Traveling in Catalonia

Written: 12 september 2008
Travel time: 12 — 19 august 2008
Your rating of this hotel:
9.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Trip to Spain. 23.08-06.09. 08
Hotel Bon Repos ***
A good hotel, European standard, and, as many reviews say, no frills. I liked the room solely because of its location - the farthest from the elevator, so the clatter of night owls' hooves along the corridor was heard somewhere far away. But the windows overlooked the Oasis Park hotel, and we still heard the drunken curses of the Germans at 3-4 in the morning... if the window was open. And the double-glazed windows are really good.

Room cleaning took place daily (almost always put a coin of 1 euro). But even when they didn’t put it down, they cleaned it well anyway. Suntan oil splashed on the floor and mirrors miraculously disappeared after breakfast (it was at this time that they preferred to clean our room). A fly in the ointment - shampoo and shower gel in microscopic bottles, enough for two times, then whoever prefers what: either walk with a dirty head and wash with soap (two small pieces were still enough for two weeks), or buy it there, in a store, or bring with you. Note for girls: be sure to grab a hair conditioner so that your hair does not hang in tangles (in Moscow, water will be better). The presence of a pile of clean towels and a mountain of toilet paper is the main credo of all maids. By the way, about the maids: very friendly and smiling. The first three "Ola! " we heard from them as we walked down the corridor. Score: 5
The breakfast was not plentiful, and there were no fruits. Kava (local bottling sparkling wine) was also absent (and the reviews wrote that it would certainly be; we had already tuned in... ) The first week they ate sausages and beans, and then switched to muesli and corn flakes with milk. Soluble juices were rejected immediately after the tasting, there were no others. The coffee was great and the tea was either mint or green. For lovers, it is, of course, great, but we are used to getting morning energy from black tea. I would also like to note the following nuance: breakfast was from 8.00 to 9.30. The hotel accommodated 700 people (I don't remember exactly). In general, from 8.15 to 9.15 a lot of vacationers are trying to find a free table. In a pioneering way, you just won’t get hooked - Spaniards having a rest are harmful, they don’t let anyone at their table, but you don’t want to go with the Germans yourself. Tip: breakfasts in many cafes cost from 2 euros. The hotel is about 5 euros. I'm not even talking about saving, it's just that you don't have to stand there with a plate over your soul for 10 minutes. Rating: 3
Lunches were held, basically, without us, because. half board and basta. But everything can always be changed! And we changed dinner for lunch before going to the bullfight. Well, nothing like that, more food than at breakfast. But there were no favorite seafood. We dined in Junior (opposite the underground passage to the beach). Cocktails there are nice, paella - like our finished products from the Sytoedov company. Not "WOW! " But anyway, we tried the whole range of these paelic dishes. In small talk at dinner, many times they wondered how the poor Valencian sailors got rice, saffron, and a bunch of other ingredients for paella ? ! As a result, without hesitation, go for lunch at any establishment with a Tapas sign, anyway, in the 30-degree heat, the belly festival will not take place. Snacks are the best! And in the cafe in front of the Miritim hotel, the wonderful Costa Brava pizza and the most delicious alcoholic cocktails in Calella. Note that now Catalan bread is an invariable attribute of our dinners in Russia. And why didn’t ours guess before the invention of this amazing bread? ! Score: 3
Dinners are great, especially on Fridays! Meat in all manifestations: chicken, pig, cow, fish, hare! Well, just yum yum! And we failed to understand the Germans when they put themselves a mountain of french fries, a bunch of hamburgers, poured it all with liters of mayonnaise and ketchup. And then these people are surprised: “Varum has acne all over his face ?! ” Soups for dinner were served only with pasta, and, as with the history of their juices, first courses were prepared from a bag. The same taste as "our" packaged Podravka. Friday jamon (dried pork leg) is beyond praise! Bravissimo! Catalan cream, like all desserts, is delicious. For a small fee, you can take two glasses or a bottle of wine and have a romantic dinner. Tip: come to dinner at 20.40, not earlier, there will still be no empty seats, sit down at the farthest table by the window, take some wine. Spiritual conversations will flow by themselves. In Moscow, for some reason, the situation does not always favor such conversations. Score: 5

