Barcelona, Spain
This was a trip I made with my roommate, Jess at the time. I was living in Florida at the time, and she was in New York City. Jess had a friend living in Barcelona, so that worked out pretty well for us there. We reached Barcelona at 5:00 pm and had trouble figuring out how to call Jess’ friend as she didn’t turn up at the airport. The palm trees view from the airport windows gave us a feeling of vacation time was close enough! Nobody seemed to understand English at the airport, and we had a hard time. The phone booths at the airport didn’t seem much help either and we kept losing the money. We eventually got hold of someone who could help us and they lend us their cellphone to call our friend.
Our friend, Maria took us to dinner at a restaurant…Spanish timing for dinner was like 10 pm-12 am. People were coming in very late and the streets were busy with young people. We had Spanish bread with tomato sauce and olive oil on it. We ate that with different kinds of cheese. Some were strongly flavored cheese like goat, etc. We also had kebabs – chicken, meat and vegetarian kebabs,
Maria took us to the top of a hill where there were many trams taking tourists around. The view from the hill was pretty of Barcelona city and especially from inside the restaurant. We ate olives which were pretty good and Maria and Jess ate some crab delicacy and had wine with it.
The native language spoken in Barcelona was Catalan and not Spanish as we thought. That was interesting….There are three languages spoken in Spain depending on the region. Catalan was spoken in the Catalunya region in which Barcelona is.
After lunch, we walked a little bit around downtown and checked out the place, the narrow streets (the buildings looked ancient and pretty). Some of the roads were pretty narrow, I just wondered how the people drove cars there. It seemed there were several German Volkswagens, Toyota Yaris cars, and Vespas (scooters) on the road. Some of the apartments had the people drying their clothes on the balconies in the street. We also came across the statue of Columbus (they say pointing to America).
After our short walk, we went back to Maria’s place and had some tea (or coffee). Two of her friends came over and we talked about several things, about the Spanish, America, cultures and about our on-coming trip to Italy. They mentioned some of their experiences in Italy and that especially traffic in Rome was crazy and that life there seemed chaotic.
We had dinner at Maria’s dad’s place that night around 10 pm. It so happened that Maria’s boyfriend also came over that day so that he could meet her father (the first time) before they went on a trip during Easter to some Spanish islands nearby. Maria’s dad made really good food….we first had some salad (which had sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil in it)…it was one of the best salads I had ever had!! –very memorable. I also tasted some Spanish wine called Roja (pronounced Rokha)…which was interesting. We later had some grilled vegetables and meat. Maria showed us her old bedroom which was pretty cute and some of her art. Maria’s brother came over after a little while and we all stood outside on the balcony admiring the beautiful skyline of Barcelona city. We could see the fork-shaped towers of the Gaudi church and also the twin towers clearly.
Jess and I set off to visit the downtown area of Barcelona using a map and took the subway…The station we got on was at Peu di Funicular. We had trouble finding out how to buy a subway ticket for S1 (to reach Provenca station) – the price was about 1.5 Euro (pretty good) and we followed the sign ‘Via 1’. We got on the subway and suddenly Jess had a feeling that we were going more towards the mountains than toward the sea (as Maria had mentioned that downtown was more near the sea as also we saw yesterday near the pier). We looked at the chart and then noticed that we were going in the opposite direction of Provenca. So we got off at the next station and took the stairs to the next platform to catch a train going in the opposite direction. We luckily didn’t have to buy another ticket as we thought for some reason, as the machine at the next platform allowed us to enter the platform. Then we caught the next train and were on our way downtown! We got off at Provenca walked around the narrow streets and admired the buildings and the place overall. We were getting hungry by then and went to downtown Catalunya and ate at a bar. Following are some of the places we visited in the beautiful Mediterranean city of Barcelona.
