Travel Tips

Posts Tagged ‘Spain’

Mallorca – or Majorca – is the largest of the four Balearic Islands, which are located in the Mediterranean off the southern coast of Spain. And adminstratively fall within the autonomous region of Catalonia. Like the other islands in the group such as Ibiza and Menorca, Mallorca is located around a two and half hour flight from the UK. With flights to the island available with most of the leading budget airlines such as easyJet.

Some thirty years ago areas of the island in the south especially started to earn a reptutation as a slightly downmarket destination. Thanks in no small part to the drunken antics of young and rowdy British holidaymakers in resorts such as Magaluf. Today though that image has long since faded – as VIP visitors and indepdendent travellers are now the norm. With the focus shifting towards the north of the island and in particular the resorts of Pollensa and Alcudia. Which have become very popular with the more discerning visitor.

Many of these tourists prefer Majorca villas to hotels – as they offer much more privacy and luxury. And lots of these properties have been built using locally quarried stone. Which helps to create a very traditional feel – whilst also offering plenty of modern day luxuries. Holiday Villas in Majorca do get booked up very early in the season, but to be sure of the best choice book well ahead of time.

Majorca´s capital city is called Palma – and this is also the main seat of government for the whole of the Balearic Islands. Majorca´s sole international airport, Son Sant Joan, is located here too and many visitors head for the beaches in and around Palma.

The city itself is full of great old buildings, the most notable of which is the famous Le Seu Cathedral. Which was built on the site of a former mosque in the 13th century – symbolising the victory of the Christians over the Moors. Incredibly the cathedral took over six centuries to complete – and even Antoni Gaudi, the well known local architect had a hand n its construction and final completion in the 20th century.

High season on Mallorca occupies the main summer months of July, August and September. When there is very little rainfall and when the temperatures average out at around 30 degrees. Many visitors enjoy a holiday on the island during off peak periods too such as May and October. When temperatures average at about 20 degrees.

A great selection of Villas in Mallorca .

Ask anybody who’s going to go to Barcelona where they would like to stay, and the common response is “close to Las Ramblas”. This Barcelona promenade is the most renowned street in the city, and is really an old river bed. The Barri Gotic or Gothic Neighbourhood used to be the old Barcelona (know in Roman times as “Barcino”) and has a wall running around the town to guard it, wit the main entrance the iron gates halfway down the actual Ramblas, and know known as Portaferrissa (literally “Iron door”). Flanking Barcino to the left was countryside and the Roman church of Sant Pau del Camp (Saint Paul of the country) which now is in the heart of the Raval.

Las Ramblas now bisects the old city – leaving El Raval (from Arabic meaning beyond the walls) to the left and El Gotico to the right. The name “Las Ramblas” is essentially plural – meaning many ramblas all picked up together. Ramblas has even coined its own word “ramblear” meaning to stroll / ramble as many neighbors and visitors do on weekends.

From the city’s main square – Plaa Catalunya – down to the Port and the monument of Christopher Columbus, Las Ramblas epitomizes Barcelona and is a colourful, 24 hour street where you’ll find a mixture of neighbors and tourists alike. All of the promenade is dotted with newspaper kiosks which are open twenty-four hours, and is the number 1 place to get your hot-off-the-press copy of the local and international reports. Find your Hotel Barcelona next to the city Center and enjoy your stay in Barcelona.

Beginning from the top of Plaa Catalunya, and walking down to the port (also this is slightly downhill) we first have Rambla de Canaletes – named after the fountains at Plaa Catalunya. This part of Las Ramblas is a favourite for the local OAPs to gather and set the world to rights, as well as the standard hang out for the FC Barcelona fans after a victory ( especially if it’s over their sour rivals Real Madrid ).

Next in the continual transition is Rambla de los Estudios (studies), which joins the Catalana Library on Calle Hospital, and is where the start of the street performers and human statues las Ramblas is becoming so feted for, begin to appear.

