Essential Barcelona Tourist Information - Assignment Example

CITY AS TEXT ASSIGNMENT Barcelona is one of the most magnificent cities of Spain which is situated in the North Eastern side of Spain touching the borders of the Mediterranean Sea. From the French Pyrenees, you have to make a two hour drive south to reach Barcelona. Barcelona is the capital of the Northern Spain region of Catalunya known for its distinctive heritage, customs and nature. Barcelona is a very unique city. Only some European cities can provide you the extensive variety of ethnic experience that you can discover in Barcelona. Combining that with the delighting 4.2 kilometer long seaside which just a small stroll from the centre of the city and the cozy sunlight almost through the year. Barcelona has got everything that makes a perfect holiday. Barcelona has a very pleasing and enjoyable weather throughout the year. But the most favorable weather of Barcelona is during the months of May till July making this time the most appealing time for a tour of the marvelous city. September is also very enjoyable but August is usually hot and moist. It is a month which is generally pleasing to those people who love to tan themselves by spending a splendid time on the beach. All those people who visit Barcelona in August are always advised to get hotel rooms with air conditioning systems. The pleasing weather of Barcelona is still maintained during the months of October and November but the temperature starts falling and the weather starts to get chillier. The sunshine cannot be observed everyday and people get prepared for a slight rainfall. The winter sets in at the end of November and from November till the end of February the temperature drops and the weather gets cold. It does not rain much in Barcelona during the winter so generally people get to see the sunny days. Numerous painters and artists have lived and worked in Barcelona at one time or the other and you can still perceive their affect distinctively all through the city. Two of the most famous are Miro and Picasso who have museums allocated to their most major works. This is just not it. Barcelona has also got many various museums and art galleries all throughout the city so you have got many artistic and cultural places to visit while you are in Barcelona. Barcelona had more than 55 museums and art galleries that are devoted on the topics such as sports, art, history, war, science, maritime and architecture. Few of the most famous museums and art galleries located in Barcelona for sightseeing are Maritime Museum, Barcelona Centre of Contemporary Culture, La pedrera, The Dali Museum-In Figueres and Camp Nou. La Sagrada Familia (Gaudi) is dedicated to Antoni Gaudi. Sagrada Familia is one of greatest creations by Antoni. It is a huge Basilica that is being built since 1882. This building is visited nearly by 2,000,000 people every year and is one of the most explored buildings in Barcelona. The museum describes the background and evolution of Sagrada Familia and also provides the pictures of the evolution of Sagrada Familia from the start of its construction till present time. It also has a model of the Sagrada Familia in the museum and how it will look when it has been fully constructed. The museum also provides delightful information about Antoni Gaudi too. La Pedrera is one more of Antoni Gaudi’s works. It is one of the most typical buildings every built. During the time when it was built, it was rented by people who would live there for a short time. Its rooms especially walls are very oddly shaped and many people were distressed that whether there furniture would fit in or not. But today it is one of the most dominant museums in Barcelona and accommodates renaissance drawings and many modern art paintings. Camp Nou (Barcelona FC museum) is the fourth most toured museum of Barcelona. It accommodates artifacts which can go back over 100 years relating to Barcelona’s football club. There are two types of visits available at this museum. The first one is in which you will be allowed entry into the museum and the field but not on ground level. The second will allow you to get a tour by a guide of the whole museum including the VIP lounge, changing rooms and get entry into the field at ground level and the visitors get an opportunity to sit on the player benches. Barcelona Centre of Contemporary Culture (CCCB) is the eighth most famous and visited museum in Barcelona. It frequently showcases a broad range of paintings, frescos, portrayals and statues from all around the World and from various time periods. Museum d’Historia de Catalunya is a very amazing museum if a person wants to know about the past and history of Catalunya. It has many artifacts regarding the various time periods of the Catalunya’s past. Maritime Museum covers the time period between 1750 till the 1850. All kinds of maritime artifacts from Barcelona and many surrounding are accommodated over here. The best thing about being in Barcelona is that the beach is not very far away from your accommodation. Barceloneta Beach is the first beach in Barceloneta and gets crowded in during the summers. Barceloneta Beach does not only provide people the options to swim or tan or relax but people can also do windsurfing and kite surfing at the Barceloneta Beach. Barcelona is full of marvelous architecture and you can find amazing architectures every. You can find one even on the beach. You can find the Monument a Colom on the Barceloneta Beach which was made in the tribute to Christopher Columbus. Another beach on the shore of Barcelona is Icaria Beach. Then there comes Mar Bella Beach also known as the Nudist Beach. The name comes from the type of people who come to beach but this does not mean that all the people one will see or meet at this beach are nude. And people who visit this beach are always recommended to carry maps along with them as there are no sign directions from the metro to the beach. And after that come the Sitges Beach. This beach is located outside of Barcelona and people who wish to visit this beach are