Schedule: Sarada Familia, Camp Nou, Olympic Stadium, Barri Gothic Shopping Walk
Leaving Zaragoza after breakfast, we were on the road to Barcelona (more sitting and staring out the window ensues).
Beautiful countryside!
Shortly after leaving Zaragoza, it started to snow! I haven’t seen snow all year so this was quite a surprise!
Our first of many visits to rest stops in the coming days.
Short Rest Stop
We got to Barcelona shortly before lunch, only to be slowed down by protesters. (Apparently, protests in Barcelona are quite common).
On a bus – I see protesters!
The first stop was the famous Sagrada familia, a church that is still in construction after 150 years! They aren’t in any rush though .. I love the quote by Antonio Gaudi, “my client is not in any hurry”.
Construction!
According to our tour guide, construction began in 1883 and it was on and off for various reasons from the the civil war to the the country’s lack of funding. Extensive work was made in 1992 for the Barcelona Summer Olympics and starting in 2010, have even held consecrations.
Another angle!
Therefore, the church looks very different from various angles. Some sides look authentically old, while other looks modern, and still some looks almost fairy tale-like ( I was thinking Disney castle or gingerbread house). It will, however, be the tallest church when it is finished … sometime after the year 2026 …
Difference in texture and material
It is a popular place for pick pocketers to converge so always be careful of your possessions!
Another under construction photo
Admission costs 15 Euros and advance purchase of the tickets can be made online at http://www.sagradafamilia.cat. That might be the best option if you are tight on time. We didn’t know how our bus tour works and what time we would be there, so I didn’t purchase the tickets in advance. The tour actually gave us 2 hours to go in and to eat lunch. However, there isn’t much to do around the church if you don’t go inside.
Sagrada Familia
When we got there at 1 P.M., they were selling tickets for 2:30 P.M. but our bus leaves at 3 P.M! (so no one went in). On hindsight, I felt like I should have entered, even for a few minutes because who knows when I will be back in Spain. Furthermore, from the pictures I’ve seen on google image, it is definitely not the typical church. Now I regret not going in 😦
Different look
So what did we do during the time that we WEREN’T at the church? We went to eat Chinese food…. because nothing beats going to a foreign place and eating nonn-local food. Moreover, is there anything cheaper than Chinese food? The noodle we had was only 5 Euros but it’s a small plate. The one we went to is Chino Casa Fong (address: Carrer de Sardenya, 323, 08025 Barcelona, Spain). There is another one called Wok Street and from the photos, it looks way nicer~ Sigh, should I blame the tour guide for not giving us better suggestions?
5 Euro Noodles
I was eager to walk around the neighbouhood but really there isn’t much to see. I interrupted a conversation between two coffee guests and the coffee shop owner when I went in to buy a latte to go.
I wanted to go see some souvenir shops near the church but my mom was tired again so we just sat at a cafe shop called Trabucaire. She ordered hot chocolate without looking at the menu (and more importantly the price). The waiters were really nice! I finally thought we met some people with very good customer service. So, we ordered a churro, a coffee, and a hot chocolate. The total bill came to $30 Canadian! He added service charges (20% apparently!) and they didn’t even break down this bill. It left a bad taste in my mouth, I know I am partially to blame for not seeing the price first but wow… and it wasn’t even that good.
Churro + Hot chocolate + latte = 20 euros = 30 Canadian
Alright, brushing off that embarrassing tourist mistake, I got on the tour bus and travelled to Camp Nou, the base for FC Barcelona.
FC Barcelona
It is a paid attraction, where for 23 Euros, you can get a the Camp Nou experience. This includes a tour of the press room, box seats, trophy room, warm up bench etc …
Camp Nou Poster
You can also buy tickets at their automated ticket booth. There was a Real Madrid vs Athletico Game a couple of days after my visit to Camp Nou. The cheapest available seat came to 325 Euros.
Map of the stadium
Inside the souvenir store
uniforms
We spent most of the time inside the official souvenir store 🙂 While a windbreaker jacket costing about 80 Euros looks really attractive, I bought something useless instead, a 6 euro commemorative coin 🙂 They also have one of L. Suarez and the stadium ….
commemorative coin!
That ends our Camp Nou experience… We were never told our next destination until we are close to where we are because tour guides always assume we forget anyways and they don’t want to repeat themselves.
city tour on the bus ensues
The story continues another time …
Day of visit : February 27th, 2016
~ Miga's Travel Blog ~ 