Travel Guide and Tips to Barcelona GPF’14 | Golden Skate

Travel Guide and Tips to Barcelona GPF’14

pandaatlarge

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 13, 2014
As I asked in another thread, some GSers may find a travel guide and tips helpful when they visit Barcelona, so I wrote this (or say, translated from my original blog). Sorry for opening a new thread, I just find it too long to read as a reply, hope this works.
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Introduction:
I am a Barcelona lover, a Figure Skating fan, and I am extremely excited about the Grand Prix Final to be held the first time ever in Barcelona. I also like writing travel blogs, so last month when I went to Barcelona and paid a visit to CCIB, Centre de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona, or Barcelona International Convention Center in English, and decided to write this article. Especially when I realized CCIB is really far away from the city center and main tourist attractions, and hence not mentioned by most of the travel guides, I decided to share my experience to CCIB, and hopefully can attract more people to come and visit the city I love. I have never lived in Barcelona, and for personal reason I spend days here every year, so I personally think that I can see things here from a tourist point of view, but can also offer some tips like a local.

So much for the long self introduction. Let’s take a look at CCIB.

Venue overview:
CCIB stands for Centre de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona, or Barcelona International Convention Center in English. As you can judge from the name it is not a dedicated place for sports. In fact GPF this year will be the first time that CCIB hosts a sports event. According to the spaces information provided CCIB official website (http://www.ccib.es/home) and compared to Marine Messe Fukuoka which host GPF last year, I estimated a capacity of around 5,000 people. However, since it is the first time CCIB hosts a sports event, there is no past record for reference, so we really don’t think how the views will be inside.

What needs to pay more attention to is the location of CCIB, because it is quite remote for general tourists, as you can see from below map. The blue pinpoint in the upper right corner is where CCIB is located, at the very end of the famous Av. Diagonal, and you can see how far away it is from Barcelona-Sants, the main train station of Barcelona, in the red circle, or from Plaça de Catalunya in the blue circle and Passeig de Gràcia in the black circle. Moreover, because it is far from main tourist attractions, you can seldom find any map or guide board or tourist information center nearby. Therefore, if you plan to do some sightseeing besides watching the GPF, please plan your travel route in advance and reserve sufficient time.
https://31.media.tumblr.com/3c346870276a5f4cab1a25c67a763ce8/tumblr_inline_ndonoz9lDf1qjg8uk.png

Transportation:

Fortunately, public transportation in Barcelona is very convenient. Although it takes some time, you can easily access CCIB from everywhere in the city by metro, tram or bus, and only 1 minute walk from where you get off. Take a look at below access map from CCIB website, it is right next to the El Maresme-Forum stop of metro Line 4 (the yellow line) , the El Maresme stop or the Forum stop of Tram Line 4, the Diagonal Mar stop of Bus Line 7, and the Forum stop of Bus Line H16, all less than 100 meters away.
http://media.tumblr.com/962484e78b22da820897b5579750d1ea/tumblr_inline_ndoo967iLF1qjg8uk.jpg

For general tourists, metro should be the easiest way to go, so let me introduce it first. You can find CCIB in the bule circle in below metro map, El Maresme-Forum stop of Line 4 (the yellow line), and the 3 black circles from left to right are: Barcelona-Sants, which is the main train station of Barcelona; La Ramble, which is the city center with a concentration of tourist attractions; and La Sagrada Familia. I assume most of those who plan to do sightseeing before the competition starts will be departing from these 3 places, and hence I circled it out, so that you may take a look at how to transfer.
http://media.tumblr.com/fcc1d5314e8451dc835714c1f2072a5b/tumblr_inline_ndooggIlRw1qjg8uk.gif

However, I personally recommend you to take Bus Line 7 which connects Zona Universitaria and Diagonal Mar, because the bus most of the time runs on the beautiful Av. Diagonal, so that you can do sightseeing on the bus. What’s more, in the middle of the route the bus takes a turn into Passeig de Gràcia, arguably the most beautiful, exquisite street of Barcelona. So if you take this bus, you can enjoy wonderful work of Antoni Gaudí in Zona Universitaria, representative architectures of Catalan Modernisme along Passeig de Gràcia, and postmodernist architectures like Torre Agbar in the marine district at one time! Another reason to take bus is that you hardly see any notorious pick-pockets of Barcelona on the bus, because tourists usually don’t use this transportation. Therefore it is so safe on the bus that I always find myself end up with taking a sound nap.
http://media.tumblr.com/6b01460423c690a996f2dc99e8d249ec/tumblr_inline_ndooxixrjw1qjg8uk.jpg

Seats on Line 7 are interesting too, as you can see see a diagonal literally, which represents the bus route of the beautiful Av. Diagonal.
http://media.tumblr.com/ad4cb78316ac1190c5b019558ff70196/tumblr_inline_ndopf6OMrM1qjg8uk.jpg

