# Hotel in Barcelona **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 6, 2016, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335 "2016-04-06T11:50:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/21 "2016-04-07T13:30:19Z")
Other sites worth seeing are the underground ruins of Barcino, the Temple of Augustus and the Jewish synagogue. ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/22 "2016-04-07T13:32:14Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Sombrilla is strange, in that the “little shadow” in English uses the Spanish: para el sol: parasol. I believe the para in parasol comes from parar, to stop. Similar to parabrisas for windshield (to stop breezes). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/23 "2016-04-07T13:33:33Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Sombrilla is strange, in that the “little shadow” in English uses the Spanish: para el sol: parasol. Well, apparently the English needed to come south before they could come up with the idea of sticking some cloth on a bunch of sticks around a central one 🙂 They picked a word from the Italians, one from us. Kind of makes sense, seeing how differently it rains up there and down here: the Mediterranean tends to prefer mini-deluges to slow, quiet rain. (For those who have got lost: _sombrilla_, Spanish for what English calls “parasol”, literally “small shadow”- same literal meaning as the word _umbrella_ in Italian; _parasol_, which English took from Spanish, is literally “stops the sun”). ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/24 "2016-04-07T13:42:29Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Well, apparently the English needed to come south before they could come up with the idea of sticking some cloth on a bunch of sticks around a central one 🙂 They picked a word from the Italians, one from us. Kind of makes sense, seeing how differently it rains up there and down here: the Mediterranean tends to prefer mini-deluges to slow, quiet rain. > > (For those who have got lost: _sombrilla_, Spanish for what English calls “parasol”, literally “small shadow”- same literal meaning as the word _umbrella_ in Italian; _parasol_, which English took from Spanish, is literally “stops the sun”). It’s been over 15 years since I studied Italian, but if I’m remembering correctly, l’ombra is shadow, l’ombrella is little shadow and l’ombrello is umbrella. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/25 "2016-04-07T14:52:46Z")
[quote=“Abner\_Ravenwood, post:19, topic:751335”] > [@Nava](#): > > … what Gaudi house? > > If I were to take a guess, I’d say Casa Milà. Casa Mila is the apartment house. He probably means Casa Battlo, the single house which **panache45** referenced. I don’t remember either of them being a quick walk from Rambla, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/26 "2016-04-07T14:54:53Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The Church of the Sacred Heart on Tibidabo is, again, an expiatory temple. > > I swear to God, cathedral does not mean “big church”! If we ever meet, **Nava** , prepare to be mercilessly needled. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/27 "2016-04-07T15:15:31Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Picasso was from Malaga. Depends on how you define “from”. He was born in Malaga, but most of his formative years studying art under his father and formal training was in Barcelona. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/28 "2016-04-07T15:16:40Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Casa Mila is the apartment house. He probably means Casa Battlo, the single house which **panache45** referenced. I don’t remember either of them being a quick walk from Rambla, though. They are, both are on Passeig de Gràcia, which along with its parallel Rambla Catalunya forms the prolongation of the lower Ramblas, across Plaça Catalunya from them. Almost across from each other, too. On line 3 (green line), it’s one or two subway stations from the top of Canaletes, two-three from Liceu, three-four from Drassanes (at Columbus’ statue). Even my mother considers that walking distance. Now, if you’re one of those people whose legs fall off if you walk more than 50m or uphill, that’s another problem… ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/29 "2016-04-07T15:42:59Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Now, if you’re one of those people whose legs fall off if you walk more than 50m or uphill, that’s another problem… Hah! I hereby challenge you to a walking race, Mister/Miss Big Talker! From here to that Cathedral over there! ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/30 "2016-04-07T15:50:06Z")
[quote=“Ukulele\_Ike, post:25, topic:751335”] > [@Abner\_Ravenwood](#): > > Casa Mila is the apartment house. He probably means Casa Battlo, the single house which **panache45** referenced. I don’t remember either of them being a quick walk from Rambla, though. Is that one of the three houses on the Block of Discord? ---
**Author:** ![Tootingkhamen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e36b37/32.png) [@Tootingkhamen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tootingkhamen)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/31 "2016-04-07T16:29:15Z")
Probably the best Tapas bar in Barcelona is Quimet y Quimet. Just read the online reviews and I am sure you’ll want to pay it a visit, even though it’s a little way from the centre. [http://www.barcelona-city-travel.com/2014/10/a-quim-family-tradition-quimet-quimet.html](http://www.barcelona-city-travel.com/2014/10/a-quim-family-tradition-quimet-quimet.html) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/32 "2016-04-08T11:37:29Z")
Close to Montjuic and to the theater district, though. Paral.lel, visible in the map in the page **Tootingkamen** linked, is where most of the theaters are - the Fira, and Montjuic above it, are at its westmost end. Lots of museums in a very small space right there. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/33 "2016-04-08T11:51:30Z")
**Abner** , Batlló is: the Pedrera (Milà) is across the street, a different block. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335/34 "2016-04-11T19:21:41Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Be aware Barcelona is the pick pocket capital of the world. Be on guard, be protective of your belongings. My friends and I had no issues, a number of other attendees did. No freaking kidding. \*\*Tom Scud \*\* and I have been many places, together and separately, and never been pickpocketed. His wallet didn’t even make it from the airport to where we were staying. (Which was an Airbnb across the street from Sagrada Familia. Perfectly fine place, and given that our Atm cards weren’t working and it was Easter weekend and we had about 50 euros between us until we sorted everything out, it was a darn nice thing to have kitchen access.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-in-barcelona/751335.md?page=1)