Twenty Four Hours in Barcelona

Situated just off Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s Boqueria (or more correctly Mercat de San Josep) market is one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions. I think it says a lot about the enduring attraction of food markets that the Boqueria is still so popular in spite of the fact that our supermarkets now stock excellent produce from all over the world and that air travel and border restrictions have made it more difficult to take fresh produce home from trips abroad. When I first visited the Boqueria I was filled with excitement at the array of colourful fresh produce – fruit and vegetables, herbs, fish and shellfish, meats – fresh and cured, bread, nuts and dried fruit – on sale at the market but over time, as I have traveled more widely, "La Boqueria" has lost a little of its gloss.

You’ll find the Boqueria quite easily just off the Ramblas, almost in the centre of that famous street. What you'll not know from your visit is that the market stands on the site of a former monastery and the decision was made in the nineteenth century to demolish the monastery of St Joseph and build a market - possibly one of the best tourism moves ever made in Barcelona!

If you enter from the Ramblas you’ll see a wrought iron gateway bearing the name "Boqueria". The stall are arranged (almost entirely) into groups of foodstuffs and if you come in from the Ramblas the first section you come to is the fresh fruit and vegetables. One of the things that I find interesting about the popularity of such markets with tourists is that unless you are staying in self-catering accommodation you’re unlikely to buy much from them. Stallholders have wised up to this and a couple of them sell pre-prepared fruit salads in plastic cartons; they do look delicious and were much cheaper than I thought they’d be – the cost of course depends on the contents of each box and there are different options available. Some stalls also sell freshly made juices and smoothies; on our last visit we shared a delicious mango smoothie but it was quite hard going as the straw was not quite wide enough for the roughly blitzed fibres of the mango! We paid around €2 for this which didn’t seem too extortionate.

Next, depending on which way you choose to navigate, we found the stalls selling dried fruit and nuts; we didn’t linger as I have a nut allergy that easily flares up with just the dust from nuts, without me even having to eat any.

Passing through the death trap (for me) of the nuts we came to the fish section. The produce is displayed on large metal tables, usually on top of ice. I love to see the heads of sword fish sliced off and displayed so the "sword" sticks up into the air. As our local fishmarket at home might only have around ten varieties at any one time, I find the selections of fish in Spanish markets absolutely thrilling and the fish section of the Boqueria is probably my favourite part of the market.

Although there is plenty of fresh meat on sale you'll also see lots of stalls selling cured hams and sausages. Huge hams hang from huge hooks suspended from frames built above the stall and the fat that drips from the hams is collected in a little cup at the bottom of the joint.

As many visitors now come to Barcelona on budget airlines and carry only hand luggage, its much less likely they'll buy things from the boqueria to take home. Fortunately, you can still sample some of the markets best produce at the handful of pintxos (the Catalonian version of tapas) bars inside the market where you eat sitting at the counter. The best known are Bar Central and Bar Pinotxo. If you want to do this get there mid morning otherwise you'll be competing with local workers who love to eat here.

Generally morning time is the best time to visit the Boqueria before it gets really crowded. if you come quite early you'll see local restaurant owners coming to see what's good so they can decide on their daily specials.

Would I recommend a visit to La Boqueria? If you're really passionate about food then definitely. If you're on Las Ramblas anyway, then drop in if you have time. Otherwise I'd say that these days it's perhaps not so exciting. We can buy a lot of this stuff at home, though admittedly, the presentation is not so good!

Cheeky Ryanair! Although they do fly to the city of Barcelona, they bill their flights to Girona as "Girona (Barcelona)" even though it is more than an hour's drive down the motorway to the larger city. Just as well my flights were cheap as the return coach fare to Barcelona costs Euro12 per adult single and Euro21 return. Girona Airport is situated 103 Kilometres north of Barcelona (approximately 64 miles).

In fact, the airport bills itself as "Girona - Costa Brava" and, indeed, many of the passengers on our flight did not board the coach to Barcelona but appeared to be picking up hire cars to head for resorts on the coast. (Lloret de Mar and Tossa de Mar are nearby). Budget and economy airlines from across Europe use this airport from fifty-five airports. Holiday charters use the airport too.

The airport terminal building was spacious, clean and light and airy. The only negative was the lack of seating outside of eating spaces. The cafe-bar and the self-service restaurant both had plenty of seating but if you don't want to buy something to eat or drink the alternative seating was inadequate and the amount of seating at each gate was pitiful. On a positive practical note, the airport facilities used by passengers are all on one level, so good news for wheelchair users or families with pushchairs.