Picnics can be taken by replacing either breakfast or dinner, lunch disappears by itself. He is needed then, if an early excursion - to have lunch with dry rations, if an evening excursion - so that the toad does not strangle the missing dinner. Its composition: orange, peach, apple, 2 very dry rolls, jam and butter + plastic knife and napkin. And now you will decide whether to take it or not. Score: 2
Animation for adults... (this is not what many thought, but like a disco) Maybe it was, but we either walked or were on an evening excursion. And children's animation is SUPER! We remember a modest thin girl from Russia about 5 years old, who was very fond of children of other nationalities after participating in this animation. The teachers are really professional. Start at 21.00. Do not miss! Score: 5
Reception. We decided to show off and asked for the key to the safe in Spanish (fortunately I had a phrase book with me). “Caja fuerte” (which is Spanish for safe) was not understood. In the end, we made a decision - I must say in English. I didn't understand either. They hoped for a chance - they asked in Russian. As a result, we figured out the sign language the next day. By the way, the passport is taken on the day of arrival to fill out questionnaires and documents, do not forget to pick it up the next day and put it in the safe, having previously removed a copy from it in order to carry it with you everywhere. And in general, too, type-top. Score: 4
Life-being
Spaniards. Cheerful, cheerful, friendly and creepy, well, just unbearably lazy! That's why they invented the siesta. And the rest of the lazy nations adopted it: Portugal, India... Officially, it is from 12-13 to 17. But already at 11.30 some shops and firms are closed, and reluctantly open, yawning at 17.30. Well, directly our state-owned enterprises! But in the evening, with the advent of darkness, everything comes to life! In children's parks, only by 21 o'clock they bring the kids to ride the carousels and jump on trampolines! And up to 24. Life is in full swing, and to get to know these people better, come to any park (preferably on Sunday). You will see and understand for yourself. Score: 4

The sea is clean. The bottom is completely transparent and you can see the fish. If you wear goggles for swimming, you can see other interesting and harmless fauna at the bottom. Just do not expect to find monkfish and other exotics that live in the Red Sea. Firstly, the monkfish lives at a depth where tourists will never swim, and secondly, the Mediterranean Sea of ​ ​ ​ ​ Spain is not for diving. All fish are much more modest in size and colors, but this, as they say, is the whole point: to see what others will not see. Note: local debris such as a paper handkerchief and two feminine hygiene products are not counted as dirt. We convinced ourselves that it accidentally flew away from someone. Score: 4
The beach is completely unsuitable for small children. Pebbles, though small, but sometimes it was painful to walk. And although physical pain can be eliminated by wearing rubber slippers, there is no escape from moral suffering. The beach is just strewn with old women sunbathing topless. Not only are they not afraid of breast cancer at such an advanced age, but they also consider their forms to be the most irresistible. A pitiful cellulite spectacle. The noise from the railway, which travel agencies do not like to warn about when sending tourists to Costa Brava (except Blanes), did not interfere at all, even during the day, when trains run every 15-20 minutes, because. our hotel was not close to the railway, nor at night, since the last train rushes by at about 11 pm. Score: 3
Social security is developed 10 times better than in our Motherland. Example: for the disabled, all conditions have been created for a comfortable and happy life in everyday life. Super-sophisticated wheelchairs and electric walkers for almost everyone who needs them. Any exit (even to the beach) is equipped with ramps. Wide corridors, elevators, openings, many orthopedic salons around the city. And most importantly, all disabled people, even if they, as adults, are no more developed than a baby, are perceived and treated by the Spaniards as an ordinary person. We would have! Score: 5
The commercial center of Calella is very exotic. In fact, a narrow long street parallel to the railway with a bunch of shops. For lovers of shopping - almost perfect. Liked: Pells Barselona (shoes, bags, leather jackets, etc. ) - great value for money; a confectionery - we haven't tried such a stone-hard, but terribly tasty chocolate for a long time, or rather, never; Drinks & Drinks - in principle, the same alcohol is in any supermarket, but lovers of the assortment come here. Lacoste is a brand dearly loved by all Spaniards. We also bought something from it. Upon arrival in Moscow, we went to Mega in a similar store - completely different things; the price, who would doubt it, is higher than in Calella. They didn’t take the vaunted jamon - there was no refrigerator, and they didn’t want to take it with them to their native land, if it gets rotten, then with all the things. There are a lot of Indians and Pakistanis in the Center who sell all sorts of