Whichever transportation you take, after you get off you shall be able to find CCIB in a minute. It looks like this (I do suck in taking photos).
http://media.tumblr.com/1c3eb1f30d5eefd4cc772963c853cce7/tumblr_inline_ndopqlE91B1qjg8uk.jpg
http://media.tumblr.com/f690c1d0ad2ba9dccc5f11803df6c6a9/tumblr_inline_ndopovsJJC1qjg8uk.jpg
http://media.tumblr.com/f690c1d0ad2ba9dccc5f11803df6c6a9/tumblr_inline_ndopovsJJC1qjg8uk.jpg
http://media.tumblr.com/6bee4524ba275fa0357c858d6721484a/tumblr_inline_ndopspMPdi1qjg8uk.jpg
http://media.tumblr.com/7de2a2afc99d668d812e64a6bc715239/tumblr_inline_ndoptktRYs1qjg8uk.jpg

Accommodation (and hidden agenda):
Although it is quite remote from city center, there are a number of decent hotels near CCIB because of the capacity when it holds international events. The official hotel of GPF is Hotel Barcelona Princess, No. 1 on Av. Diagonal which is literally across the street. But only the most expensive suite rooms are left during the event days, so for those who hope to catch skaters in the hotel, well, you may need to take plan B. Because it is literally across the street, I don’t think there will be bus for skaters, so I guess the skaters will most probably use the underground corridor which connects the hotel and CCIB, but I also guess it will not be accessible to fans during the event days. Most importantly, I strongly suggest to try to catch skaters after the competition.

Besides official hotels, there are several more 4/5 stars hotels nearby, e.g. Hilton, AC (a famous hotel chain in Spain, another official hotel where some of the officers will stay in), and Diagonal 0. You may refer to the access map of CCIB for the exact location, but they are all not cheap. Also, as I mentioned it again and again, CCIB is quite remote, so if you are not here only for the competition, I would like to suggest staying in somewhere close the main tourist attractions. I especially recommend to find a place close to Plaça de Catalunya and Passeig de Gràcia where you can find different types and ranks of accommodations, close to main attractions and convenient transportation to CCIB.

Food & Drink (and WiFi):
Besides having your meals before you come, you can also find places to eat near CCIB. Take a look at access map again, the triangular zone on the upper left called C.C. Diagonal Mar has everything. C.C. here stands for Centre Comercial, which is to say it is a big mall with shops, entertainments and restaurants. According to the stores information on the homepage (http://www.diagonalmarcentre.es/en/stores/), you can take fast food like the McDonald’s and Subway here, or enjoy Tapas and decent Spanish cuisines in several mid-tier restaurants. You can also find some restaurants and cafe/bars on Av. Diagonal within a few minute’s walk, so you don’t have to worry about what to eat at all. What’s more, there is open free WiFi inside C.C.Diagonal Mar! Based on my own experience, there is no problem to tweet, to check emails or to go to forum. It could be a bit slow to upload some photos, but it still works. Good for those who cannot live without internet like me!

Other recommendations:
Perhaps in many people’s minds Barcelona is city of summer. However, as I’ve been there in summers, autumns and winters, I find Barcelona in early winter attractive too. Christmas illuminations in the area of Plaça de Catalunya and Passeig de Gràcia are really beautiful.
http://media.tumblr.com/bcf060a09982553750ddba200d91690d/tumblr_inline_ndor9dp39n1qjg8uk.jpg
http://media.tumblr.com/335a69b51ef7f7123fa32943cab476d9/tumblr_inline_ndoraaByTf1qjg8uk.jpg
http://media.tumblr.com/66f01a79c20bd63c50242977183b6e22/tumblr_inline_ndorakVg3o1qjg8uk.jpg

If you like skating yourself, you can not miss the temporary outdoor ice skating rink in Plaça de Catalunya during this time of the year, which is the biggest one in Europe. For those of you who enjoy sports generally, I cannot miss the football clash of giants: F.C.Barcelona vs. Paris Saint-Germain on Dec 10th 20:45, or even Barcelona derby the the previous weekend if you arrive early. The basketball team of Barça is also one of the strongest in Europe and their style is as exquisite as the football team. If you enjoy winter sports particularly, what many people don’t know is that Barça also has ice hockey team and figure skating team, their home stadium is right next to Camp nou. But honestly I’ve never watched their game, so cannot make any comment.

I must stop writing now. I sincerely wish every of you who’s going to GPF enjoy a great game and a pleasant journey in Barcelona, and hopefully you will fall in love with the city as I do. Thanks for reading!
 