Rambla de Sant Josep is so named for the famous market of Saint Joseph, also more commonly called “La Boqueria” – allegedly Europe’s largest food market selling absolutely everything edible under the sun. This stretch is closely followed by Rambla de los capuxinos – some of the city’s finest and oldest cafs sit next to the provoking Liceu Opera house and have been inspiration to several a visitor and writer to Barcelona. What easier way to stop and write a postcard than with a caf con leche here!? This part is often referred to as rambla de les flores, thanks to the many flower sellers crammed into the little space here, and is a dazzling place to go to in the saint George’s day celebrations ( the guardian saint of Catalunya ) as roses are historically given on this day.

The final stretch is Rambla de Santa Monica – named from the old Portal de Santa Monica still intact on nearby Parallel street. Here the city’s many artists and caricature painters plant their stalls together with the common three cup conmen who never fail to draw in interest. Crowning the base of Las Ramblas and the entrance to Port Vell ( “the old Port” is Christopher Columbus monument – pointing out towards Las Americas. Look for amazing and cheap Ferienwohnungen Barcelona next to the Columbus monument.
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I’ve questioned a few significant international courier services that operate from Spain why the price of shipping from Spain to other European countries is really so costly compared to the cost of a courier shipment in the opposite route. There appears to be a conspiracy of silence so let’s examine the specifics.

The published price tag for shipping from Marbella, Spain a five kg parcel to Berlin, Germany during August 2010 is €211.56 via UPS www.ups.com employing their Express Saver courier parcel service from Spain.

The published total price for shipping and delivery to Courier Spain the same parcel back again from Germany using the same UPS courier service is €136.31. This is a time-specific air courier delivery service.

The difference with a road freighted Economy courier parcel is even greater €136.38 in comparison with €45.10, 3 times as much to courier a parcel from Spain to Germany as the opposite routing.

Exactly the same occurs for couriers between Spain and the United kingdom. Express Saver from Marbella to London is also €211.56 in contrast to Economy is €159.89, the return cost of the courier from England to Spain is £88.47 and £74.85 (€106.23 and €89.88 reported by today’s rate at www.currenciesdirect.com ), still practically double.

Germany is the globe’s biggest exporting nation as per www.nationmaster.com exporting a lot more than China, Spain comes in at 17th, 2 spots behind Belgium. On this basis, you’d probably naturally think that there are trucks and aeroplanes full of courier parcels shipping from Germany in the direction of Spain and the UK which cannot all be coming back full with courier packages from either England or Spain to Germany.

There are 2 logical explanations for this. One is that courier collection inside Germany is a lot more streamlined compared to inside the United kingdom or Spain and therefore the export fees are lower. Having said that, we are talking about a door-to-door service so a collection from 1 country requires a delivery in another and consequently the complexities might appear to cancel each other out.

The one bottom line which i can sensibly draw would be that the Courier Delivery Companies are charging the “market price” which means that the Spanish industry will bear a increased total price than either the United kingdom or German market. However, the fact that there are actually 4 international companies contending head-to-head in a very cut-throat marketplace without one of these in a position to match their export costs from Spain to the cost of getting the very same parcel brought in from other European countries to Spain implies there is something wrong. Either it might be called oligopoly pricing or there exists a structural issue in collection from Spain that is not reflected in deliveries to the exact same addresses.

Shipping Spain

Fortunately there exists a company named Citibox www.citibox.es (Courier Spain) which smashes through these barriers and enables clients to send out courier parcels both to and from Spain not simply within Europe but Throughout the world for the same price whether the letter or parcel is going to Spain or is being sent from Spain. In addition they provide discounts of around 50% of the published charges of the main Courier Companies on letters, parcels and packages from Spain. A quote without any obligation is available at http://www.citibox.es/courier-delivery-quote.php .

