Teatre-Museu Dali: 3 out of 3 stars given by Frommers and 2 out of 3 stars given by Michelin. "A tour of the museum is an experience. When a catalog was prepared, Dali said with a perfectly straight face, 'It is necessary that all of the people who come out of the museum have false information'" (Frommers).
Casa-Museu Castell Gala Dali: Frommers gives it 2 out of 3 stars. The castle is noteworthy for its severe Gothic and Romanesque dignity and for furniture and decor that follow the tastes of the surrealist master. (There are not a lot of paintings)
The Boqueria is Barcelona's freshest outdoor market.
Here are some steps to follow from www.ehow.com :
Step 1
Get to the Boqueria. Located about halfway down La Rambla, the Boqueria straddles the area between the Barri Gotic and El Raval. You can't miss the market's arching steel entry gate or the crowds flocking inside. If you're arriving by Metro, take L3 to Liceu, or any line to Catalunya.
Step 2
Note the jamon. Just outside the entrance to La Boqueria is a stall selling legs of jamon, Spain's delectable cured meat that's sold as an entire leg-hoof included. Throughout the country, you'll see legs of jamon hanging from their hooves.
Step 3
Get a juice to go. Many fruit sellers at La Boqueria sell fresh-squeezed juices in plastic cups with lids and straws-perfect for fortifying yourself as you make your way through the market. They're around €2.50 and come in countless varieties, including mango and kiwi.
Step 4
Watch your feet in the fish area. The floor in the fish section can be pooled with the dripping water from the ice-filled tanks and leaking crates of fresh seafood, so tread carefully. Once you've found your footing, you can admire the ultra-fresh selections that include every variety of shellfish you can imagine, not to mention large, whole fish that were probably swimming in the Mediterranean that morning. If you buy a fish, the skillful stall owners will prepare it for you, whacking off its head and de-boning it.
Step 5
Prepare your stomach for the meat cases. From skinned lambs' heads to tripe (cow stomach) to every matter of organ and muscle, the meat cases are heaven for carnivores and horrifying to everyone else. Once again, however, you can count on everything being extremely fresh.
Step 6
Do some people-watching over a plate of tapas. Take your pick from La Boqueria's tapas bars-they all offer a tantalizing selection of plates, prepared with ingredients drawn from the market. Two good ones are Pinotxo Bar, right at the entrance, and El Quim de la Boqueria.
TimeOut Barcelona suggests this tapas bar because of its traditional dishes: oxtail stew, fried prawns, and cod croquettes, as well as its more modern counterparts: McFoie burger and Bikini (ham and cheese toastie with truffle).
Address
C/Diputació 269Area Eixample Transport Metro Passeig de Gràcia
Telephone 93 488 09 77
Website: http://www.tapas24.net/bar.php?lang=eng
Link to a review on cosmopolicious: http://cosmopolicious.blogspot.com/2009/01/barcelona-tapas24.html
EUSKAL ETXEA
Another suggestion from TimeOut is a Basque cultural spot for "the best of the city's many pintxo bars." Pintxo is the Catalan version of tapas. From TimeOut: "Help yourself to dainty jamón serrano croissants, chicken tempura with saffron mayonnaise, melted provolone with mango and crispy ham, or a mini-brochette of pork. Hang on to the toothpicks spearing each one: they'll be counted up and charged for at the end. In addition to the tapas bar, there is also a dining room at the back."
Address
Placeta Montcada 1-3Area Born & St Pere Transport Metro Barceloneta or Jaume I
At this restaurant, you choose all the elements of your dish. First, you pick from a pile a fresh seafood; second, you say how you want it cooked (steamed, grilled, etc.); third, you get an option of different sauces (Marie Rose, spicy, all i oli, or onion). You get many choices from this large selection of food, and it is cheap too.
Address
C/Comercial 7Area Born & St Pere Transport Metro Arc de Triomf or Jaume I
Telephone 93 268 19 39
Open 8-11.30pm Tue-Fri; 1-4pm, 8pm-midnight Sat; 1-4pm Sun
Mike Teagan is a nice guy who has a van. He drives from Toulouse on a Friday to Barcelona and then back again on a Sunday. For a potential trip, which would be on Tuesday, August 10th, from Barcelona he will charge 540 euros as a flat rate for the day, or 65 euros per person for the straight drive from Barcelona to Toulouse. The time it takes for the straight drive is 3 hours and 45 minutes.