1. Gaudi church (Sagrada Familia) and Gaudi architecture
We later took a tourist bus for 18 Euros each. We got off at Gaudi church (Sagrada Familia church – means Sacred Family) – it was 8 Euros for entry, and we admired that it had Jesus’ birth depicted on one side and Jesus’ death on the other side of the church. We had previously seen another Gaudi architecture too, which was unique from any other kind of architecture.
2. Parc Guell
We went to Parc Guell which was the next stop and liked the material that was used in the construction (looked like mosaic material) of the park. Took many pictures there too and of Barcelona city which could be viewed from the top.
3. Camp Nou
We also saw the biggest stadium in Europe from the bus – it was used in the the1992 Olympics too. We checked out a few shops Maria had mentioned (Berksha, Mango, D&J, etc) and did a little shopping.
4. Barcelona pier
It was great to hang out at the pier, which has a great many places to eat and shop, and people watch as well! There’s a beautiful view of the Mediterranean sea and all the boats docked there.
Rome, Italy
We had to get up early to catch our flight at 12 pm to Rome, Italy. Maria had made an appointment with a cab to pick us up at around 9 am in morning. He came as expected and drove us to the airport for around 22 euros.
We had a small surprise at the airport as we heard that our flight to Milan (our stopover) was delayed by one hr which would make us miss our second leg of the flight from Milan to Rome. We went to the ticket counter and the guy there luckily rebooked us on a direct flight from Barcelona to Rome which departed half an hr earlier (11:30 am). We were quite happy with that as that would give us more time in Rome. We were so hungry then as we didn’t have any breakfast yet, so we headed over to the café in the airport and I bought an omelet sandwich (which had onions and tomatoes in it). It was so good. Jess got some cappuccino and a croissant. We reached Rome at around 2:30 pm and found our hostel nearby and the guy there walked us to our room about 6 min (It still happened to be near the Roma Termini station though). We paid the money about US$ 210 (in Euros of course we paid) and he gave us information about the buses to take to travel to Rome and the places to see there. Following are the attractions in Rome which we visited during our trip.
1. Colosseum
We saw the Colosseum and the Victor Emmanuel II Monument – a white palace in Rome’s city center that you cannot miss. The Colosseum reminded me of the movie ‘Gladiator’ which had most of its scenes with views of the Colosseum (or computer-generated graphic depictions). It is partly in ruins, but you can see the tunnels that run under the main part very clearly as the base of the stadium/amphitheater seemed to be in ruins.
Rome is full of historical places and ruins nearby as well.
2. Trevi Fountain:
Trevi Fountain is a famous fountain in Rome and is the largest one in the city. There is a tradition of throwing coins into the fountain, and we did not miss the opportunity.
Interesting fact: Around 3000 euros are tossed into the fountain every day.
We had lunch in an Italian restaurant (Pastarito) and had Pasta (it was ok..not as good as expected though). We held on to our bags closely as there were many signs to beware of pickpockets in Rome. Everybody in Rome asked us to beware of Pickpocketers. I guess it’s very famous for that; no wonder why my dad lost more than US $1000 last year in Rome!!
Vatican City
We took the bus to Vatican city this day to see St. Peter’s Basilica. There were thousands of people there as it was the week before Easter. It was Wednesday, two days before Good Friday! We didn’t attempt to go inside the Basilica as there was such a huge line.
Sistine Chapel (Cappella Sistina) in Vatican Museum: – This is the chapel in the Papal Palace.
Sistine Chapel had Michelangelo’s paintings; ‘Creation of Adam’ is the most famous one. There is also ‘Last Judgment’ (about Christ’s second coming) above the altar ( I think I missed that). I read later that it is the conclave (where the papal election takes place). The walls have paintings of curtains that look so realistic! Jess and I were wondering if they were real cloth curtains for a while, before deciding they were not. Also, some of the people portrayed in the paintings looked real too – I guess that’s why they’re so famous. People could sit on the sides near the walls and admire the ceiling frescoes of Michelangelo. We sat there for about 20 mins before leaving the Chapel.
