every point of interest in the city for you to ration it down to what you're curious about, including internal plans of churches and museums so you don't miss the key things.

There are some impressive museums. The Hofburg had a treasury museum with lots of gold artifacts (face the HofBurg and it was in a fairly smallish door to the left).

Schonbrunn Palace is a little walk out (though I think there were buses). Its a huge palace, a summer retreat for the Habsburg rulers and its decadent beyond belief. There may be something on there, they held a musical advent concert while we were there and had loads of Gluhwein and Christmas stalls, there may be things in January still. But if not, you can tour some of the interior which is opulent and impressive, and even if you just wander into the courtyard, its a stunning building with a statue fountain at the front.

Churches. St Stephens Cathedral is considered the main one, and its not too shabby, but the roof and exterior are the most impressive, but there are some others which have spectacular interiors or more detail on their facades. Michaelerkirke (the crypts and special tour were quite interesting), the Jesuit church (general tip... if you visit any city with a Jesuit church in it, its likely the most amazing church interior in that city!), Votivkirche with its dramatic twin spires and my personal favourite Karlskirche. It has two faux trajan columns at the front, a mimic of the exquisitely carved towers in Rome. They were refurbing it while I was there, but they were looking to open up the towers to climb up, which given the buildings local to it, might be a nice thing to do.

Hoher market is the oldest market and has an interesting copper and gold clock called the Anker clock. You have the Spanish riding school with the Lipizzaner horses (you can look at the performance schedule if you want to see them perform),the exterior of the Parliament building and that whole area is very grand too.

And as was mentioned you have the very old Ferris Wheel in Prater, a giant old pleasure garden. The wheel was featured on Living Daylights the bond film, and though its not an amazing view or as good as the modern wheels around Europe, its worth a quick spin on it.

One thing that doesn't get mentioned, Vienna snow Globes. There must be some in January still. If you want to find the snowiest snow globe anywhere in the world.... buy a true Viennese snow globe. They'll say on the box and they have a black base with a slightly conical glass stand before the ball shapes. We must have spent an hour and half in the little shop trying every globe to get the one that snowed most blizzard like for longest!

I cant recall where we ate, but tripadvisor can help you there. Plenty of hearty germanic stodge... and if they have any outdoor food stalls, try and hunt down flammlachs, an open air flamed salmon. Beyond delicious.

We drank in a fair few brew houses and the food was pretty traditonal but not bad. One was heaving but was really good, but I just can't remember if it was this one or not, 7 stern brau. We definitely went in there and we either enjoyed the beer, or we enjoyed the beer and the food (when I say food, I mean schnitzel!).

We were told the best views of the city were the new Sofitel on the Danube. It was a bit grim weather wise so we ducked it, and we had a feeling you might need to have a booking, even for the bar, as it seemed pretty officious when we crossed the river and strolled by.

Hopefully that helps a bit and you find one or two things to enjoy.

Its a grand old city with tradition oozing from it, so there will be loads of things I didn't mention too.

Have a great time.

 

Great place, not stayed there but I've visited 4 times on trips when on holidays/cruises. Nou Camp is an awesome day out if you haven't already done that.

 

The outside of the Nou camp looks like a 70s council car park.

 

That is very true, then when you get inside it's a different story entirely.

 

I think their trophy room and souvenir store is larger than Alhambra.

 

Thank you very much.

 

Pleasure.

 

Went to Barcelona earlier this year and it was a tremendous trip.

The Sagrada Familia is wondrous and will be even more incredible once complete. We didn't get chance to go up the towers but the views from the top would be outstanding.

A real hidden gem was 'El Monumental' bullring. It was formerly the last active bullfighting ring in Catalonia before being shut. About 5 euros to enter, you can wander around the stands and sit in the old royal box, plus look at the old bull pens and walk through where the matadors and bulls entered the ring. A fantastic museum offers insight into the history of the place. Well worth the entry fee and probably my favourite part of the trip. I don't like bullfighting and you couldn't escape the fact that so many animals died there but it was very interesting and slightly haunting.

Loved the Nou Camp and the museum next door. Looks like a multi-story car park from the outside but awe-inspiring inside. The tour is decent value for money too with access to the changing rooms, tunnel and benches.

The Gothic Quarter is lovely. We found a little square called Placa del Rei where you can eat and drink, tucked away down from the busier areas. Place Reial seems the popular area for food, Passeig del Born for bars.

I actually wasn't too keen on Parc Guell, perhaps it's just not to my taste. I do regret not going on the Sky Car across the bay... that looked incredible!

Wonderful city.

 

How many countries do you think you've done? I am trying to get to every European country by the time I'm 30- 8 left for the next 2 years!

Might I suggest the Been app- great for keeping track.

 

Think I’m at 39/40 countries now and been to multiple places in those countries, think it’s about 95 cities/ destinations, some several times now.

I’d say we flit from what we’re looking for and tend to have patterns without realising it, the last 2 years seem to have been hanseatic league destinations for example.

I’d say we visit somewhere in Belgium and Italy pretty much every year.