supposed to take train from the Sants station and travel for almost 30 minutes to reach this beach. The beaches located in Barcelona are all well preserved and clean. During the time one spends on the beach people can try the best of the seafood of the Mediterranean Sea can provide. The restaurants are also very beautiful and can provide many more types of traditional and other kinds of dishes. Barcelona is famous as Spain’s second capital after Barcelona. The Catalan people have prosperously held on to their brilliant inheritance. The harmonizing customs of Barcelona make it a very amazing place to visit. The citizens of Barcelona summarize their city in three words and they are civilization, accord and style. Barcelona directs to handle for the requirements of the World and also secures the mixture of the old and new fantastically. Much consideration had been made by the government in order to retain the charm and appeal of the city while also guaranteeing marvelous provisions for the people and professional worlds. Barcelona on the contrary to other cities of the European world which have conflicts amongst their new and old worlds has a very evident sentiment of combination between both of the new and old worlds. Whilst walking in the streets of Barcelona you can sense the merger of the new structures and the historic framework with each other. Barcelona has a splendid location. Travelling from the major capital cities of Europe to Barcelona only takes around two hours. Barcelona’s city centre accommodates around 35,000 shops. The major shopping locations are in pedestrianized areas with extensive streets. People can easily stroll from one to shop to another without the fear of avoiding the traffic. Barcelona cradles the popular 5 kilometer long shopping line. This line extends from Ramblas, across Placa de Catalunya past Passeig de Gracia and ends at Avenue Diagonal. In this famous shopping line you will find many varieties of shops such as Calvin Klein, Versace, Cartier, Giorgio Armani, Bally, Burberry and many more. You can also observe various high standard Spanish shops providing designer clothes, shoes, costumes, jewellery and accessories. Barcelona along with these shops also has various huge departmental stores. Two of the biggest are situated in the middle of Barcelona’s famous Spain shopping line. Their names are El Corte Ingles and Fnac. At these departmental stores you will find almost anything and everything that you want and need beneath one roof. A lot of people do not have the knowledge that if they come from countries outside of the European Union to Spain for a tour so they can celebrate tax free shopping. But this service is only available for those products which people plan to take back to their country and the total bill has to exceed €90.15 and is not relevant for the hotel expenses or the food items as they are considered to be consumable. There are particular shops that have these tax free shopping services. After finding such a shop and buying the products from there you can ask for the tax repayment cheques. After receiving the cheque you have to keep it safe and when you are about to leave Barcelona than at the airport you should show your tax repayment cheques at the custom office prior to you checking your bags in. The custom officers can ask to inspect the products before they put the stamp on your cheque or cheques. Once these cheques have been stamped and approved, you can convert the cheques into cash at any foreign exchange organization into any currency at your particular country. But the procedures vary if you are not travelling through airplanes. If you are travelling through car, train or ships then the procedures are different. Barcelona is also very well known for its amazing night life and all the activity starts after the clock strikes 11 in the night. And it is not very unusual for one to see many people roaming here and there the Ramblas till the clock strikes 3 in the night on Fridays and Saturdays. If one feels like going to a pub than there are many all throughout the city varying from small and friendly to big and crowded ones. Usually the majority of these pubs stay available till 12 in the night on weekdays and till 1 in the night on Fridays and Saturdays. Being friendly, calm, generous, non-aggressive and helpful are the traits of the people of Barcelona. The local authorities and caring people always advice visitors and tourists to only believe in the people who come up for your help when you seem distressed outside the tourist side of the city where many Barcelonans try to avoid tourists. The people advice to be safe from such helping hands at tourism spots as these people tend to be thieves and pick pockets. Tourist being robbed is one big problem in Barcelona. Tourism guides always inform and advise the tourists to be on their guard and to evade from needless communication with unknown people at tourist areas. They are also told to carry only limited money with them and a copy of their passports, not the original ones as if the original passport gets lost then it can become a problem for the tourist. The hotel at which the tourist is accommodated stamps the back of the copy of the passport. The tourists are also told beforehand not to stroll on abandoned or on poorly illuminated streets in the night. The traffic flow in Barcelona is different from other countries. The traffic flows from the left side so tourists are always advised to look to their left while crossing a road and not on their right. Spanish men keep extended and awkwardly long eye contacts specifically with female tourists. And there are two prices set at shops. One is for the visitors and the other is for the residential. Tourists are advised to bargain smartly and they might receive a nice bargain in the price of the products. All in all Barcelona is one of the most marvelous cities of Spain and one should visit it in their free time. Reference Barcelona-tourist-guide.com,. 'Essential Barcelona Tourist Information And Tourism Guide Spain 2014'. N. p., 2014. Web. 20 Jul. 2014. Read More