If Mike is chosen for a full day tour, you have the option of being left in Carcassonne or in Toulouse. Here is the bus schedule from Carcassonne to Toulouse:
The price ranges from $21 to $13 depending on the time.
The price, with service fees, comes to about 42.54 euros. I
We can print out the confirmation and bring it to the bus driver.
Option 2 (continued):
Using www.eurolines.es I came up with two available trains. One that departs at 9:00 am and arrives at 3:45pm in Toulouse, and the next bus departs at 2:30pm and arrives at 9:00 pm.
I am pretty sure that these are printable email confirmations that we take to the ticket window.
Option 3:
Taking a train straight to Toulouse from Barcelona. I will use Rail Europe for this:
The details are summarized below, but the first train leaves at 8:45am, has a connection in Narbonne (for 18 mins) and then arrives in Toulouse at 1:56 pm. The second train leaves at 4:42 pm and has a connection in Narbonne at 8:15pm (for about 1:45 mins) and then arrives in Toulouse at 11:09 pm:
Rail Service
Departs
Arrives
Time
TRN Autres 73
8:45AM
Barcelona-Estacio De Franca,
Spain
10 Aug
12:20PM
Narbonne,
France
10 Aug
3hr 35min
1
CONNECTING TRAIN
Brussels Provence TGV9804
12:38PM
Narbonne,
France
10 Aug
1:56PM
Toulouse Matabiau,
France
10 Aug
1hr 18min
Please note: You have 18 min to transfer between trains.
TRN Autres 460
4:42PM
Barcelona Sants,
Spain
10 Aug
8:15PM
Narbonne,
France
10 Aug
3hr 33min
1
CONNECTING TRAIN
TGV Interconnection5384
9:58PM
Narbonne,
France
10 Aug
11:09PM
Toulouse Matabiau,
France
10 Aug
1hr 11min
The price for an economy ticket on this train is 85 euros.
Option 4:
Take a train to Figueres and then a train to Toulouse:
FIRST LEG - The trains leaving from Barcelona to Figueres via Rail Europe are as follows:
1. Leaving Barcelona at 7:53 am and arriving in Figueres at 9:57 am for a total of 23 dollars.
2. Leaving Barcelona at 8:45 am and arriving in Figueres at 10:24am for a total of 26 dollars [this has a shorter train time to option number one].
3. Leaving Barcelona at 4:42 pm and arriving in Figueres at 6:14pm for a total of 29 dollars.
SECOND LEG - The train leaving from Figueres to Toulouse via Rail Europe is as follows:
1. Leaving Figueres at 6:15pm, arriving at Narbonne at 8:15pm (with a 1:45 minute layover) departing Narbonne at 9:58pm and arriving in Toulouse at 11:09pm -- the total for this leg is 76 dollars.
One of the benefits of renting a car is that we are able to eat outside of Barcelona. For instance, one of the top-ranked restaurants is to be found in Girona. I believe it is rated number 10. We can make a reservation here if we rent a car.
Time Out: Was once the capital of half the Iberian peninsula and now contains the largest ensemble of ruins and Roman buildings in Spain - "an extraordinary legacy":
original town walls
circus
amphitheater (Amfiteatre Roma): recalls the 2nd century days of games and gladiators
aqueduct
forum
Described as the grandest and most overlooked spot in Spain - Frommers, and it gives Tarragona 2 out of 3 stars.
12th century cathedral is a good example of the transition from Romanesque to Gothic. There is a museum there with a nice collection of Catalan art.
Museu of Nacional Arqueologic: collection of Roman relics and a very popular attraction - the mosaic Head of Medusa -- closed on Mondays in the summer
Museu i Necropolis Paleocristians: one of the MOST important burial grounds in Spain used by Christians in the 3rd to 5th century
The Blue Guide highly recommends Tarragona for all the above reasons and has more extensive commentary.
This is close to Montserrat and Montblanc, so it is possible to have a combined trip among the three places. Poblet is also known as Monasterio de Poblet
Reasons to go:
Michelin gives Poblet 3 out of 3 stars (highly recommended), and Montserrat and Montblanc get 2 out of 3 stars.
Frommers gives Poblet 3 out of 3 stars, a must see. "One of the most intriguing monasteries in Spain...Its most exciting features are the oddly designed tombs of the old kings of Aragon and Catalonia." (Monday there is no guide service available).