With the large urban operation that the world Exposition of Barcelona 1929 represented, the Council made a decision to build a great sporting venue for the town which would add weight in convincing the world Olympic Committee and, in particular, Baron Pierre de Coubertin that Barcelona intended to organise, with well founded aspirations, the olympic games. Thus the Stadium of Montjuic was born. After many years of neglect and reject the stadium was redecorated to become the center of the olympic games in 1992. Thousands of athletes from each part of the World landed in the Aeroport Barcelone and provided a huge show in the Olympic Stadium.

In the eighties the organizing board of Barcelona 92 held a global architecture competition to try the job of rebuilding the stadium. The firm of designers Correa-Mil-Margarit-Buixad was selected to design the management plan for Montjuc, which included the restoration of the stadium. The Italian designer, Vittorio Gregotti, also worked alongside the Catalan architects.

Montjuic was totally stripped and the primary cover was the only part of the stadium to get left intact. The capacity was increased to 45,000 and the area around the stadium was made into a ring full of sporting facilities that made the Olympics of Barcelona such a success.
The cost of the work reached 8,500 million pesetas at the time, with the stadium being provided with the most modern fittings available, which can accommodate any sort of international athletics competition or other events.

Currently the Olympic Stadium of Montjuic, whose official title is the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium of Montjuc, is a modern stadium in full use which is considered a 5 star stadium by the Union of western european football Associations ( UEFA ). Only two other stadiums in Spain have this ranking : Vicente Caldern and Camp Nou, the official stadium of the FC Barcelona which attracts each year thousands of tourists who make a long Voyage Barcelone in order to see it.

Built in the second 1/2 the 19th century, Parc de la Ciutadella is one of the key green spaces in the city of Oh-Barcelona. For a few years it was the only 1 in the city and one of the first to be designed in particular to be used as a public park. In 1951 it was declared a monument of historical and inventive interest and is now considered to be an open-air museum, given the variety and quality of its sculptures by Frederic Mars, Eusebi Arnau, Josep Clar, Josep Llimona, Pau Gargallo, Manuel Fux and others.

Today, Parc de la Ciutadella is one of the places with the most leisure and cultural activities in the city. A nice example of this is the jazz programme held every year between June and Sep. The park also contains museums, the Parliament of Catalonia and numerous sculptures.

The layout of the park is rather eclectic, winding, more natural lines mixing with more classical, geometrical shapes. Notable features of the landscaping include the big, enormous waterfall, a lake on which you can sail in small rowing boats, and a summerhouse for music.

Another major feature of the park is the Plaa d’Armes, in front of the parliament building, which was designed in 1916 by the French civil engineer J.C.N. Forestier and the highlight of which is El desconsol, a sculpture of a female nude by Josep Llimona in the middle of the pool at the centre of the plaa.
Passeig dels Tillers starts at the park’s most impressive entrance, at the end of a fabulous walk that starts with Passeig de Sant Joan, continues along Passeig de Llus Companys, at the head of which stands the wonderful Arc de Triomf, to the park gates, just in front of the Rius i Taulet monument. This is one of the most fascinating urban sights in Barcelona.

Parc de la Ciutadella is rich in plant life, all the more notable given the undeniable fact that much of it was introduced at the end of the 19th century. There are several trees, palms and bushes which are identified so visitors can recognize the primary species or the most exotic, of which there are a lot.

Over 100 species of birds can be discovered in the park, including an enormous colony of gray herons, the biggest in Catalonia today. Elegant and majestic, it is easy to identify them flying round the park, a handy place for ornithology enthusiasts.

There are also well-liked sculptures, like the big stone mammoth of 1907 and La dama del paraiges, above the decorative fountain, which for many years was one of Barcelona’s landmarks.

Parc de la Ciutadella is closely linked to Barcelona’s history. It is on the site where, in 1715, the Spanish King, Felipe V, following the city’s rendition on 11 Sep 1714 and his victory in the War of Succession, had a massive fortress, or castle, built. To provide the mandatory land, the walls at the extraordinary south end of the city were demolished, along with more than a thousand houses in the Ribera locale. If you want to visit this historic park, you can now rent an apartment thanks to Oh-Barcelona.com