The Underwater World of Barcelona Aquarium

If you are a city dweller or have young children with you, then a trip to the underwater world of Barcelona Aquarium is a must for you. It is not the biggest aquarium in Europe, but it certainly offers some of the best shark exhibitions of any aquarium. In any case, kids love to watch fish because they are active creatures, unlike many zoo animals that laze about all day because they have nothing to keep them occupied.

The aquarium is famed for its shark displays, and makes a serious attempt to educate the public in these fascinating but feared creatures through its ‘Diving with Sharks‘ program. This course costing 300 Euros is designed for qualified divers, and is in three parts, the first of which is a theoretical class on sharks, their habits and their habitat.

The second part involves a tour of the aquarium, presumable with particular reference to sharks and the way the aquarium presents them, and finally an Oceanarium dive of four people to visit the sharks close up. The tank contains 15 million liters of water and over 15 sharks living in the same environment as other marine creatures, including moray eels, groupers and rays - a total of 5000 other organisms.  This is a fascinating and popular course for both professional and amateur divers.

Its more traditional exhibits include large tanks displaying 14 different Mediterranean communities, such as the cave and crevice community, red coral community and benthos (sea bottom) life. Each of these fascinating tanks both educates and entertains, and is suitable for children and adults of all ages.

Of special interest to many children (and adults) are the small tanks, or ‘mini aquaria‘ as they are referred to, that show the environment and way of life of creatures such as the nautilus and the sea cucumber, the strange creatures that live within meadows of Neptune grass, and the fantastic woody sea-dragon and big-bellied seahorse. This is a marvelous opportunity to meet these wonderful creatures for the first time and learn a bit about what struggles they have to survive in order just to stay alive. 

The ‘Explora‘ exhibitions have been designed specifically for children, and offer more than 50 interactive exhibits that enable children to explore life in a wide range of marine habitats. The Oceanarium is a tank 35 metres in diameter and 5 metres deep, containing tiger and sandbar shark, sunfish, rays, moray eels and many more that can be viewed from an 80 m long  transparent tunnel crossing the bottom of the tank.  For some, this is the highlight of the Barcelona aquarium, but for children there is a lot more to come.

The children can spend a night here ‘Sleeping with Sharks’ (currently available in Spanish and Catalan only), and also have birthday parties. Planeta Aqua teaches them the importance of water to the planet, and explains marine life from the glacial cold of the arctic to the warmth of tropical waters to life in the dark abyss where natural chemistry enables sea creatures to create their own personal torches. All of this is fascinating to children, and a far cry from the boring tank exhibits of their parents’ days.

Barcelona Aquarium might not be as large as that in London, but it is nevertheless one of the largest in Europe, and certainly offers one of the best range of exhibits in modern settings that you are likely to come across. The fish and other species are not shown simply for you to gawk at, but in a way that educates you in the way of life and the fight for survival that these creatures have to experience every single day in their own natural environments.

These environments are recreated as accurately as possible in what, after all, is an aquarium that has been artificially created to house them. It seems that Barcelona Aquarium has achieved that extremely well, and while it might not be of interest to everybody, it certainly will be to anybody with the slightest interest in how fish, sea molluscs and other animal life survive in the hostile environment that we know as ‘the sea’.

The aquarium is owned by the Aspro Group that runs more than 35 marine theme parks and exhibitions throughout Europe, including the Blue Reef and Blue Planet aquaria in England, Deep Sea World in Scotland, and Aqualand in Spain, France and Portugal, and they can call upon all of their experience to offer you what are among the best marine exhibitions in the world.

This is an experience not to be missed, and if you have children this is an absolute must, but if you want to take advantage of any of the special courses or features of Barcelona Aquarium then you have to book in advance at the number provided below.

The aquarium is open all year round from 9.30 A.M., closing from 9 P.M. onwards depending on time of year. Call 93 221 7474 for details or to make bookings for any of the special events or exhibitions.

It is situated at Moll d’Espanya del Port Vell, and a large number of buses travel here, namely routes 14, 17, 19, 36, 38, 40, 45, 57, 59, 64, 91 and 157. You can use the Blue South route of the Bus Turístic, and the metro on L3 and L4.  It is not difficult to find.