One of the largest and most complete Cistercian Abbeys in the world.
It gets 4 out of 5 on TripAdvisor
Fodors gives Poblet an orange star, which represents the very best in the area covered by the entire book.
Fodors also writes that it is one of the great masterpieces of Spanish monastic architecture.
The Michelin guide, Fromers, and Time Out note that Poblet has the most famous Cistercian monastery in all of Spain. The unique sites that Poblet complex contains:
A 14th century Gothic royal Palace;
A 15th century chapel of Sant Jordi;
The main church, which houses the tombs of most of the Counts and Kings of Barcelona; it was the royal pantheon of the kings of the Crown of Aragon since James I of Aragon (Wikipedia).
This monastery was the first of three sister monasteries, known as the Cistercian triangle, that helped consolidate power in Catalonia in the 12th century. The other two are Vallbona de les Monges and Santes Creus. (Wikipedia).
Poblet is a stunning combination of lightness and size.
Quote from TheGuardian: "One medieval complex in particular fired Gaudí's imagination as a teenager. It was the monastery of Santa Maria de Poblet, some way inland from Barcelona, not far from Reus. This once mighty Cistercian foundation had begun in the mid-12th century. Its historical and patriotic import was immense, since from the time of his death all the kings of Aragon and Catalonia had been buried there. It was therefore the national pantheon. As architecture, it was the grandest Cistercian building in Catalonia, strong, severe and plain. But when Gaudí was a boy, Poblet was a ruin and he conceived the mad, devout idea of restoring it to at least a memory of its former glories. To him it was the arch-symbol of Catholic supremacy and Catalan identity - and the liberals had ruined it in the name of "freedom" and "rights."
Note: The monastery is still active, and it can only be viewed by a guided tour given by a monk.
Summer (15 June - 14 September)
working days
10:00 - 12:40 / 15:00 - 17:55
Sundays and Feast days
10:00 - 12:25 / 15:00 - 17:25
TOUR PRICES
Single ticket 6,00 €
Special ticket OAPS ages between 7 and 18 students with student's card large families with family card 3,50 €
Adult Groups including more than 25 members 5 €
School groups and summer colonies, from Monday to Friday 1,50 €per pupil
The Cistercian Route combined ticket Poblet, Santes Creus and Vallbona 9,00 €
Useful Links:
Official page for the monastery: http://www.poblet.cat/Prehome/index.php
Article from The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/feb/10/architecture.spain
Pictures from here: http://www.paradoxplace.com/Photo%20Pages/Spain/Navarre_Aragon_Catalonia/Catalonia/Poblet/Poblet.htm
Montserrat was a great inspiration for Wagner's "Parcifal," and it was also an inspiration for Gaudi's "Sagrada Familia" and "Colonia Guell."
Another nice thing to see here is the Escolans, which claim to be the oldest boys choir in all of Europe. (I am not sure when they perform.)
4 1/2 stars on TripAdvisor
Frommers gives 2 out of 3 stars
Montserrat, which in Catalan means saw-tooth mountain, is located 34 miles northwest of Barcelona. According to Fromers, the monastery at Montserrat eclipses all other monasteries in the area and is a major pilgrimage spot. What is most interesting to see at the Santa Maria de Montserrat is the 12th century Romanesque sculpture known as the Virgin of Montserrat (the Black Virgin) and not the monastery itself. Wikipedia sites the sculpture as being the patroness of Catalonia and perhaps the most favored saint of Spain. Because of this, one should avoid visiting the monastery on a Sunday.
Montserrat was pompously transformed in the 19th century.
The only way to see the monastery is by taking a cable car to the top of the mountain, which, according to Time Out, is supposed to be quite scenic. After getting an opportunity to touch the virgin, one can walk around the grounds to witness a view of the Pyrenees and perhaps Mallorca. There are also three Picasso paintings that were dedicated to the wooden sculpture, as well as other art from the great masters.
Welcome to our travel site, where we will be suggesting and describing activities and places we should do and see while traveling from Barcelona to Toulouse. This website is meant to act as a comprehensive compilation of the overlapping places of interest from Michelin, Fodor, Frommers, Rick Steves, and various other sources.
(CITATIONS: Sagrada Familia: http://www.watchmojo.com/blogs/images/barcelona.gif, Toulouse Street View: http://blog.ratestogo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/toulouse-square.jpg)
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