In Italy, we had to pay for tables and bread in restaurants and paid to use restrooms if not buying anything at the restaurant. We ate Chinese food in Roma for a change too. They had quite a few Chinese eateries in one area.
Firenze (Florence), Italy
We got up early to catch a train at around 7 am to Firenze – also known as Florence. We reached Firenze at around 10 am and put our luggage in the lockers in the station for about 21 Euros totally for our 3 pieces of luggage for 9 hours.
1. Duomo
We first went to look for the famous Duomo cathedral there. It was a pretty sight, very ornate with sculptures, and colorful as can be seen in the pictures we took.
2. Uffizi gallery
We had to wait in line in Firenze Uffizi Gallery (Galleria Degli Uffizi) of art for about 3 and half hours taking turns – which seemed like forever! But it was totally worth it. The gallery is beside the Palazzo Vecchio building which has a nice clock tower type. A copy of the ‘David’ sculpture by Michelangelo is right by the entrance of the Palazzo (this is the original location where the ‘David’ was before it was moved indoors to the gallery Accademia. The original copy of ‘The David’ is in ‘Accademia di Galleria’. Jess bought a sandwich for us to share as we were getting tired and hungry waiting in line so long. Finally, we got in about 50 people at a time and then looked around the gallery. There were many interesting paintings and sculptures. We got to the end, and then Jess remembered that we somehow missed the most famous painting in the gallery. We asked around and went back the whole way to the beginning of the exhibits which was very tiring. We finally got to see it. ’The Birth of Venus’ was the picture of the Greek goddess Venus showing the forces of the wind, water waves, and light depicted in one painting, which made it a pretty famous painting.
3. Ponte Vecchio Bridge
Ponte Vecchio Bridge is an interesting bridge with colorful shops all the way on either side of the bridge’s narrow walkway. We never saw anything so unique like this, and it was such a delight to shop on top of a bridge!
We had a late lunch right after (a pizza and roast potatoes which were pretty good for me), and then left to catch the train to Venezia at around 6 pm. We reached Venezia at around nearly 9:30 pm, but unfortunately, we got off at the wrong station!! We realized that only after I asked a guy at McDonald’s for the hostel address we were looking for. He said that we were not in Venezia but in ‘Maestro’, the station just before it!! So, we hurriedly went back to the platform to find out if we had missed the train or not, or else if we could catch another train. A friendly cop over there helped us out by saying that there was the next train to Venezia at platform 3 and that our current ticket is valid. So we ran over there with our luggage and the train arrived just then. That was an adventure, we were wondering if we would have to stay the night in Maestro or something and find a hostel there and cancel the one in Venice. Thank God!
We reached Venezia safely in a little while and came out of the train station (Ferrovia) and what did we see?? The beautiful waters of Venice right in front, restaurants on the sides, and taxi boats traveling along the Grand Canal – such a beautiful sight! We found the white bridge as was mentioned in the directions to the hostel and walked till we saw the address. The room looked very cute, it had a big curtain on the ceiling laid across and pretty curtains, but the room was dark and dry. The bathroom was so tiny, but it seemed perfect in condition. The shower was a small one and good enough anyway for the price I guess. I wish we had taken a picture of the room, Jess!! We forgot all about it later as we were so tired!
Venice, Italy
We got up in the morning at around 9 am and had the breakfast they had put on the table for us; some bread and biscuits. We left the hostel room and walked all the way back to the receptionist room on the Grand Canal and gave her back the keys and put our luggage there for the day. We took the map she gave us and walked to the Grand Canal and admired the city – it was beautiful! We later went to the booth where they were selling tickets for the Vaporetti or the water bus. We took a 24hr pass for the waterbus there for about 12 Euros.
1. Transportation in Venice
The main public transport in Venice is the Vaporetti, boats that travel the principal waterways. The #1 goes along the Grand Canal from the train station and makes many stops, so it’s a good way to cruise the main canal and get a good overview of the city. There are also more expensive water taxis and gondolas.
