Karen Bies
Articles by this Author
Hotspots of Barcelona -- BCNloft.com Apartments --
- By Karen Bies
- Published 11/4/2007
- English
- Unrated
Cultural Barcelona
- By Karen Bies
- Published 11/6/2007
- English
- Unrated
Nationwide studies show nearly 40% of the people visit a historic site or structure when they travel. Boomer retire and they’re looking for interesting historic experiences.
Barcelona by bike
- By Karen Bies
- Published 11/7/2007
- English
- Unrated
Why Dutch people like the bike so much.. it is fast, easy and you feel the place you’re biking through. It is the nicest way to travel, at least when it is not raining. If you go to
There are different possibilities to rent a bike in
There are, for example, guided bike tours, there are several bike rental organisations in
But, you like to go by yourself and draw up your own route? There are possibilities to rent a bike for a couple of days or hours. The costs are depending on the organisation but it will be around €80,- for a week and €25,- for the first day, extra days will cost about €20,- extra, and the bike will be delivered at your apartment. Hostelscenter can organise this for you, and give you a free map with the basics for your own route!
If you are in
About
Finding Accommodation
Bcnloft.com Apartments Barcelona offers online bookings for short term holiday rentals at top locations all around the city center. You can book private rooms and small apartments for groups from €18 per person. BCN loft provides an affordable option compared to expensive hotels, hostels and B&B so that you can have a pleasant stay in
Skiing around Barcelona!
- By Karen Bies
- Published 11/8/2007
- English
- Unrated
Skiing close to
Ski resorts:
There are 6 possibilities of access to the resort. They are all along the Carretera General 2, known as the road the
Granvalira is the biggest and most legendary resort in
Ski resort: Vall de Nuria
This resort is a bit closer the
Vall the Nuria is also a lot smaller compared to Granvalira, but there a still plenty of facilities and services. There are 11 ski slopes and 4 lifts, ski school, equipment hire, snow parks and medical services. If there are people who don’t want to ski or snowboard, there is the possibility to enjoy the snow with activities like cross country skiing, sledging and snowshoe outings. The prices for a skipass with access for 1 day are: €26,60 in the low season and €29,50 in the highseason. A group ski or snowboard lesson costs €16,00 for 2 hours.
Ski resort:
This is probably the closest ski resort to
These ski resorts are perfect to combine with a holiday in Barcelona.
Finding Accommodation
Bcnloft.com Apartments Barcelona offers online bookings for short term holiday rentals at top locations all around the city center. You can book private rooms and small apartments for groups from €18 per person. BCN loft provides an affordable option compared to expensive hotels, hostels and B&B so that you can have a pleasant stay in
Cultural Barcelona
- By Karen Bies
- Published 11/10/2007
- English
- Unrated
Cultural
Nationwide studies show nearly 40% of the people visit a historic site or structure when they travel. Boomer retire and they’re looking for interesting historic experiences.
Museu Picasso
Picasso started his artistic career in
Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA)
This jazzy building is designed by Richard Meier in 1995. It combines the elements of the contemporary American architecture with the Mediterranean rationalist tradition. It holds a collection which is donated by
Museu Maritim
One of the best museums in the city is Museu Maritim, it is located on Avinguda Drassanes which is, offcourse, close to the harbour. It is in a typically 13th century gothic building. This museum shows you the history of the Catalan fleet by old sailing ships, paintings, figureheads, instruments, maps and charts. The art of the wooden shipbuilding, charting of the oceans and launch into the steam age. The museum holds two permanent exhibitions. It offers various educational activities for children.
Museu De
The place to be for women who are addicted to chocolate! But also for children and men, this museum is opened in 2000 and shows you the history of chocolate and cacao. And the future of the chocolate. They offer a workshop so that you can learn how to make your own chocolate!