The self-service restaurant serves sandwiches, snacks and pastries as well as a range of hot meals (these were mostly being eaten by Spanish people while the Brits ate junk!). We just had drinks (alcohol is served) and found the prices very reasonable given the location. There was also a small cafe-bar which was almost empty, no doubt because it was hidden away at the opposite end of the terminal building to the main restaurant. Although the airport was reasonably busy we had no trouble getting a table and the staff were busy clearing tables and replenishing food all the time.

There were two shops selling the usual alcohol, cigarettes, fragrances and other gift items; the one beside the restaurant was much larger and had a better selection of items although they are part of the same group. As we were traveling with cabin baggage we hadn't been able to buy any alcohol in town so we took the opportunity to buy a couple of bottles after security and found the prices were, again, quite favourable. Another shop sells book and papers (some in English) and a selection of Spanish food items and speciality (read sangria) drinks. Variety pack of chorizo anyone?

As we had checked in on-line I can't comment on this aspect of the airport but I did notice that there were virtually no queues at the check in desks when we passed though this section of the airport. However, neither were there any holiday charter flights departing around the same time as us so the airport could potentially be a lot busier in the height of summer. Security clearance was a breeze and the staff worked well to make sure people were prepared to go through. (I can't believe there are still some people who don't know they have to take their coat off!)

On arrival at the airport I noticed a car hire office, an accommodation booking service and a tourist information desk. Tickets for the coach service to Girona are bought from a kiosk beside the coach departure point. If you have done your research and have bought a Barcelona Card in advance you can collect this from the information desk at the airport; if you have one you can get a discount on the coach fare. The timetabling of the coach coincides with flight arrivals which makes perfect sense; you may have another hour of traveling but at least you leave straightaway so don't dawdle on arrival! The coach stops only at the main bus station "Estancia del Norte" in the centre of Barcelona.

Other destinations are served by buses from the airport, including Girona of course and the city centre is only about ten or fifteen minutes from the airport. If you arrive late and don't want to continue your journey straightaway, there are several hotels at or near the airport.

Although we were quite tired by the time we finally got to our destination we really didn't mind the extra journey too much as we had paid so little for our flights and we were fully aware of the distance the airport is from the city of Barcelona. In future we plan to fly to Girona again but with the intention of exploring Girona instead. As we are not shoppers and we are happy to sit with a book we don't need much in the way of entertainment so we found the facilities of Girona Airport perfectly adequate. You won't find familiar chains of fast food restaurants or childrens' play areas at this airport and for that reason I can see some travelers might think it's not that great but self-reliant independent travelers will find it is a clean and well run airport - even if it's not really near Barcelona at all!

I will post a separate piece on getting between the airport and Barcelona

The various works of celebrated Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi is one of the highlights of Barcelona but I find that it is quite difficult to enjoy and appreciate some of the buildings partly because of the area in which they are situated and partly for reasons such as the huge amount of scaffolding that permanently shrouds the exterior of the Sagrada Familia cathedral , for example.

A good way to escape the city, at least for a while, and to get a better view of some of Gaudi's work is to visit Parc Guell, to the north of the city centre. Its best described as an architectural garden in which you can see some of Gaudi's most exciting work but it's also a good place to catch some pretty amazing views of the city, right across to the port. Free admission and no queuing to get in are other benefits of visiting Parc Guell instead of other Gaudi locations.

To get to Parc Guell take the Metro on the green line to Lesseps and follow the many signs from there. This route does involve quiet a steep climb up one street when you turn off the main road. There is a bus stop close to the entrance so this might be of use to people for whom the hill is a problem and I am sure an enquiry at tourist information offices would be of help to find out the bus numbers. Some of the tourist buses also stop at Parc Guell as part of their itinerary.

As you get nearer to the park the fairytale like chimney of one of the two gatehouses comes into view to guide you and as you get nearer the still you'll hear the excited chatter of hundreds of European teenagers. If you prefer peace and quiet visit first thing before the tour groups arrive or early evening when they have all left. We visited in the early afternoon has made a last minute decision to do so and found that our enjoyment was spoiled a little bit because of the noise and the sheer number of people, blocking views, spoiling photographs and generally being quite annoying.

