The Kiwi guide to visiting Barcelona. Photo / Dorian D1 on Unsplash
Helen Van Berkel explores Barcelona to unearth the city’s many charms, from hard-to-miss Gaudi masterpieces to tiny walkways and tiled plazas.
All Kiwi eyes will swivel to Barcelona’s Port Vell in the coming weeks as we rediscover our patriotism and get behind Team NZ in its fight to retain the America’s Cup.
The sailors are already in place at the Barcelona port that lies at the foot of one of Europe’s most historic downtowns. And within walking distance is a city that offers sailors and their hangers-on an extraordinary spread of attractions to visit before, between and after races.
Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter is pretty much across the road from Team New Zealand’s base. Also known as the Barri Gòtic, it’s a labyrinth of narrow laneways and crooked little streets where once marched the feet of centurions. This is where the Romans first built a settlement on this Mediterranean shore – the remains of which are still visible. I plunged into the labyrinth late on a spring afternoon and went where my feet took me.
Dominating the waterfront is a 60-metre statue of Christopher Columbus who returned to Barcelona after he set out for India in 1492 and accidentally stumbled across North America on the way. From the waterfront, I walked along the Moll de la Fusta and crossed the red bridge (Puente móvil rojo) to enter the Gothic Quarter.
Much of the Gothic Quarter was renovated in the early decades of last century and it is a fascinating meander through historic streets now lined with chic stores and restaurants. I particularly loved the over-arching stone bridges linking the two sides of the narrow laneways.
In the middle of the Gothic Quarter is the Barcelona Cathedral. Built from the 13th to the 15th centuries, the cathedral originally was pretty non-descript but a neo-gothic facade was added in the 19th century. The cathedral is a tribute to Barcelona’s patron saint Eulàlia, whose remains are inside the cathedral, which can be explored for as little as 14 euros.
But a feast of architecture and history awaits: the Basilica de Santa Maria Del Mar is another beauty.
Running through the centre of the gothic quarter, La Rambla is a 1.5km tree-lined avenue worth a wander on its own, lined with boutiques, historic buildings and restaurants. Street performers offer a distraction and jostle for space with stalls selling artworks and souvenirs.
I crossed the shaded avenue for my first introduction to the great Antoni Gaudi, whose colourful architectural legacy is the beating heart of Catalonia, the autonomous community of which Barcelona is the capital.
Gaudi designed the Palau Güell for industrial tycoon Eusebi Guell in the 1880s. The Palau, or palace, in the La Raval neighbourhood just off La Rambla was completely renovated about a decade ago and is now open to the public. It is one of Gaudi’s earliest works and is a more restrained version of his later explosions of almost unhinged creativity seen in the Sagrada Familia and the Park Guell. The lower floors of the Palau are still tied to the symmetry and order that is hidden in his later masterpieces by riotous tiled towers and fantastical shapes. Fear not though, his imagination also runs in a contained riot through Palau Guell, heightened during our visit by a backdrop of an opera-house style pipe organ filling the empty spaces with dramatic notes.
Jump aboard the hop-on-hop-off tourist bus to visit the Park Guell, an ultimately failed, planned community, a half an hour or so from the city centre. Gaudi’s artistry is again on display during a walk through tiled plazas and twisting walkways that curl around gardens and courtyards. Booking is suggested although a friendly guard who had loved his time in Christchurch and recognised my accent waved me in when it was supposedly full.
Park Guell was going to be a housing development but did not take off. I could not see how this was ever going to be somewhere that people could live. However, the end result is a park where the creativity of Gaudi is given free rein. Imagine giving someone who is unrestricted by budget to express himself and that is Park Guell.
On a darkening late afternoon, I took shelter from the pouring rain at the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, a market best known simply as la Boqueria. Among the covered stalls selling cured meats, top quality local olive oil, fresh fruits and vegetables and a bar offering by-now welcome sangria, I stopped for warming tapas amid the enticing smells of tomatoes and seafood being prepared into paella.
Eventually, La Rambla arrives at La Catalunya Square. Barcelona Turisme has offices here – an invaluable stop for information on where to visit and how to get there. There are Barcelona Turisme booths around the city and I found them absolutely brilliant when it came to finding out “how do I get to ...” and “what’s the best way ...”
The iconic Sagrada Familia cathedral is within walking distance of the central city or catch the Hop on Hop Off Turistic Bus that stops outside. You don’t need to be religious to admire the engineering and architectural feat that is the Sagrada Familia (translation: Sacred Family). It’s like a concrete bouquet of stupendous creativity and imagination; an explosion of towers and doors and sculptures and mosaics in a glorious challenge to the senses. I walked around it and stood at its foot several times before finally entering the doors on a Sunday morning and found just as much gloriousness within. Below the church are workshops where you can see progress photos of how the church was built over the past century or so and learn the story of the great church.
Only about 60km from downtown Barcelona, Montserrat offers a break from the heat and busyness of downtown Barcelona. Armed with a route map from Barcelona Turisme and an entry ticket that cost less than most offered online, I joined the day-trippers on a crowded train that snaked inland to the spectacular Benedictine monastery in its equally spectacular mountain eyrie.
From the foot of a weirdly bulbous mountainside, a pair of bright yellow cable cars cross each other on their parallel lines up the mountainside to dock at the monastery. I got off the cable car and felt like a kid in a candy store.
I set off on the walkway carved into the side of the mountain, curving downhill and then doubling back and up to the Santa Cova shrine carved into the rock. The day alternated between hot sun and shade provided by trees and the curves of the mountain.
It’s hard to understand the effort that has gone into building the way stations of Montserrat from the perspective of today’s secular society but attempting to understand that passion is what will make Montserrat stay with you long after you have returned home.
Alternatively, leave Barcelona for a few days and make the most of the Meditteranean in breaks between the racing.
Barcelona famously struggles to balance the needs of locals with the swarms of tourists attracted by its charms. When I visited, the news was all about a local bus route that was removed from Google search because locals trying to commute home after work were crowded out by tourists. I never felt anything but warmth and welcome from locals wherever I wandered in the city.
GETTING THERE
Fly from Auckland to Barcelona with Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Air China with one stopover.
DETAILS
The Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup takes place between August 22 and October 27, 2024 in Barcelona.
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