Museu Militar
A really interesting museum to visit is the Military museum. This museum possesses a big collection of weapons from the 15th century to these days. Also; antique paintings of events, rooms of armor, uniforms, weapons and instruments of war. An interesting museum if you like to know about the wars in the history of
Museu Nacional d' Art de Catalunya
This is national museum. It was built in 1990. It holds some greatest collection of Romanesque murals paintings in the world, including some real gems from the Pyrenean region. Museum is also the home for an impressive array of 14th and 15th century Gothic art paintings from the Europe and
Museu de
This
About
Finding Accommodation
Bcnloft.com Apartments Barcelona offers online bookings for short term holiday rentals at top locations all around the city center. You can book private rooms and small apartments for groups from €18 per person. BCN loft provides an affordable option compared to expensive hotels, hostels and B&B so that you can have a pleasant stay in
La Boqueria
- By Karen Bies
- Published 11/12/2007
- English
- Unrated
The market consist of a covering which shapes a kind of hall where a lot of stands are settled. In every area in every Spanish city you can find such market, but this one is beautiful and has a impressive entrance. Despite it is located on the most touristic street of
The market has got a lot of history, it was born as a travelling market. In catalunya, towns and cities have been founded around markets, open air markets where salesmen, fruit and vegetable vendors from others towns settled to sale their products. The first stone of the market
Today,
About
Finding Accommodation
Bcnloft.com Apartments Barcelona offers online bookings for short term holiday rentals at top locations all around the city center. You can book private rooms and small apartments for groups from €18 per person. BCN loft provides an affordable option compared to expensive hotels, hostels and B&B so that you can have a pleasant stay in
Beaches in Barcelona
- By Karen Bies
- Published 11/14/2007
- English
- Unrated
Beaches in Barcelona,
Besides the cultural attractions
There are six different beaches, they are called: Playa de
Playa de Sant Sebastiá is located next to the industrial dock and is the furthest to the left on the map.
Barceloneta beach is the most popular one and the closest to the city centre. You can go easily by metro to the metro stop Barceloneta on the yellow line, or walk. If you’re walking from
Playa de
Playa del Bogatell is next to the Port Olympic Marina and is less commercial but a really nice beach to go. Playa de
The beaches are cleaned up and renovated for the 1992 Olympic summer games. That’s why the beaches have access to people with disabilities. Most of the beach areas have lifeguards and red cross stations in the summer. They offer a beautiful place to relaxed with friends and love ones as well during the winter. The bars and restaurants are open from the morning until late in the night. During the day you can sip some sangria and take tapas or take advantage of the sea sports. When the evening comes you have to get ready for
About
Finding Accommodation
Bcnloft.com Apartments Barcelona offers online bookings for short term holiday rentals at top locations all around the city center. You can book private rooms and small apartments for groups from €18 per person. BCN loft provides an affordable option compared to expensive hotels, hostels and B&B so that you can have a pleasant stay in
Park Ciutadella
- By Karen Bies
- Published 11/15/2007
- English
- Unrated
Parc Ciutadella
Parc Ciutadella is the biggest park in
The park has got a long and interesting history. Original there was a fortress designed in the shape of a star. Build in 1715 by Prosper Verboom for the king by then, king Felipe V. The citadel was build to be used by his army in the war against the Bourbon kings. After a siege of 18 months fell the fortress and it became a prison in the time of Napoleon.
In 1888 was the park used for the world exhibition. In that period are more buildings constructed in the park. The fountains were designed before by Antoni Gaudi and others. The gardens around the fountains are designed by the French architect Jean Forestier. The park has a surface of
If the weather is nice you will find always groups of drummers in the park. In the neighbourhood of the park is a big market called: Santa Caterina. In the middle of the park is the big pond where everybody can rent rowboats. In the summer months the park is the place of refuge for a lot of inhabitants from
About
Finding Accommodation
Bcnloft.com Apartments Barcelona offers online bookings for short term holiday rentals at top locations all around the city center. You can book private rooms and small apartments for groups from €18 per person. BCN loft provides an affordable option compared to expensive hotels, hostels and B&B so that you can have a pleasant stay in
Sagrada Familia
- By Karen Bies
- Published 11/19/2007
- English
- Unrated
The Sagrada Familia,
The Temple Expiatori de
The designer of the Sagrada Familia was the architect Antoni Gaudì. The inventor of more charateristic buildings in Barcelona. For example the Casa Batllò and Parc Güell. This was the last work of Gaudi, he gave all the last years of his life only for this and lived during those years like a anchoret on the construction site. When he got under a tram by accident he died and buried in the crypt of the church.
