Before departing to a new destination, I always try to do a some research to understand a little more about the place I’m about to discover. It turns out Barcelona has profound roots in the greek mythology. One of the legend says that the ancient city was actually founded by Hercules. The depth of its history can be felt in the stone of the city walls and roads.<\/p>\n
The architecture is truly mesmerizing in this city. A short walk along La Rambla or Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes allows us to admire all styles of constructions, from the intense and dramatic to the soft and romantic. The gem of the barcelonian architectural world is of course the still-in-construction Basilica La Sagrada Familia, the works of which began in 1882. Its projected completion is in 2026, a century after its creator’s death.<\/p>\n
Park G\u00fcell\u00a0is another masterpiece of Antoni Gaudi that has been declared a UNESCO heritage site. The style of Gaudi is a mixture of strong and soft, straight lines and curves, neutral and colour… As I walked through the site, I felt as if each piece had a little bit a life in them.<\/p>\n Seduced by\u00a0the landscape<\/strong><\/p>\n It must be so much easier to stay active in Barcelona, when you can jog on the boardwalk facing the Mediterranean sea and walk the hills to visit the romantic gardens of Montjuic every day. With its sixty-eight parks and seven beaches, kayaking, stand-up paddling, hiking and biking are very popular activities.<\/p>\n Inspired by the sports culture<\/strong><\/p>\n One thing I will forever remember about this trip is the time we were walking back to the hotel at night and were startled by screams from the car driving by us. I was terrified at the beginning before realizing that they were screams of joy and ecstasy. It turned out the Barcelona soccer team Bar\u00e7a scored a splendid victory against its rival Madrid during the league final. The whole city was euphoric.<\/p>\n We also visited the premises built for the 1992 Olympic games hosted in Barcelona. The city boasts the largest stadium in Europe and fourth largest in the world: Camp Nou.<\/p>\n Tempted by the gastronomy<\/strong><\/p>\n What’s the best about eating tapas? You can try everything on the menu! These delicious small plates really do merit all the reputation they are known for. Iberian ham is a definite must-try, but the Catalonians are also masters of cooking seafood, especially seafood paella. After a satisfying hearty meal, head to the chocolate museum for dessert!<\/p>\n Time of visit: April 2011<\/p>\n Happy New Year! Where will 2015 bring you? I hope that my blog can inspire you to go to new places, discover new things and meet new people. I’m very grateful to be surrounded by a loving family and friends who motivate me to get out and experience all that life has to offer. Whether […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[15,22,23,37,53,56,92,102,123,134,140],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/p1000562.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":375,"url":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/?p=375","url_meta":{"origin":264,"position":0},"title":"[Review] Hotel Granados 83, Barcelona","date":"February 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A great hotel in the heart of Barcelona, Granados 83 did surprise us as a very nice four-star hotel for the price we paid. It is a bit on the small side, with 77 rooms only, a cozy check-in section and sit-in area in the lobby. The design features are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/granados-feature.jpg?fit=1050%2C586&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":547,"url":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/?p=547","url_meta":{"origin":264,"position":1},"title":"Georgetown, Penang: A little bit of Britain in Malaysia","date":"September 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"We landed in Penang after a short flight from Kota Kinabalu. We were so exhausted that we missed all that passed us by during the cab ride to the hotel (review of The Royal Bintang Hotel soon). It's only the next morning that we got to really take in all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/dsc05088.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":339,"url":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/?p=339","url_meta":{"origin":264,"position":2},"title":"Shanghai: Where East meets West","date":"January 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Busy, fast-changing, unreachable. That is the impression we perceived of Shanghai when we visited in 2008. When I first wrote about Shanghai, I debated for a long time whether or not to publish this story because I felt like a lot of things have become outdated already. The city is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/cimg5491.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":452,"url":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/?p=452","url_meta":{"origin":264,"position":3},"title":"Essaouira: The Windy city of Africa","date":"June 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Continuing our journey along the Atlantic coast of Morocco, we took a halt in Essaouira, a small fisherman city known for its kitesurfing and windsurfing activities because of the strong wind that blows onto the shore. Opt for Essaouira for its small town feel, for the fact that the medina\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/cimg0684.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1954,"url":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/?p=1954","url_meta":{"origin":264,"position":4},"title":"Day trip to Cinque Terre, Italy","date":"January 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"These colourful fishermen villages are located on the north-east coast of Italy, just a little more than a 2h train ride from Florence. Truth be told, these five little towns deserve a separate trip on their own. We would probably need a good week to explore them carefully. Since we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_0270.jpg?fit=1200%2C803&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Columns](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jennsfootsteps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/img_0655.jpg?ssl=1\")
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