BARCELONA – THE BEAUTIFUL

Carthaginian Hamilcar Barca, the father of Hannibal in the third century B.C, founded this Mediterranean city in Catalonia.
By 15 B.C. Romans decided to establish a military camp on Mount Taber and introduced the grid city concept.
Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, the second largest city of Spain after Madrid with a population of 1.6 million plus. It is an important finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts and international trade centre.
The port represents one of the largest in Spain with considerable cargo traffic.
This green city with mild and humid winters and hot and dry summers has many parks including Montjuic (203 hectares), Park Guell
(designed by A. Gaudi), and many others.
Antoni Gaudi and Lluis Demenech i Montaner are two of Barcelona’s famous architects who designed many of the churches and
other sites, many of which are declared world heritage sites by the United nations.
La Sagrada Cathedral is a Gaudi design, the construction of which started in 1882 and city architects are hoping to finish
construction in 2026. One may be inclined to claim La Sagrada to be difficult and ornate project, but it looks simple with clean lines.
The Rambla, a wide avenue with innumerable restaurants and shops is worth walking through, but tourists must be very careful with
their belongings (cameras, other electronic gadgets and purses) as there are many who prey on unsuspecting individuals.
While in Barcelona, you must try at least a few tapa bars, and specialties of Catalonia, especially seafood. Tapas are small ‘mouthful
delicacies” that groups can share. Tapa-hopping among Barcelona’s young people is a popular pastime accompanied by a glass or
two of dry sherry, or sparkling wine.
Just outside of Barcelona, the town of San Sadurni di Noya is Spain’s sparkling wine production centre with world famous wineries of
Codorniu and Freixenet. There are many others. You can visit the two mentioned in one day.
Barcelona has an excellent subway and bus system that tourists can use with ease.
When it comes to museums, the following are well worth visiting – National museum of Catalan Art, Barcelona Museum of Art, Museum of
History of Catalonia, Archaeology Museum of Catalonia, and the Maritime Museum.
For those who like to explore local food, La Bouqueria, the food markets, is an absolute must where you can find all the fruits grown in Spain
and many from the tropics i.e pineapples, breadfruit, guavas, mangoes, and lychees, just to name a few.
Spanish growers are now starting to establish mango plantations. The goal is to grow and produce enough to satisfy internal demand, and
export to northern European countries.
The Palau Nacional, the seat of the regional government, is ronate and impressive, as is the Cathedral of Barcelona.
If you enjoy swimming, all you have to do is go to one of the several beaches, rent a chaise longue, and relax. Swimming in the sea is a completely different experience to swimming in a pool
Barcelona’s harbour also offers an opportunity to visit a fll size replica of one of Columbus’s ships (the Santa Maria) of his first voyage.
Many airlines fly to Barcelona from London, Paris, Frankfurt am Main, and Zurich. North American have a varied choice, but must transfer in one of the major European hubs.
Barcelona offers a wide range of hotels and other types of accommodation at, different levels of luxury. Reservations are highly recommended.
Once in Barcelona, you can rent a car and drive along the cast all the way to Jerez de la Fronetera int eh west, or go east to visit vineyards in Languedoc or Marseille.
When  it comes to shopping, head to the market in front of the Placa Nova in Barr; Gothic district and look at antiques, manila shawls, posters, sturdy
jewellery and whatever else you can imagine. In order to get the best deal, you must haggle!