The centrepiece of the park is the vast terrace with its dramatic viewpoint. The shape of the terrace undulates with serpentine curves and cosy seats have been built into the curves. The boundary wall of the terrace, has, like the steps to it and other places in the garden, been decorated in the trademark ceramic mosaic so common in Gaudi's work. Apparently one of the reasons that the benches are tiled was so that they would dry quickly after rain and Gaudi incorporated bumps into the design so that people wouldn't sit in puddles. I don't know about the puddling but it did rain when we were there and the benches did dry quickly once the rain stopped and the sun came out.

Another part of the park that should be mentioned is the colonnaded arcade that actually supports the cleverly obscured road that runs above it. The colonnade is built of a local stone but looks like a series of palm trunks that appear to be growing out of the earth; I found this section absolutely remarkable, when you were under the arcade it really felt like it had been carved from the soil. If it does rain, the arcade is a good place to get some shelter, so long as you can find some space among the hordes of French schoolchildren eating packed lunches.

The terrace is supported on - for Parc Guell - rather conventional Doric columns and while these might be quite a contrast to the rest of the architectural they do at least add to the eclecticism. At the top of the central staircase is the lower court, which reminded me a lot of the mezquita in Cordoba, with its vaulted ceiling in which the larges bosses were yet more Gaudi mosaics. Here there were lots of hawkers selling novelty items of the type that kids love and that drive parents mad. Some wore costumes and had other costumes that kids could try on for photographs, posing in "swordplay" for example. The colonnaded area was also teeming with people selling all kinds of "crafty" stuff such as one's name written in illuminated text or metal twisted into the shape of ones name. "Proper" Gaudi-related souvenirs can be bought from the official shop which is situated in one of the gatehouses. The building is only small and there was a long queue to get in. If you don't fancy the queue there are lots of souvenir shops on the main road and in the streets climbing the hill towards the main entrance of the park.

The park was originally intended to be part of a housing project which was inspired by the "garden cities" of England. The site was chosen for the views and because it was well away from the smoky factories which spoiled the air in other parts of the city. It was all the idea of Count Eusebi Guell and, to add some more prestige to the project, he moved into Larrard House, a large property that already existed on the site. In the end only two houses were built here and neither of them was designed by Gaudi - a fact I like because I think that these days the place would be a frightening Gaudi theme-park. While I like what can be seen at Parc Guell (and Casa Batllo, an apartment building in the city centre) I do find some of the work at the Sagrada Familia, for example, quite self-indulgent and pompous and I think that a whole park of Gaudi houses would be too much to bear.

One of those two houses was meant to be a show house to tempt buyers to come to Parc Guell but nobody was interested and Gaudi moved into this house himself in 1906. The house can be visited, though we did not, and this is the only part of the park for which there is a charge. A combined ticket can be bought, if desired, for joint entrance to this museum and to the Sagrada Familia. This salmon pink house, known as the "Torre Rosa", can be seen from the colonnaded area to the left of the steps as you climb them and from the terrace. Inside there is a display on Gaudi's work and a collection of furniture he designed.

The park is quite large and you do need at least a couple of hours to really do it justice. Once you move away from the terrace and the colonnaded areas there are fewer people and it becomes more peaceful. The planting is wonderful but there are more trees and cacti than flowerbeds and this is quite an "untamed" park. Here and there you'll find hidden touches of Gaudi and, if you are lucky, you might spot some vivid green parakeets some of which were deliberately brought to the park to add even more colour. However, over the years these have been joined by escaped pets come to join their free brethren and the numbers are now quite high.

Park Guell opens daily at 10:00 am and closing time varies depending on the time of year but is normally around 19:00. You can buy ices and cold drinks at the entrance to the park and there are plenty of places nearby if you want to sit down for a drink or to get something to eat. You could also buy provisions for a picnic on the main street if you intend to stretch out your visit. There are toilets though these are at the main entrance to the park so it might be a good idea to encourage children to go before you start exploring.

Parc Guell is a great way to see more of Gaudi's work and certainly excellent if you are on a budget and don't perhaps want to pay to see the interior of the Sagrada Familia. The absence of queues also has to be a compelling reason for heading to Parc Guell. But aside from the practical points, this is a really stunning place to see and it does put Gaudi's designs into a whole new context. What is great about it is the immediacy and accessibility to great works of art. Apparently Gaudi used lots of historical Catalan references in the designs of some of the elements of the park but it is really not necessary to know anything of this as the features are so wonderful that they can be viewed in their own right and needn't be within a particular context. It is vibrant, colourful and at times quite unreal and a place that will stick in the memory for a long time to follow.

