January 12, 2019 - 20 Fun Facts about Barcelona and Tanya in Barcelona Day 1

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Covering the West Coast & the World
​CURRENTLY IN: BARCELONA, SPAIN

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20 Fun Facts About Barcelona, Spain

Well, it's Saturday and Tanya is  - or I should say "has" enjoyed her first day in Barcelona.  With the time difference, she is a bit ahead of me, here in New York, as of this writing.

I spoke with her while she was at the airport briefly, and I'm looking forward to the adventures she will have on her European cruise!!

I thought you might enjoy reading some fun facts about this Spanish city.  

20 Fun Facts about Barcelona, Spain

La Pedrera, Barcelona, Spain (c) travelincousins.com

• Barcelona is the capital and largest city of Spain’s Catalonia region, and is known for its art and architecture.
• The city is the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, Madrid, the Ruhr area and Milan.
•  Barcelona comes 4th on 2016’s ranking of Europe’s most visited cities, after London, Paris, and Istanbul, yet before Rome, Milan, and Amsterdam.
• More than 8.2 million international visitors descend upon Barcelona per year.
• The Catalan capital is the 12th most visited city in the world, 
• Renowned for the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, both of which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Barcelona.
• The name Barcelona comes from the ancient Iberian Barkeno, attested in an ancient coin inscription found on the right side of the coin in Iberian script.
• Ruins of an early settlement have been found, including different tombs and dwellings dating to earlier than 5000 BC, however, the origin of the earliest settlement at the site of present-day Barcelona is unclear. 
• There are two legends as to the founding of Barcelona. The first of these  attributes the city's beginnings to the mythological Hercules and the second attributes the foundation of the city directly to the historical Carthaginian general, Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, who supposedly named the city Barcino after his family in the 3rd century BC.   
• Barcelona hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics.
• There are nearly 3 million cruisers passing through the 7-terminal cruise port of Barcelona each year, making it the 6th busiest in the world and no.1 in Europe.
• Camp Nou, FC Barcelona club's home stadium covers a surfact area of 55,000 square meters, with a capacity of 99,354 people, making it the largest football stadium in Europe, and the second largest in the world after Rungrado May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea.
• The native dance of Catalans is the Sardana. 
• In 2010, bullfighting, was banned in Catalonia. 
• The city boasts more than 20 Michelin-starred restaurants.
• With 55 museums in Barcelona, the most visited is the  FC Barcelona Museum, with over 1.5 million visitors per year.
• Barcelona is home to Europe’s only public display of funeral carriages, the Museu de Carrosses Fúnebres at the Montjuic Cemetery.
• Barcelona was the 24th most "livable city" in the world in 2015 according to lifestyle magazine Monocle.
• There are 9 UNESCO  protected monuments in the city.
•  Barcelona’s Parc de Collserola is the largest metropolitan park in the world – 22 times larger than Central Park in NYC.

​As for me, I'll be heading into Queens for brunch with Aunt Ro and the girls. 

See ya back here tomorrow!

-Travelin' Elisa
xoxo

Barcelona - Day 1 

Greetings and a wonderful welcome to Barcelona! ​

It’s great to be back in this vibrant city once again (last visit was in 2016).
Getting here was quite the journey (took us almost 24hrs!)
This time not quite like the saying goes, if are flying all day/night it is not the journey...its definitely all about the destination!

Sharing a bit of sunlight (c)travelincousins.com

We started this journey out when we left Anaheim Hills at 4am on Friday morning (that would be 1pm in Barcelona) heading to LAX, then connecting in San Francisco for the long haul, leaving over an hour late yet making up some time in the air to arrive in Paris for yet another connection - UGH - and it was a short one this time.

Luckily we made it through security (for the third time in a day), border control and to our terminal/gate just in the nick of time.

I’m not a fan of connections and even less a fan of the process of going through security. 

However since we waited until the last minute to purchase this airfare, this is what we ended up with in order to keep to the schedule that we wanted. 

Travel is not all glitz and glamor.

Do you remember this story: Mis-Adventures in Barcelona - Worse Hotel Experience EVER

It certainly also has its fair share of hiccups and I suppose that me being in Barcelona without any issues would just be...

​Too easy. Too simple. Perhaps too boring...

Upon landing at BCN, heading to the baggage carousel to collect our bags, we soon realized that ONLY Dave's bag had arrived.

We stood in the longest LOST LUGGAGE line that I've ever seen and made a report. At this point we are at our hotel and I am praying that my bag is located ASAP. Because what the heck am I suppose to do on a ship with no clothes?!

I'm trying to keep a smile on. Right now that's about all I can do.

Standing on our balcony (c)travelincousins.com

Barcelona Cathedral (c)travelincousins.com

I'll post more pictures from our journey later on. For now I need to go buy deodorant! LOL

-Travelin' Tanya