One of the vaporetti stations in Venice
2. St Mark’s Square
We visited the San Marco square (St Mark’s) which has a history of flooding. The St Mark’s Basilica is in the middle of the square. Pigeons were flying all over the square and were eagerly looking for any food which people would drop. It was fun to get the birds alight on my shoulder. When I went to San Marco’s square in December, it was an incredibly different sight from the time I last visited in April a few years earlier. There were several platforms laid out for tourists to walk in the square as there was knee-high deep water due to flooding all over the square in December.
2. Glass jewelry
Most shops in Venice were selling hand-blown glass decorative items and jewelry. We bought some jewelry, and this was one of the highlights of Venice for me. The hand-blown jewelry is one of a kind! And they look so special as a gift for a loved one as well. I went back to Venice to buy some more of these on another trip!
3. Gondola ride
4. Rialto Bridge
Rialto Bridge is a beautiful bridge that gives a very pretty view of Venice over the grand canal, and is very picture-worthy! See the picture below, never seen anything like this anywhere! and so memorable!
5. Islands of Murano and Burano
The islands of Murano and Burano are where people make hand-blown glass. We took the water taxi to one of the islands of Venice and we could see vehicles on the roads over there for a change, unlike Venice.
It was snowing one of the days I was there and the ferry ride to the islands of Murano and Burano was freezing. I did not expect it to be so cold and I wished I was better planned with a thicker jacket and boots, as it would surely be colder on the water. It started to snow on one of the days I was there in December as well.
The history of how Venice was built over platforms on top of wooden poles is an engineering feat and the fact that the wooden poles have become almost rock solid and have not rotted due to not being exposed to oxygen underneath the water is marvelous. https://sites.google.com/site/engineeringvenice/
Venice is sadly sinking though. High tides and artisan wells drilling damage have caused more flooding in the area usually between October and March.
Wish list of more places to visit in Italy
I got to visit quite a few wonderful places in Italy, but it did not seem enough. I felt like I missed visiting many other popular places like the ones below. They are on my bucket list for the future!
- Pompeii and Herculaneum https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/pompeii-pompei-i-cm-pp.htm
- Mount vesuvius and pompeii: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.livescience.com/amp/27871-mount-vesuvius-pompeii.html
- Naples
- Sicily
- Pisa
Expense for 2 people
Below is a list of expenses for two people, if you would like to know to plan a trip to Spain and Italy.
JFK to Barcelona flight tickets = US$ 1722
Barcelona to Rome flight tickets=US$ 372.78
Rome hostel = US$ 210.80
Venice hostel= US$ 100.86\
In Barcelona
Lunch on beach = 26 Euro
Lunch + juice = 12.3 Euro
Sagrada Familia church ticket= 8 Euro
Dinner at Daps restaurant = 25 Euro
Taxi back to Maria’s home = – 4 Euro
In Barcelona/Roma:
Taxi to Barcelona airport = 11 Euro
Termini station tickets from airport = 9.5Euro
Lunch Pastirito restaurant = 8 Euro
Sweet snack & coffee = 9.5Euro
Dinner = 11 Euro
In Roma (Rome) & Vatican city:
Lunch = 11 Euro
Train tickets to Firenze and Venice = 54 Euro
Dinner (Chinese) = 8 Euro
In Firenze (Florence):
Breakfast and sandwich in line = 12 Euro
Luggage locker = 21 Euro
Lunch = 8 Euro (first good Italian food I had – a pizza and roast potatoes)
in Venezia (Venice):
Train ticket back to Roma = 30 Euro
Lunch = 13 Euro (pretty good lunch of spaghetti)
Dinner (spaghetti and sides and wine) = 28 Euro
If you are interested in visiting other European destinations, check out my post here where I visited Norway and London, UK.