Snow63

Pray one day we'll open our eyes.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 26, 2014
pandaatlarge
thanks. IT'll be my second time in Barcelona, but my first time there was summer 2013 so it was mostly beaching and clubbing :) Now I'm going there winter and alone, so I hope to enjoy my time there doing mostly FS watching and walking around the city at evenings.
I'll take your advise with bus transportation. I also have a couple of questions for you, if you don't mind. Do you know if there'll be something like organized signing sessions with skaters?
And what about this big ice skating rink on Plaça de Catalunya? I thought it's relatively warm there in the middle of December. Do you think it will be opened? :)
 

YesWay

四年もかけて&#
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
pandaatlarge, that's a very useful and helpful guide - thank you!
 

pandaatlarge

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 13, 2014
pandaatlarge
thanks. IT'll be my second time in Barcelona, but my first time there was summer 2013 so it was mostly beaching and clubbing :) Now I'm going there winter and alone, so I hope to enjoy my time there doing mostly FS watching and walking around the city at evenings.
I'll take your advise with bus transportation. I also have a couple of questions for you, if you don't mind. Do you know if there'll be something like organized signing sessions with skaters?
And what about this big ice skating rink on Plaça de Catalunya? I thought it's relatively warm there in the middle of December. Do you think it will be opened? :)

I didn't hear anything about signing session, so cannot help.
Yes I think it the ice rink will be opened. Last year it was opened in end Nov and lasted till January. I don't think the weather will be that different this year, so you can expect that.
 

leoncorazon

Skating on through
On the Ice
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Country
United-States
Las Ramblas is not to be missed and we have several outdoor rinks here in SD for the Holidays...even one right on the beach at Hotel Del Coronado and the temp isn't really a problem unless it gets into the upper 80's or low 90's
 

YesWay

四年もかけて&#
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
Hey pandaatlarge, do you know what time nearby restaurants will close in the evenings?

I see that competitions don't finish until after 22:00 each day (including medal ceremonies) - will we still be able to go to a restaurant that late?
 

Winnie_20

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
I see that competitions don't finish until after 22:00 each day (including medal ceremonies) - will we still be able to go to a restaurant that late?
I don't think dinner in Spain starts before 9 pm on a normal day... :laugh:
 

YesWay

四年もかけて&#
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
I don't think dinner in Spain starts before 9 pm on a normal day... :laugh:
Well, I dunno. I know in France (outside of Paris) you can be out of luck after 21:00... o_O

So a definitive answer would be welcome...!
 

Winnie_20

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
So a definitive answer would be welcome...!
Yes, you can easily eat after 10 pm. Every time I go there, I have to adjust to the fact that dinner does not start before 9 in the evening. Different way of life...

http://www.diagonalmarcentre.es/ca/horaris/ the restaurants in the big shopping mall near the venue are open until 01:00, and 03:00 on Friday and Saturday. Unless my Catalan is really letting me down now. :)
Also, there is a large food court on the third floor.
 
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FS_rrb

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Yes, you can easily eat after 10 pm. Every time I go there, I have to adjust to the fact that dinner does not start before 9 in the evening. Different way of life...

http://www.diagonalmarcentre.es/ca/horaris/ the restaurants in the big shopping mall near the venue are open until 01:00, and 03:00 on Friday and Saturday. Unless my Catalan is really letting me down now. :)
Also, there is a large food court on the third floor.

You've understood it perfectly, your Catalan is good enough :laugh:. You will have no problem having dinner after 22.00. I don't think restaurants are open until 1:00 or 3:00 (the website says "restauració i oci" which I guess includes bars too) but definitely until midnight. Fast food is always an option if you desperately need something to eat...some of these are open all night, at least those in the city center (not sure about Diagonal Mar, though). Anyway, don't worry, Barcelona won't let you figure skating fans die of hunger! :agree:
 

YesWay

四年もかけて&#
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
Thanks Winnie_20 and FS_rrb :-D
 

Winnie_20

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
Plus there will be food and drinks in the venue itself (they don't let you take anything like that with you inside the venue), but there is no way I'm eating there all the time when I can eat proper Catalan food outside. I'm a big seafood fan, grin.
 

YesWay

四年もかけて&#
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
haha. I love food. Food is good :-D

we'll be arriving late afternoon on Thursday, and leaving late afternoon on Sunday. We'll be attending a lot of the practices. So I expect we'll have very little time for sight-seeing (maybe a couple of hours on Sunday morning before the gala). But I hope to at least eat nice local food! :-D

I'm getting really stoked for this competition! So much awesomeness in one place at one time, and the outcomes are so unpredictable. It's going to be great!

I'm doing my "homework" for now, watching videos of my favourite skaters to spot which parts of their programs will be good photo opportunities, based on where we'll be sitting... :-D
 

pandaatlarge

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 13, 2014
Just in September I went to my favorite restaurant at 10:30 and ate till 02:00, I don't think you will have any problem to find a decent place for dinner after the competition.
 
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