The Tibidabo Amusement Park

Situated at the highest point in the city, the Tibidabo Amusement Park gives you a fabulous view of Barcelona. Over 100 years old, the amusement park is a genuine funfair, in fact the only one in the city, and spreads over six different levels of the mountain that gives it its name.  It has been designed for families, and is not for you if you are seeking a giant gut-wrenching ride. For these, you should take a trip to Portaventura.

Nevertheless the trip up the mountain is a lot of fun, and your kids will love it.  The amusement park itself will take you back into a bygone era when fun was not measured in how high and fast the rides went, but in how much the children enjoyed them.  This is a traditional form of funfair, and has a lot of different rides and attractions to offer everybody in the family.

It offers a mix of the antique rides and the new, combining the old vintage plane ride and the new roller coaster, La Montaña Rusa. The Ferris wheel can’t be missed, and is located in the first level of the park that you come to.  This offers an incredible view of Barcelona and its main street structure, particularly at night, and although you can pay for the Ferris wheel individually, from here on in you have to pay to enter the Park proper.

You are strongly advised to take the Tibidabo Tram to the park.  This is a small blue tram (Tramvia Blau) that takes you half way up the mountain.  It leaves from the stop at 2 Avenida Tibidabo.  You can get the L7 train from the station at Plaza de Catalunya that takes you close to the tram stop in Plaza de John Kennedy. After about seven minutes you get off and transfer to the funicular railway that takes you through the forest the rest of the way. The funicular runs at times to suit the Tibidabo Amusement Park opening hours.

The plane ride and Ferris wheel are outside the main gates to the Amusement Park, and there is also a lovely antique carousel here: you pay for these separately before paying to enter the park itself. You can also get the T2 Tibidado shuttle bus from Plaza Cataluña if you prefer, but more on getting here later. If you are interested in movie trivia, the amusement park featured in the 2008 Woody Allan movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

One thing you should be aware of is that because of the relatively isolated location up the mountain, the fast food outlets here tend to be expensive. You are advised to bring your own food and plenty water to drink because feeding a family up here can cost you a lot. The food outlets have no competition, and while they are great for a cold beer on a hot day or cotton candy (candy floss) for the kids, make sure you have some sandwiches or other food with you. You will find plenty picnic areas in the park.

The Tibidabo Amusement Park is more suitable for younger children than for teenagers, but certainly offers them a fantastic fun family day out. If you love fun, fantasy, fireworks, Ferris wheels and fairytale carousels, then this place was made for you. The Talaia, or Watch Tower, slowly rises up to 550 metres and offers spectacular views of Barcelona. The Tibidabo Mountain is the place to be if you want an arial view of Barcelona’s layout, particularly at night when everything is lit up.

Also lit up on the mountain is the Temple Expiatori del Sagrat Cor, the Church of the Sacred Heart, and this is a must for any visitor to Tibidabo Mountain. The construction of this church began in 1902 and took about 60 years to build.  There are no particular architectural attributes to it, but it certainly looks spectacular when illuminated at night, and its statue of Jesus sits at 512 metres overlooking Barcelona and the surrounding area.

Anybody visiting Barcelona with younger children should pay a visit to the Tibidabo Amusement Park. Not only does everyone that visits the park have lots of fun, but also the trip up the mountain offers spectacular views and the kids love being on the tram and funicular railway. It’s something novel to them, and your main problems will be persuading them it’s time to leave, and that they can’t come here every day!

Here are the details of the Tibidabo Amusement Park for visitors:

Opening:  Monday - Sunday from 11 A.M. onwards. Closing depends on time of year.
Call +34 93 211 79 42 for opening times during your visit to Barcelona.

Getting there:
a)  L7 train to Av Tibidabo then Tramvia Blau and Funicular Bus
b)  Tibibus from Plaça Catalunya from 10.30 am.

You get your funicular and Tibibus fare refunded when you buy a ticket at the Amusement Park entrance.