crap, like macoco things, they tried it - the zipper on the beach bag broke after 2 days, and things lost color after the first wash. In general, try to avoid them, but fridge magnets are not scary to buy. And there are enough girls from our former republics (Moldova, Ukraine, etc. ) working there. Case: A young man with a girl enters a shoe store: “Do you have “espadrilios” (national shoes with rope soles; as a gift to grandmother) size 41? ” Saleswoman: "Yes, 4.95 euro. " The guy asks his girlfriend in Russian: “How much? ” The girl and the saleswoman unanimously in pure Russian: “Four ninety-five! ”. Or we went to the Malibu cafe. The waitress, in order to find out in what language to serve the menu, asked: “Where are you from? ” We, in chorus: “We are from Russia” Answer: “Well, sorry, there is no menu in Russian, will it be in English? ”. Walked and wondered there almost every evening. Score: 5

Interethnic relations with the Catalans developed quite well, with the exception of the case described above at the hotel for breakfast. In principle, there can be no problems with the Spaniards, even if they don’t understand something, or they don’t understand them, then an active explanation with gestures begins. They tried not to communicate with the Russians. And they were specifically looking for a hotel with a minimum of compatriots. We have seen enough of the "rush of rest" in Turkey, it became terribly ashamed of the nation. And the news about the creation of anti-Russian hotels was received with regret and resentment. Russians are already perceived as second-class people, and our vacationers exacerbate this even more. Well, let's move out of the fire and into the frying pan. With the Germans, of whom there are a large number, they got along with difficulty. They say that they don’t behave like this in their own country, only on vacation outside of Germany they come off in full. Unfortunately, we cannot write anything good about them (and not because our grandparents are front-line soldiers). For some reason, only the Germans got drunk until they lost consciousness, and then the alcohol did not stay long in their bodies, and everything came back. An evening walk at the sea ended with not the most beautiful oil painting: a pissing boy is good in the Brussels fountain, but a pissing boy (about 25 years old) in the Mediterranean Sea, and his girlfriend (apparently so that no one could see) was doing her business in a boat. Why do we claim that these were precisely the inhabitants of Germany? Elementary, they speak very loudly, and the rejection of their speech is already in our blood. In order to calm down, we turned on the player and listened to the Red Banner Ensemble.
A small digression. The Calella newsstand has many different editions in different languages. We very much remember the name of one of the newspapers, proudly showing off in the window: "European Ukrainian". No comments. Score: 5
We compared Barcelona with St. Petersburg, although La Rambla is strikingly similar to the Old Arbat. There are a lot of clowns, like Don Quixote, Cleopatra, some silver boys with whom you can take a picture and pay money for it. We went to the Museum of Erotica. From a women's point of view it's beautiful, from a man's -... There are cafes, hotels, shops, such as Custo, and if you walk from Plaza Catalunya to the embankment, you will have the feeling of walking along the famous Moscow street. The embankment is easy to recognize by the sights of Barcelona - the monument to Columbus. Then we went left from the monument to the telegraph office, it also looks like Moscow TASS and somehow ended up in the Gothic quarter, then the Cathedral followed along the way, and then we strangely found ourselves on La Grasia, a street that runs parallel to La Rambla. Then, feeling terrible hunger, we went to a restaurant that was marked on our map as Catalan. A completely different institution turned out to be on the spot, but also with an emphasis on Catalan cuisine. Bill: 70 euros for two with wine and dessert. After lunch, I wanted to take a walk - we went to Park Gü ell. Walked about 40 minutes. The park is very beautiful, intricate and elegiac. We were not there for long, because. I had to walk back. As a result, we walked across the city in a day and saw half of the sights (we saw the Sagrada Familia earlier when we went to the bullfight, but it is also perfectly visible from the height of Park Gü eli), except for Montjuic. Why did they write that the city resembles St. Petersburg: with old narrow streets, houses that do not look alike, the absence of skyscrapers (in the old quarters), and the people are more intelligent than, for example, in Kaleya. Although there was one exception: a completely naked man, presumably a man, was walking past us without any embarrassment. We understood this, because it was not only that there were no panties, but also boots with socks. But he walked with a proudly raised head and even posture, and this is important for the creative intelligentsia.
