BARCELONA THE BEAUTIFUL!

Barcelona....as a travel consultant, over the years I have sent many people to this beautiful city on the East Coast of Spain.  

Personally, I had never been there.  Through professional courses and from friends, I knew what to do, where to stay and what there was to see.

February is usually a rainy month on the northern coast of Spain.  It is always a good time for me to explore the world, as the rush of holiday travel is over and spring break vacations are yet to come.

Even with the rash of horrible weather in the US, my flights departed and arrived on time.

On a sunny morning with temps into the 60's we overflew the city with its neat tree lined streets and squares with the grand "Diagonal" splitting the city down the middle.  The plane landed alongside the sea at the huge empty El Prat Airport. At home it was 42 degrees and one of the worst winters on record. My personal exploration of this Catalonian capitol had begun.

I have long held a rather dim opinion of the Spanish people as somehow they seemed arrogant and aloof. When growing up, my parents used to rent a house on the southern coast of Spain, and I recall the ugly words spoken to them in the markets and public places.....all because they were Americans.  I guess, that is why I never spent too much time in Spain.  Why go some place where you are not wanted?

But Barcelona is proving totally different.  The city is lovely, the people happy and very glad to host foreigners in their city.  It is an amazing city from the beautiful seaside beaches (topless no less) to the outlying snow covered mountains, the Pyrenees, in the background.  Hotels are modern and extremely service oriented.  Historic facades give way to ultra luxe rooms complete with lists of amenities.  I loved the Mandarin Oriental, directly on the Pasig de Gracia in the heart of this historic center.  Converted from an old bank vault, this hotel offers a myriad of amenities, including a "connectivity box" in each room with an overwhelming supply of plugs, adaptors and chargers for all types of phones, computers and tablets.

Designer shops are steps away as well as tapas bars by the dozens.

Here you can sit down for an "Estrella" (beer), Rioja wine, and any number of small dishes from croquettes to sardines...fresh from the oven or sea. The food and restaurant scene in Barcelona is second only to Paris in my humble opinion.

Most other hotels proffer roof top pools, or patios, with fantastic views of the Sagrada Familia and other historic sites.

Antonio Gaudi, began this giant drip castle of a church in 1882.  He was hit by a public tram in 1956, before its completion.  Even today, work continues on the famous spires and interior projected by Gaudi and carried out through his drawings and visions.  He called himself a "goemotrek" rather than an architect as his design was so tremendously difficult to construct.  Today the church is open to visitors and boasts an amazing museum where his experiments with weight and balance can  be seen.  There is no other building in the world that compares with his creation.

Beautiful weather, historic sites, great eats, nice people, walking, walking and more walking.... what better way to spend a long weekend during the cold dreary month of February?  Why did I take so long to get to Barclona?