F.C. Barcelona - A Footballing Tourist’s Dream

Fútbol Club Barcelona, commonly known as FC Barcelona or simply Barça, is one of only three clubs never to have been relegated from La Liga, and after Real Madrid is the most successful Spanish football club ever. In fact, according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, Barça has been the most successful football club in the world between 1991 and 2008. 

The club’s stadium is the Camp Nou (Nou Camp to the English), officially known as the Nou Estadi del Futbol Club Barcelona, and is situated in Avinguda Aristides Maillol, s/n, 08028, Barcelona. It can be reached by bus on Lines 7, 15, 43, 67, 68, 74, 75, L12, L50, L60 and L62 and by metro on Line 3 from Maria Cristina or Les Corts and Line 5 from Collblanc or Badal. It is situated 5 Km from the center of the city, and 13 Km from Barcelona El Prat Airport.

Prior to the Camp Nou, the club had been playing at its first permanent home, the Les Corts ground, since 1922. However, a steady increase in membership led to a new stadium having to be built.  After a period of discussion and argument as to whether the new stadium should be situated at a site known as La Maternidad, purchased by the club in 1950, or at a site at the top end of the Diagonal, an area that was undergoing redevelopment at that time, the first stone for the Camp Nou was laid at La Maternidad in 1954 and the stadium completed in 1957.
 
The club has its own newspaper, magazine and radio and TV station and is a rich club, with overall after-tax profits last year of €6.65 million. It is one of the major football clubs in the world, regularly taking part in major competitions such as the Champions League (Formerly the European Cup).

Camp Nou is an excellent stadium for tourists, with a highly acclaimed museum and offering guided tours of the stadium. These tours are fabulous for anybody, but particularly for football fans. You get shown everything from the pitch to the players’ dressing rooms. You visit the press area, the president’s box and down the tunnel to run onto the pitch - all that is missing is the rest of the team and the thousands of screaming fans!  You can’t beat this place for its sheer atmosphere, and when you run onto that pitch you are doing what every Barcelona supporter dreams of doing.

The museum displays the trophies the club has won, and photographs and personal belongings of many of their stars over the ages.  It follows the history of this great football club through its early days, including the era of Josep Samitier who played 103 games from 1919-1932, an era when games were very few and far between, and Carlos Rodriguez who scored the highest ever number of goals for Barça, 235 in 350 appearances from 1941-55 and Migueli (Miguel Bernardo Bianquetti), with the highest ever number of appearances for the club: 548 from 1973-89. Bask in the glory of other great modern players, such as Maradonna, Johan Cruijff, Ronaldo, Deco, Ronaldinho and Rafael Marquez who is still playing for FC Barcelona.

Opened in 1984 and expanded several times, the Barcelona Football Club museum is visited by over 1.2 million people a year, and is regarded as the best football museum in the world. It does more than simply display trophies and players’ artifacts, but also focuses on the cultural and social aspects of the club with marvelous audio-visual displays and objects reminiscing on the club’s history. 

A brand new multimedia audio-visual display unit is under construction on the second floor, which should be opening towards the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010.  This will cap a wonderful football museum that is being used as an example by many other clubs in designing their own museums.  This will be a hard standard for them to follow.

You are not obliged to take the guided tour, but would lose a lot by not doing so. If you prefer to walk around the club at your own pace, you can use the option of an audio guide providing a commentary that makes sure you lose little by going it alone. The guide is available in seven languages, namely Catalan, Spanish, English, Dutch, French, German and Italian.

To get tickets go through gates 7 and 9 and head for the Boulevard Ticket Offices.  Price for the tour and the museum is €17 for adults and €14 for 6 - 13 year-olds.  Children under six are free.

Opening times for the tour museum are 10 A.M. – 6.30 P.M. daily except Sundays and Bank Holiday which are 10 A.M. – 2 P.M.  On match days the tour is closed from 10 A.M. – 3 P.M.  There is no need to book in advanced but you can book online from the clubs website or for details you can call (+34) 93496 36 08 or email museu@fcbarcalona.com

Bus Turistic: A Hit or a Miss for Touring Barcelona?

Bus Turistic is Barcelona’s main tourist bus service that enables you to more easily see what Barcelona has to offer. For tourists it is extremely successful as this open top double decker bus tour gives you an idea of what Barcelona is like in a short period of time.