As the first day of the trip to Barcelona fell on a Sunday, all shops were closed. We devoted another day of our trip to Barcelona to shopping, after all, autumn was approaching. There were some shops at La Grasia, but they only made purchases at Pelai. The stores are the same as in Moscow, but cheaper (albeit a little, but nice), the assortment is larger, and there are no crowds of people: Zara, C&A, Mango and others like them.

Bottom line: melancholy is a terrible thing, so after the trip we felt sad for our beloved Peter. Score: 4
We had 5 excursions: Bullfighting and Fountains, Montserrat, La Masia, Gala Dali and Collioure and Perpignan. The latter, along with "Carcassonne" (a trip to the south of France), is offered only by "Natalie Tours". The "Neva" was supposed to travel "A Day in the Pyrenees", and the "Tez Tour" only "Carcassonne". The rest of the excursions for all tour operators are almost the same. We will not talk about them, we only note that we liked ALL the excursions, the guides tell in great detail and in an interesting way. From Natalie-Tours I liked Arina the most. Score: 5
Barcelona airport was disgusting. More specifically, his employees. Upon arrival in Barcelona, ​ ​ we waited for luggage for 2.5 hours. But they were not even upset, they just got used to the fact that before this incident everything worked like clockwork, even the charter was not delayed. And back was... (bad word). The tabloids at the registration desks were mixed up. But we learned this after standing for some time under the sign "Moscow" and our flight number. I inquired in advance, by chance, not business class? No economy. Registration has begun, but only Ukrainians flying to Kyiv were registered! We had to queue up again. Tried to get money in Tax Free. Stood in a queue for 1.5 hours. When, at last, they approached the window, they saw an amazing sight. The airport employees are actively discussing some super-important topic, and in between gestures, they sometimes put stamps cherished for non-Europeans. The same line was in the bank to receive money. But there was no time to wait, and we ran headlong to go through passport control. Imagine when we saw a multi-kilometer and multinational queue and two slowly working passport control workers, piercingly looking at everyone who came. At that time there were several flights to Moscow, Bern, Glasgow, Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, the rest were not remembered. The flight was delayed 15 minutes before the flight. Okay, for an hour, it's not scary. They put me on a plane and kept me there for 2 hours. We were especially lucky - our seats were exactly opposite the toilet. Finally, the ship's commander apologized for the "unfair work of the employees of the Barcelona airport" and said that we would fly back a little faster: "travel time is 3 hours 30 minutes" instead of the prescribed four and a half. As a result, we were sick not only on the plane, but also upon arrival home and the next day at work. But not from work. Here. Note that there are no complaints against Transaero. Rating: 1
The impressions have already been essentially described above, but in general, of course, nothing spoiled the rest. It’s not that we don’t want to fly away, we still miss our home. I wanted to quickly return back to Calella, to Bon Repos, to my corner room with a view of Oasis Park. To these two-kilometer-long pebbly beaches, to polite drivers who always let pedestrians through, to jellyfish that dangled along the shore at high tide, and everyone was afraid to go into the water, to cool Sangria, which we devoured in liters, and of course, to the lovely Spaniards. Still, a kind word is also pleasant for Russians, especially sincere “Ola! ” Rating: 5+
Translated automatically from Russian. View original