Placid wrote:
> Dunno if I told you or not but I am DJ'ing Barcelona the weekend of the 6th
> & 7th. One of which is an amazing club about an hour and 30 mins drive
> north which is utterly astounding ...
That sounds familiar ... is it that club on the road to Roses, on the coast
to the East of Figueres? Rachdingue, in Villajuegua? Or some other club
in the Girona region?
Pete Grammenos wrote:
> Anyone have recommendations on places / areas to stay ? Thanks in advance,
> sorry for the OT.
In general, I'd say you want to stay as close to the water as you can -
there's the beach area (Barceloneta - where my fiancee and I are staying
the first week) and then there's the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter), which
is in the thick of things just in from the beach/marina area (on the other
side of the marina, Port Vell, is the Ciutat Vella area - that's OK too -
and then further in from that is Barri Gotic). To the right of Ciutat
Vella and Barri Gotic (as you look at a map - parallel to the coastline)
are the Born (bordered by the Zoo on the other side) and La Ribera areas,
respectively. All of those are good areas - I stayed in the Born area
back in 2000. (I stayed further inland in 2001 - in the Gracia area -
because I waited 'WAY too long to book my apartment. Don't wait!!!)
The area just above the axis that goes left-right (really southwest -
northeast, compass-wise) along the Gran Via De Les Corts from Placa
d'Espanya to Placa de les Glories Catalanes and beyond - is about as
far inland as I would stay, personally.
The subway system is really good there, so it's hard to stay in a "bad"
place - you can get to a station from most anywhere, and it's fast. I
highly recommend using it when you're there. Or, when you first get
there, climb on one of the big double-decker Bus Turistic busses - they go
around to all the major sightseeing spots, and you can get off and back
on at will, given a 1-day or 2-day pass. It's a good way to get your
"sea legs" there, and get an overview of the city. Then you can abandon
it and get around on your own, i.e. on foot or by subway or cab - if it's
too late at night. I've never ridden the city busses as it's too hard for
me to figure out the routes, much less speak Spanish to the driver to
ask WTF they're going :-) Besides, I like to walk when I'm there -
and eventually you'll hit a subway station anyway.
There's a temptation to stay along (or as close to as possible) Las
Ramblas. I wouldn't - too trafficy, too noisy, too many pickpockets,
etc. etc. While it's worth the occasional walk-down, I prefer a nice
quiet area to sleep in that's still close to public transport and
the thick of things (down near the water). Your mileage may vary, of
course :-) (I'm sure Dan Butler or Bart Wolff or other Sonar 313
veterans will chime in to correct me if I'm wrong)
- Greg
