Before coming to Barcelona, I still thought this was a city worth going to because it had a lot of things related to architecture and art, beautiful things that I liked. However, within just 10 hours of traveling to Barcelona, my perspective on this city changed 180 degrees. Everything pink has been erased, Barcelona for me only has a few words:
- Scammers steal money
- Rich imagination of master GAUDI
- I don’t like the Barca team that much
- Everything is more expensive than elsewhere in Spain
In general, I don’t like the city of Barcelona very much, so please allow me not to share details about this city but just tell about the bitter experience of my stupidity here.
The 1-0-2 magic show of the “policeman” in Barcelona
Barca belongs to Catalonia – a very… violent country. When we go to Catalan streets, we often see them hanging banners demanding their right to independence and separation from Spain.
Here, and it seems like all over Europe, immigrants, nomads, robbers of all kinds, also known as Bugs, are shameless and their tactics are extremely terrible. I was the painful victim of a money scam right before my eyes :((, right in the middle of the day. All because of one elementary mistake, which was carrying too much money with me and being scammed by it. .
I originally traveled to Barcelona by bus, but that trip broadened my horizons and helped me meet a lovely Swiss girl and admire the vast fields of olive trees and yellow sunflowers. glowing on the dry, desert-like land stretching from Andalucia to Catalonia.
Because I arrived by bus, I was in such a hurry that I forgot to leave my money bag at home when packing. Normally, I would always leave a large amount of money locked up at the hostel, but unfortunately that day, after checking the money, I stuffed most of it into a small wallet and put it in the large backpack I usually carry. So when the scam happened, it was around 8-9pm. My whole beautiful long day didn’t have any problems, until after I went into the Supercat store (a famous supermarket chain). in Catalonia) near Barcelona-Barcelona Sants central bus & pier and it happened, right when I was waiting for the fateful bus to go to the beach and have a sweet beach party.
Stupid girl, I had just finished buying a bunch of fruit and beer to sip on the beach when he approached! At that time, I was alone sitting in one place. Even though there were passersby, they didn’t seem to care. He – a man who didn’t look like Bedbug, or maybe he was definitely Bedbug but I couldn’t tell the difference and dressed like… a police officer from head to toe, approached me. That guy also used a fake police badge to trick me when I asked to check my card. In addition, he also pretended to ask me if I wanted to go to the station because this was to check if I was a drug dealer suspect. I even took out my phone to call someone and confirm their English with the other person to see if it was really me.
I was so scared at that time, thinking that if someone framed me, put drugs in my bag and I didn’t know anything about it, then there would be big trouble, so I panicked and said I was willing to give it up. That checked bag. Oh, at that time I still thought there was no money in my backpack and the camera was hidden somewhere else. Luckily, he couldn’t find my camera, but he searched deeply and discovered the wallet, he asked me to open it so he could see. I held it tightly because I was afraid of losing it, but I opened it for him to take a look. At that moment my backup battery fell down. I think 100% that this guy intentionally made the battery fall out so that I could quickly pick it up and he could quickly take my money.
The most disgusting trick of this guy is that he didn’t take the whole wallet or run away, giving me a chance to scream, he only took ¾ of the money and left a few coins so I wouldn’t get suspicious because at that time I was careful. Carefully opened the wallet to check and still found money. But then he apologized, announced that he didn’t have any drugs and ran away as fast as he could. So, stupid girl, I checked my wallet again and this time discovered that my wallet had lost all its money, only 200 euros left. So in total, he took me 450 euros and left me sobbing, because of my stupidity and unreasonable fear. So my whole plan to party outside Barca’s beach also disappeared. My first day at Barca couldn’t have been more disgusting and ugly!
Traveling to Barcelona and the disappointments named after architect Gaudi
In addition to the sophisticated fraud of the tourists, Barca is not happy for me because many of my expectations were not as expected.
Park Guell – the biggest disappointment
Out of all, Park Guell is the stupidest park I went to and cost about 10 euros. There’s nothing much except a building and a few beautiful Gaudi-style facades. All were surrounded by a few hundred tourists standing and competing for each other’s places, trying to squeeze their bodies into the strange building, beautiful facade, and ceramic walls (which reminded me of colorful lotus snails in other places). colors and ceramic streets in Hanoi :)).
Looking at this reminds me of the ceramic street in Hanoi, right :p.
Park Guell’s arched hallway looks a bit… fake
The entrance to Park Guell is actually accessible… for free
From a distance, this place looks a bit… childish, or maybe I just don’t suit it
And it was so boring that I left Barca and the remaining 1/2 day to go to Girona, I will talk about it another day.
With a price of 10 Euros and nothing to see, I recommend you avoid buying tickets to this park if you have a tight schedule to explore in Barcelona. In case you still want to see if it’s really fair to talk about it like that, buy tickets online to get a discount compared to buying on the spot (3 more Euros).
La Sagrada Familia- East to the point of breathlessness
The second thing I was disappointed with was La Sagrada Familia. I didn’t book a ticket in advance because it was too… expensive =))) so I decided (a very good decision) to go and see if it’s as beautiful and truly majestic as advertised, then I’ll go in. And as I predicted, that century-old unfinished project is truly a tourist disaster =)).