The original plan was to build a neogotisch church but after a year Antoni Gaudi got the job and he changed all the plans. The began to build a church in his own excentric style. The building is full of christical symbolic. There is , for example, a centric tower with a big coccyx which have to refer to Christus. And the twelve apostels have all their own bell tower. Every façade wants to show a moment in the life of Christus. The idea came from a bookseller called Joseph Marìa Bocabella. He wanted to protect the
Francisco de Paule
The ship was supposed to be a jungle of pillars, because Gaudì wanted to take care of the burden of the construction without exterior flying buttresses, in contrast with other designers of gotic churches. He wanted to use his own technique. The exterior is ‘dressed’ with a grandly illustration of the delivery of the humanity by Jesus. To examine and design everything as good as possible and from every corner made Gaudi a lot of models of the temple.
Every pillar has got his own theme. For example the westfacade has the theme: the suffer of Christus and the eastfacade the birth of Christus. If the building ever get finished it will be the biggest in the world. The tops of the towers are inspired by cubism and the decorations are probably inspired by the Art Nouveau. Originally the towers have to be three times as high as they are right now. At the birth part is a lot of decoration and three gates called: Fe, Esperanca and Caritat. ( Believe, hope and love) who are the entrance to the wing of the Epistle of the calvary.
The Sagrada Familia is a roman-catholic basilica and the masterpiece of Gaudi. In this temple, which is meanwhile the symbol of the modernisch architecture in
The construction of the consolation church was in the past only payed by donations. That is one of the reasons why it took so long to build, but from the eighties the constriction was speeded up by asking for entree fees. Antoni Gaudi knew that he couldn’t see the Sagrada Familia finishing so he prepared all the models and drawings for the architects after him to make it easier, After Gaudi the following architectures are involved: Francesco Quintana, Puig Boada and Lluìs Gari, the sculptures are made by J. Busquets and the facades by Joseph Subirachs, Now in 2007 is the construction of the church still not finished. They expect that the building will be finished in 2025. A festive inauguration can take place on the 100th day of death of Gaudi on the 10th of June in 2026.
About
Finding Accommodation
Bcnloft.com Apartments Barcelona offers online bookings for short term holiday rentals at top locations all around the city center. You can book private rooms and small apartments for groups from €18 per person. BCN loft provides an affordable option compared to expensive hotels, hostels and B&B so that you can have a pleasant stay in
El Raval, “Este és otro mundo”
- By Karen Bies
- Published 11/20/2007
- English
- Unrated
For visitors going to the city
El raval was historically the red-light zone and a slum of Old Barcelona. The area is quickly becoming the city’s new ‘in’ area. A lot of bars and clubs are frequently visited by young artists and bohemian types. They now fill formerly sketchy alleyways. El Raval is the alternative scene. The old reputation had been dispersed, thanks to its new and diverse developments especially on the cultural sight.
The representative of the Fundaciòn Tot Raval said: ’it is a completely different world’. It is a mix of cultures is this neighbourhood. If you walk in the small busy streets you will find small Chinese shops where you can find everything you think off. There are bars and restaurants with food from all over the world. There live a lot of Moroccans, Filipinos, Indonesians, and people from the
On the cultural sight there is a Centre de Cultura Contemporani on the Montalegre 5. Only the inner court is already impressive enough to visit, it is very accessible. If you go in on the back site you will see two beautiful modern buildings. One is the museum of contemporary arts called: MACBA. Close to the MACBA on placa
About
Finding Accommodation
Bcnloft.com Apartments Barcelona offers online bookings for short term holiday rentals at top locations all around the city center. You can book private rooms and small apartments for groups from €18 per person. BCN loft provides an affordable option compared to expensive hotels, hostels and B&B so that you can have a pleasant stay in