First let’s have a look at the positive nature of Bus Turistic. You can travel all day on any of the three routes with a single ticket. You can ride up and down on the one route, getting off and on as you please, or mix your journeys between the three. Not only that, but you are provided with an audio guide in any of 10 languages (Catalan,  Spanish,  English,  French,  German,  Italian,  Chinese,  Japanese,  Russian,  Portuguese) that explains what you can see on the part of the route you currently are at.

You have the option to sit downstairs or upstairs and there are separate queues for each, the upstairs being most popular because the bus is open-topped. This offers you a much clearer view as a tourist. The buses arrive from 5 to 25 minutes apart depending on the time of year starting frm 9-9.30 A.M., though the schedules are displayed clearly at the bus stops.

The services run all year, except Christmas (25/12) and New Year Day (01/01), although the Green Route is limited to 3rd April to 27th September. Each route takes about 2 hours apart from the Green Route that takes 40 minutes.

With a total of 44 bus stops in the city this is a wonderful way to see Barcelona, and if you use these buses early on in your vacation or business trip to Barcelona, then you can plan which parts you will revisit to see in more detail, moreover you will also have the included coupon book to use for the rest of your stay (with discounts for various attractions and restaurants and the map of the city).

It is a very convenient way to become familiar with the more interesting sights in Barcelona, and by using the six transfer stops, the stops common to the different routes, you can switch from one route to another and see the entire city with one daily ticket. Here is a brief guide to the three Bus Turistic routes:

Red Route

If we draw the imaginary line following the Avinguda Diagonal Road that crosses all Barcelona, it will separate the whole city in 2 parts: above and below the Avinguda Diagonal.

The Red route starts at the Plaça de Catalunya and most of the time goes above the Avinguda Diagonal Road. It is perfect to see those attractions which are quite far from the city centre such as Park Guell located in the Gracia district, Tibidabo hill with its amusement park, Monastir de Pedralbes, Sagrada Família and Barcelona Football Club stadium in les Corts.
There is a lot to see and to do on this route, and plenty of restaurants for lunch or dinner.

Blue Route

The Blue route also begins at the Plaça de Catalunya and goes below the Avinguda Diagonal; it is perfect to explore Montjuic hill which literally overflows with museums and attractions such as Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), the botanic gardens, Poble Espanyol and Olympic Stadium.

Or to discover Port Vell and Port Olympic: you can get off at Colom-Museu Marítim, and visit not only the marvelous Maritime Museum, but also the Barcelona Aquarium which is great for the kids, or have a helicopter flight over the sea and the city at Cathelicopters (Ticket Counter at the Bottom of La Rambla).

Green Route

The Green Route is the shortest route, running for only part of the year from Port Olímpic via Platja Bogatell-Cementiri del Poblenou and the district of PobleNou, once the centre of Catalan industry, then onto to Parc Diagonal Mar, exhibiting some ambitious architecture in a newly developed area of Barcelona.  Finally you reach the Barcelona Fòrum building, a unique triangular structure which is well worth visiting.

By use of these three routes you can visit most of the areas in Barcelona of interest to tourists (and to residents) for just 21 Euros a day, or 27 Euros for two consecutive days.  Children aged 4 - 12 years pay 13 and 17 Euros respectively, while under 4s are free.
The service is adapted.

However, not all is rosy with the Bus Turistic and there are some drawbacks to using it.  The main one is the long queues, particularly during mid summer (July-August), the high tourist season.  You can wait 30 minutes or more to get on a bus, unless you want to sit inside.

It can also get extremely hot in Barcelona mid-summer and while some of the buses are equipped with a special convertible roof which can be folded back, some are not and the passengers who decide to sit upstairs can suffer from the sun burning.  And it  is strongly recommended to get water with you.
The buses can also get over-crowded, and sometimes pass stops by without stopping because there is no room for more passengers.

Given all that, however, Bus Turistic is a great way to see Barcelona, and it makes planning your vacation much easier as you tick off the various areas and attractions you want to visit in detail later. It’s a must for any visitor to Barcelona, even if you use it for just one day.  Once you have your seat you can stay there all day long if you want to.

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