By Regina Winkle-Bryan
A popular route for exploring Barcelona is starting out at the city center, Plaza Catalunya, and strolling down Las Ramblas to the city’s port. There’s a lot going on in this happening metropolis, and at times visitors (and
Barcelona
locals for that matter!) can forget that they are in a city by the sea.
Barcelona’s port is actually a series of small ports linked together and accessed by pedestrians via a long boardwalk which extends from Las Ramblas to beaches past the Olympic Village (Hotel Arts, etc). On a sunny day, it is truly lovely to walk along the water and check out the yachts, sailboats, and fisherman all going about their business in the marina.
Sometimes, there are festivals set up along this long portside walkway, such as the September Wine Tasting festival and the October Sailboat Show. Besides formal events, any day of the week will provide entertainment for wandering visitors along the port (especially the strip in front of Barceloneta). Here musicians gather to play and crowds gather to clap and dance. I have often seen fabulous music on Sunday afternoons with genres ranging from salsa to Bob Dylan covers (OK, the Dylan covers, not so hot…).
Port Life - Barcelona, Spain
If you are interested in the history of Barcelona’s ports, lighthouses and sailors (I am a sort of Marine-life nerd!), then head to the Maritime Museum located just at the end of Las Ramblas and have a look at what sailing around the Med was like 500 or even 1,000 years ago.
Museo Maritimo: www.mmb.cat
Hotel Arts: www.hotelartsbarcelona.com
Hotel Arts in Barcelona. By Regina Winkle-Bryan
One Comment
One of my favorite things to do when I visited you last summer–long boardwalks along the sea and people watching! (Not the scary old naked men on bikes, though!)