Although it means you’ll see less along the way, the Barcelona Metro is the best method of transport to get you easily and cheaply around the city. It really is a pleasure to use; the trains and the platforms are clean, it’s safe and the trains are frequent with information tending almost always to be correct. There are, however, a few things you need to know about using the Metro in Barcelona which will make your travels even less hassle-free.
You can buy single or multi-journey tickets. A single ticket (1€ 35) is for one journey including any changes you need to make so long as you don’t exit the station and go and do something else between stages. Therefore you should be careful not to exit through the barriers at stations where you need to change trains and should look carefully for the directions to the other line. The only stipulation is that your journey should not take more than 1 hour and 15 minutes.

You can buy a T10 ticket which is valid for all public transport in any one 1 zone (metro/subway, tram, bus and train services). There are six zones to choose from. Most of the major sights can be accessed with a Zone 1 ticket. As of May 2009 these cost 7 € 70 making an excellent saving of 5 € 80 based on ten single journeys. A T10 ticket is valid for one calendar year although it becomes invalid in January when the new tariffs are announced. If you have journeys left over when you leave Barcelona hold on to your ticket if you know people who might be going to Barcelona. An acquaintance heard we were heading to Barcelona and gave us a ticket with eight journeys left! Other tickets exist - a one day ticket, a two day ticket and so on. You need to make a quick judgement what is best for you. The options are explained on the ticket machines - which are in Catalan so click on the union Jack for English instructions if you aren't sure. You don't need one ticket per person. You can share a multi journey ticket, simply put the ticket through the barrier and pass it back to the person behind and go through in the same way. The number of journeys used is printed on the back of the ticked each time it goes through the machine.

Do look after your ticket as crumpled ones may cease to work. If this happens you should find a station attendant and they will give you a new ticket with the remaining number of journeys on it. When you buy a single or a T10 you need to validate it either on the Metro platform machine for a single ticket, or on the platform machine or on the validation machine on buses for T10s.

If you want unlimited travel on public transport, consider the Barcelona Card which includes free travel across the city for the validity of the card (among other benefits). These can be bought from tourist information offices or online and if you buy this way you even have the option of picking it up at the airport if you fly into Barcelona.

When entering a station you might find that there are two entrances depending on which platform you want and that you may not be able to access both platforms from one entrance. Check which direction the platform takes you before you put your ticket in the barrier. If you get it wrong you may be lucky and a nice station employee will let you through the barrier without passing your ticket through if you explain, but it’s possible they might refuse. I would advise caution as the best approach as it would be a shame to waste journeys for no reason.

Let’s move on to those ticket barriers. First I tried to put my ticket in the right hand side slot of the ticket validation machine and entered on the left hand side turnstile; the turnstile wouldn’t open. Foruntately a local lady spotted my error. You must enter your ticket on the left hand side and enter on the right turnstile. However, at stations such as Catalunya where they are not turnstile barriers but those sliding glass partitions you must do it the other way round.

Some stations have lines for Metro and for conventional train services so again you need to check which platform you are on as they do not use all the same stations and backtracking would mean using up another journey.

Once on the right platform, do not worry too much if you have just missed a train as they are very frequent. An overhead sign counts down the time until the next train and is – as far as I have seen – totally accurate. Once safely boarded you’ll see a line map on board the train for the line you are on and when the train leaves on station, the a dot above the name of the next one lights up red so you know exactly where you are. The name of the station is announced too and this is clear and audible.

Some stations have several exits/entrances and it can be frustrating to exit at one, walk to your destination and learn that there was a nearer one; I’m thinking in particular here of Passeig de Gracia which has a second entrance/exit just next to Casa Battlo, the wonderful apartment black designed by Gaudi. Unless you know this from experience there’s nothing you can do about this but if you look carefully you may see signs to this effect.

The very short funicular ride between Paral-lel and Montjuic is also part of the Barcelona Metro but if you want to ride it just because it’s a funicular then you’ll be disappointed because it’s a very short journey that takes place almost entirely underground. However it only takes two minutes and is the best way to get up the mountain if you are low on time. Note, though, that is operates shorter hours and is in use between 09:00 and 20:00 in autumn and winter and until 22:00 in spring and summer.

