BARCELONA: TIBIDABO

One sunday morning we went to the Tibidabo, a hill on the top of which there is a funfair perfect for children and teenagers. So, Tibidabo is a fantastic place for children in Barcelona where they can spend a funny day.

From Tibidabo hill you will also enjoy fantastic views of Barcelona.  Tibidabo is actually one of the highest points in the city and the views of Barcelona and the surrounding areas are truly spectacular. Views as interesting as the ones from the Park Güell or the Montjuïc Castle.

Besides the journey up the mountain in the enchanting turn-of-the-century Blue Tram and funicular railway is hugely enjoyable.

Main square of Tibidabo funfair in Barcelona, really crowded as every sunday morning

This red carriage and the red aircraft give a colourful look to the Tibidabo funfair

Sagrat Cor church on the top of Tibidabo hill

Inside the Sagrat Cor church there are interesting paintings like the one of this picture

View of Collserola Tower, built for the Olympic Games, from the Tibidabo

Big wheel of Tibidabo funfair in Barcelona

Another picture of the big wheel. The building of the picture is a restaurant, always crowded

A train for children moving forward through the far west in Tibidabo funfair

View of Barcelona from the Tibidabo, where the Agbar tower, the Sagrada Familia, and the towers of the Olympic Village appear

Panoramic view of Barcelona from Tibidabo. In the foreground on the right, the Fabra meteorological observatory

Tibidabo from Sant Pere Màrtir in Barcelona



A closer view of Tibidabo and Collserola Tower

Useful Information:

- How to get there:

• Tibibus from Plaça Catalunya.
• FGC, stop Av. Tibidabo + Tramvia Blau (Blue Tram) or Bus 196 + Funicular del Tibidabo.
• FGC, stop Peu de Funicular + Funicular de Vallvidriera + bus 111.

- Phone: 932 117 942
- Web site: www.tibidabo.es
- E-mail: tibidabo@tibidabo.es

Finally, clicking on the next link you will find links to more beautiful and interesting places of Barcelona.

CATALONIA: PORT DEL COMPTE, BERGA, SOLSONA I CARDONA

In September the weather was still lovely, so we decided to spend a weekend in a really peaceful environment near Port del Compte ski resort. We also visited interesting places such as Cardona Castle, the old city of Solsona and the city of Berga.

Views from Cardona Castle

Thursday, 24 Setember 2009

Berga

A view of the Castle and the old quarter of Berga


In the background, the white building is the city hall of Berga


A painting about the Patum, which is the village fiesta of Berga


A typical narrow street of the old quarter

A tree-lined boulevard with the Calalan flag

Port del Comte

L'Avet, a rural hotel near Port del Compte ski resort. The Landscape was fantastic and the environment really peaceful. A perfect place to relax

Friday 25 Setember 2009

Port del Comte

We had a wide balcony to enjoy the warm sunlight :)

The environment was peaceful and the day was really lovely

We had driven only a few kilometers when we saw this fabulous viewpoint, perfect to take some photos of the reservoir of La Llosa del Cavall, which stores the water of the Cardener river

A closer view of the reservoir of La Llosa del Cavall

This is a picture of the typical environment of this area, taken from our car while we were driving to Solsona

Solsona

We have arrived at Solsona and this is the main entrance to the old city

The cloister of the Cathedral of Solsona

The apse of the Cathedral of Solsona

Another entrance to the old city of Solsona

Main Square of Solsona

A picture in one of the typical streets of the old city of Cardona

And now, we went from Solsona to Cardona, where there is beautiful castle.

Castle of Cardona

As it's easily imagined, the views from Cardona Castle are wonderful thanks to its privileged location on the top of a hill

And next, some photos inside this beautiful castle:

Gothic archs in Cardona castle

A view of the well-know salt mines of Suria from Cardona Castle

An overview of the external walls of Cardona Castle

A really well conseved bastion of Cardona Castle

This is the fantastic view of Cardona and surroundings from the Castle

Finally, if you liked these landscapes, clicking on the next links you will find links to other fantastic places in the Pyrenees of Catalonia, like:

• Aigüestortes National Park and La Vall de Boí
• Aigüestortes and Llac de Sant Maurici National Park
• Vall de Núria
• Castellar de N'Hug and Fonts del Llobregat
• Vall de Camprodon
• Camprodon, Ripoll and Setcases
• Medieval village of Beget
• Olot and Vall de'n Bas
• Santa Pau

• Andorra and La Seu d'Urgell
• Andorra Vallnord Ski Resort
• Andorra Vallnord Arinsal and Arcalís
• Andorra Grandvalira Grau Roig Ski Resort

PARIS: LA DÉFENSE

Our last day in Paris began in La Défense, the business and financial district of Paris with its huge Arc de la Défense. We came back to Paris at midday to have lunch in a restaurant near Nôtre Dame we liked a lot.

Star sights of this day in Paris: 

• La Défense 
• Mosquée de Paris 
• Rue Mouffetard 

La Tour Montparnasse

Our hotel in Paris was next to Montparnasse tower,a 200m high skycraper

La Défense

One colourful building in La Défense

The Arch de la Défense can be seen through the vegetation

This fountain, designed by Yaacov Agam, is one of the best and colourful fountains of Paris

Another view of Agam fountain in La Défense

The Arche is almost a perfect cube (width: 108m, height: 110m, depth: 112m) and it was inaugurated in July 1989, with grand military parades that marked the bicentennial of the French revolution. It completed the line of monuments that forms the Axe historique running through Paris together with Le Arche de Triomphe and Le Arche du Carrousel

Of course the Arch de la Défense isn't the Tower of Pisa but we had a good time taking this picture. Curiously, the Arche is placed so that it forms a secondary axe (axis) with the two highest buildings in Paris, the Tour Eiffel and the Tour Montparnasse

La Défense is like a town with hotels, shopping centers and skycrapers. Underneath this square there is another city with a huge shopping center, a metro station and a RER station

View of Le Arc de Triomphe from La Défense

The square in front of Le Grande Arch is quite wide and links most of the buildings of this district which has Le Grande Arch as a reference

Although the day was lovely, there isn't many people walking because we went to La Défense in a working day

Located just beyond the city limits, the Grande Arche de La Défense anchors the eastern end of the historic axis that stretches from the Louvre down the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe

Important corporations headquartered at La Défense include Cegetel, Société Générale, Total, Aventis, Areva and Arcelor

From the top of this staircase we could enjoy good views of La Défense district and Les Champs Elysées

Arénes de Lutéce

After coming back from La Défense, we did a brief visit to this ancient amphitheater

Mosquée de Paris

And we visited also La Mosquée de Paris whose beauty really surprised us, especially its gardens

The minaret of this beautiful mosque

The inside garden of this mosque was really nice

Rue Mouffetard

And finally, we came back to the surroundings of La Ile de la Cité through La rue Mouffetard, which was an ancient roman way

You can see more pictures of the days I spent in Paris clicking on the links below:

• First day in Paris (Les Champs Elysées)
• Second day in Paris (La Tour Eiffel and Montmartre)
• Third day in Paris (Le Grand Louvre and Île de la Cité)
• Fourth day in Paris (Les Invalides and Musée d'Orsay)
• Fifth day in Paris (Le Panthéon and Nôtre Dame)
• Sixth day in Paris (Jardin du Luxembourg and La Villette)
• Seventh day in Paris (Versailles)
• Eighth day in Paris (La Défense)

Besides, in France I have visited the following beautiful places I strongly recommend:

• Collioure, Elne and Perpignan
• Carcassonne
• Canal du Midi and Pays Cathare
• Gorges de la Fou and Coustouges
• Villefranche de Conflent

Finally, other great cities I have already visited are:

• Barcelona
• Berlin
• New York and Washington
• London
• Dublin in Irleland
• Istanbul in Turkey
• Saint Petersburg
• Rome and The Vatican
• Florence in Tuscany
• Lisboa in Portugal
• Madrid
• Venezia
• Dubrovnik in Croatia

• The Greek Islands and Athens
• Bruges, Ghent and Brussels in Belgium

• Helsinki and Lapland in Finland

• Tallinn in Estonia

• Tortuguero, Caribe, Arenal, Monteverde and San José in Costa Rica

• Marrakech in Morocco