This seems to be the most crowded tourist destination in Catalonia. Besides the fact that it was 35 degrees hot and crowded with tourists, this unfinished church did not make a big impression on me, when I was already conquered by the ancient and sophisticated beauty of other churches. Actually, it’s a bit unfair to comment on such a beautiful project, but I wish it was completed when I arrived :)). But over here, the overhead cranes and sloppy construction have made this place a third disillusionment when coming to Barcelona. But when I heard my friend come inside praising this church over and over again, I could only… pucker my mouth :P, because it was a bit regretful. If you buy La Sagrada Familia tickets online in advance and get there without queuing, the experience will probably be quite ok, because you won’t have to crowd around.
Casa Batlo – All miracles are now just an illusion
The least disappointing thing about this trip to Barcelona is Casa Batlo, but to be honest, it is also another disappointment, there are just still some bright spots to save it. First of all is the ticket price. Mother, 25 euros for a tour here is truly a Rip-off – a high-stakes cut by some Spanish marketing masters. Under their hands, vivid video clips about an imaginary world and full of images symbolizing Gaudi’s style made me unable to help but admire and book tickets.
When we arrived at 8:30 a.m., it was already full of people lining up to enter this house. Because it’s quite small, moving around and… Not touching each other or not entering each other’s frames is extremely difficult for tourists. All the furniture in the house – which in my opinion is a typical highlight of Gaudi’s style – has been unfortunately taken away, the house is now an empty house, with nothing but a specialized floor. Selling Gaudi souvenirs.
Casa Batllo is beautiful and sleek on the outside. One of the strange houses in Barcelona
Casa Batllo is sparkling, but getting inside is still disappointing
A strange furnace that Gaudi came up with, so beautiful.
Lovely door frame at Casa Batllo – a hot tourist destination in Barcelona
Fortunately, there are dreamy windows, and the audio and smart guide have made the visit to this house recognized by Unesco as a world cultural heritage a thousand times more lively and attractive. The smartguide recreates the glorious time when the house was designed for the Batlo family to live in. In general, this is also the most beautiful house that is still intact and contains the vibrancy as well as all the design thinking of Gaudi’s genius. It must be said that he was a person with a “paradoxical” vision that was ahead of his time and completely different, even though he was born and lived in the 19th century. Try to imagine a house with all the angles. Its features are all rounded and beautiful, so who wouldn’t want to stay here?
3D effect from Casa Batllo’s app
The chandelier in Casa Batllo, I love the window alone
The outside of the Casa Batllo building looks like a cake
My favorite wall in Casa Batllo
I highly recommend that you book tickets to this place and can skip Park Guell if you don’t have too much time here.
Book cheap Casa Batlo tickets online to avoid queuing
The “glimmering” bright spots when traveling to Barcelona
Of course there are still some bright spots when traveling to Barcelona =)), of course, maybe it’s so bad that it’s unbearable. Actually, Barca has a lot of things for you to enjoy:
Barcelona beach has golden sand and blue sea. But I don’t like it as much as Vietnam’s beach. However, everyone who travels to Barcelona should stop by here. Source: Pixabay.
- The golden streets look ancient and antique, too
The houses in Barcelona have a very characteristic light yellow color
The house is close together and there are only trees on the balcony, but none next to it
When you travel to Barcelona, you always see houses like this
The streets are full of pedestrians and cyclists, and there are no cars
- The houses are super cute, special and… free to see, of course only on the outside
Casa Vicens – Gaudi’s first home
Some kind of house inside Casa batllo
Casa Milá is famous and I only had time to pass by when traveling to Barcelona
Casa Amatler- right next to the famous Casa Batllo
- The museums are lovely and the art experience is exceptional.
- The outstanding football atmosphere at FC Barca’s Camp Nou stadium: I didn’t get to go, but I did get to visit a museum and shop selling Barcelona’s goods, which I really enjoyed. It’s a pity that I don’t have enough time to go to this stadium to play.
Lollipops seem to cost 1 Euro/piece at Barca’s store
Inside the store are historical landmarks of Barcelona
FC Barcelona has a very nice store
Come in and learn about the club’s glorious history
- Interesting street performances, like… puppet shows.
- The air is pleasant, the temperature is lower than most cities in Spain
- The shopping streets are full of promotional goods with all kinds of famous brands. I think they are also cheap, cheaper than in France. I bought quite a few things for my cousins and friends, luckily, when scammers trick you into losing a lot of money.
- There are many dining options with many different European, Asian, Spanish, and fast food restaurants :). It’s up to you to choose. There are many cheap or expensive prices, just go in and calculate the menu, compare styles. For example, Paela rice costs about 6-7 euros for a delicious and cheap bowl, but for 10 euros it’s huge… it takes 2 people to eat it all.
I might return to Barcelona one day: if only I hated it less :)). Having said that, going to Spain without going to Barcelona is a bit of a waste.
Experience the royal palace and the beautiful ancient city of Seville
2 days in Lisbon – beautiful city of Portugal
Paris is as romantic as an eternal lover in Europe