Although Taverna Basca Irati has a formal sit-down restaurant, I can’t comment on the menu. Instead we stood at the bar and did what the local do – we chose from the mouth watering selection of pintxos. What are pintxos? Quite simply they are the northern Spanish equivalent of tapas, small dishes of tasty morsels to accompany drinks. They are really a Basque thing from that area in the Spanish Pyrenees but they are widely eaten in Catalonia too. They differ from tapas in that each one is presented a top a piece of (sometimes toasted) bread and a toothpick (in Catalan a "pintxo", pronounced "pincho") is stuck in to hold the topping on the bread. What toppings are there? Everything from tortilla to eel but an emphasis on pork and fish.

I was a bit doubtful about Taverna Basca Irati at first because it all looked a bit new and I thought it might have been a chain. We were walking past while strolling the back streets just off the Ramblas and the sight of these titbits piled up on plates and displayed on an eye level counter made up stop for a better look. The same items fill each plate but there were over twenty different plates on the counter. The vivid colours of the salmon, the peppers and the fish roe were irresistible. Some people like to gaze at rows of handmade chocolates, I like to stare at an array of beautifully presented pintxos – better still I like to sample them.

When we went in there was only one other customer but a few minutes later a few more came in and then when the heavens opened it got really busy. Fortunately our earlier arrival meant we had secured our pitch at the bar. All the staff spoke English and one explained to us that you eat what you want and pay at the end with each item priced at 1 € 80. The total is calculated by the number of sticks on your plate at the end. We ordered drinks; my companion had a beer – alas no Spanish beers are served – which is traditionally known as a "zurito" in this part of Spain. I ordered a white wine and a generous glass was poured – what was striking was that the wine was not served in a wine glass but in the same size glass as the beer. It was quite odd to drink wine in that kind of glass but of course it made no difference to the taste. It was cold and refreshingly crisp. I learned later, however, that really one should drink red wine with pintxos and this is called txikito.

We were given a plate each but we chose different things so that we could try each other choices too. Everything we had was delicious. There was one where a piece of smoked salmon contained a smoked salmon pate; another was a wonderfully cooked piece of hake; and another was delicious air dried ham. Sweet roasted red peppers filled with another tasty pate were perched upon another piece and there was a one that we couldn’t work by sight that turned out to be topped with a very white finely grated cheese. Every so often a dish of freshly made hot pintxos came out and the waitresses would walk along the bar offering them around. We tried one that was simply a very delicious little spicy sausage that needed nothing else, so simple was its tastiness.

Some things work better than others. I love tortilla but found it a bit heavy when eaten off bread, likewise some very tasty croquettes. In southern Spain these would have been dishes in their own right and the bread was to filling for me. Of course you can leave the bread if you want and just eat the topping. Fortunately my companion helped out with the bread and ate what I didn’t want.

The price may seem relatively cheap but once you have had a few you are paying the price of a sit down restaurant meal. Still eating pintxos is something you should experience in Barcelona and it gives you an opportunity to try lots of different dishes. Only one table in the restaurant was taken when we were there and they were eating a rich looking stew served from a giant dish – it looked like pork and smelled delicious.

There were very clean and quite stylish toilets at the back of the restaurant which were marred slightly by the lack of room to squeeze in past the cubicle door of the single ladies’ toilet. The restaurant and bar were clean and well maintained though the decor was not much to speak off. I am sure that most people are feasting their eyes on the array of pintxos and trying to decide what to try next rather than surveying the decor anyway.

There are more expensive places in this area but they are nowhere near as good. It may not look as quaint as some of the tourist traps but the number of locals eating here must surely indicate that they are doing something right.

Do try Taverna Basca Irati – but don’t expect to be able to stick to a couple of pintxos – I’ll guarantee you’ll have "just one more"!

Mon-Sat 12-12

As one would expect from a major European city, and one that attracts many, many visitors, Barcelona has plenty of hotels to choose from. Being a money conscious (mean) traveller, I was looking for something cheap but also not too far from the centre as I was not going to be there long and didn’t want to travel from the outskirts of town. After some research we plumped for the City Urquinaona and, wanting to save more money, booked directly using the hotel’s website rather than through the hostel booking site where we’d first found the hotel. We paid a small deposit and stated roughly what time we’d be arriving. In return we received two e-mails; one was an automatic confirmation, the other a personal message from a staff member confirming the booking and that our arrival time was OK ( we were taking an evening flight to Girona and from there a 70 minute bus ride to Barcelona meaning we’d arrive fairly late).

The hotel is just a minutes walk from "Stancion del norte" coach station which is where coaches from Girona Airport terminate. It’s also the bus station for national and international coaches. Urquinaona is equidistant from two Metro stations, Arc de Triomf and Urquinaona. Breakfast is not served at the pension but there are numerous cafes nearby that open quite early. It’s a quite area in that there is virtually no traffic in the evenings and only a little during the day. This is partly because of the grid system that means that a higher street is the main one for traffic. The Ramblas is just ten minutes walk away, fifteen if you take a slow stroll; in the same time walking the other way you can reach the Sagrada Familia.

A staff member was waiting outside for our arrival. We had gone left instead of right outside the bus station and were a few minutes late. He explained that the pension is not staffed twenty four hours a day and gave us a card with a number to call in case of emergency.

The pension is housed on the first floor of a grand Barcelona apartment building and has a rather impressive entrance hall and a small lift. As there were three of us we walked up the stairs. The young man who had come to check us in spoke almost faultless English and very friendly and helpful. He showed us our room, then the shared bathroom and an area where we could find cups and glasses, crockery and a kettle should we want to sort our own breakfast at the pension. There was also a tiny terrace with a few chairs and a table. This was also where smokers were banished for a cigarette as the interior of the pension is no smoking.

Check in was done with no fuss and as quick as you would hope at this late hour. We were given a city map with our location circled (this proved a godsend the next evening when we tried to find our way home after too many Estrellas) and we enquired as to where we might get some food that night. There was no staff member around when it came to checking out, we merely left the keys on the sideboard in the hallway.

If you have been in one of these old Barcelona apartment buildings with the grand entrances and wrought iron balconies you will know what to expect: high ceilings, ornately tiled floors, long narrow apartments with a hallway along one side and all the rooms leading off it. While it was all spotlessly clean it was a little shabby. A loose terracotta floor tile outside the bathroom should really have been repaired for safety’s sake and seemed like a job so small it shouldn’t have been too much trouble to organise. Layers of dark paint have been slathered over the woodwork giving the impression of an unloved student house. The walls of our room were painted an off white but had obviously suffered various knocks and scrapes and had not been painted over. I imagine that in such small rooms it’s inevitable that the walls will easily get marked as people come in with backpacks and cases.

On first glance our room did look like the minimalist, almost boutique style hotel we had seen pictured on the website. However, once you walked in all the flaws started to become apparent. As I sat on the edge of the bed it gave a mighty creak and I feared that this would happen every time one of us moved in the night. As it turned out it was quite comfortable although on the first night we were a little cold and it was only because we were so exhausted that neither of us could be bothered to get out of bed to get a blanket out of the cupboard and shivered intermittently instead. We did have a window and this looked out on part of the terrace although nobody came round to this section of it. I should imagine that the room gets pretty stifling in the height of summer and I don’t think I would have contemplated staying here between mid May and late September.

There are only a handful of rooms, doubles and triples, and just the one shared bathroom and toilet. We woke early but there was already someone in the bathroom using the shower. After twenty minutes of waiting, himself banged on the door and asked the occupant to hurry up. The bathroom was spotless and the water was hot; the only snag was that there were no pegs on which to hang towels and clothing while using the shower. There was a washbasin and mirror in the room but I think that this pension could do with either another bathroom or a separate toilet. There was a hairdryer in the room which was about as much in the way of "facilities" as there was.

Our room was right beside the front door and we feared that it might be noisy in the early hours but it wasn’t. However, I don’t think the place was full and I would think it would be noisier in summer when it’s full of back packers. If you are a light sleeper it might be a good idea to take some earplugs. The heavy wooden door closes with quite a bang and it’s likely to wake you if you have the room next to it as we did.

This is a very basic option suitable only really for someone who just wants somewhere to sleep. Even most hostels have more facilities than this. We left the pension at 8.30 in the morning and didn’t come back until the early hours so it was of little consequence to use that there were no special facilities or that the room was so basic. Had we wanted to save more money we could have had some breakfast here but with cafes so close and staying only two nights it seemed pointless to buy the necessary items and so even the provision of glasses and crockery was of no use to us. When we arrived late at night, tired after a full day at work then the travel from the UK I was tempted to say "We need to start being less mean when it comes to accommodation" but as we checked out I realised there was nothing we needed this pension didn’t have.

And the damage? Just under £100 for two nights. Cheap for this part of Barcelona.

c/ Bailen 13 Principal 1ª, Barcelona