Hola Chicos!

Hopefully by now your travel plans are beginning to take as much shape as our wedding plans. A few of you have been in touch regarding hotels and where to stay.

The church (see blog below) is in the old town, in a square just behind Passeig de Colom, which runs along the seafront. You can see on Googlemaps below that there's a small street running between the square and P. de Colom called "Carrer de Boltres". This would be an easy entry and exist point to get to the church, and the taxi drivers will know it.


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We can confirm the venue for dinner is Montjuic El Xalet (pronounced Chalet) in the gardens of the Parc Montjuic. It's a lovely dinner venue with fantastic views of Barcelona. We probably won't sit down to dinner until about 9pm so do have lunch before hand, which you can take at a very Spanish hour of around 2pm. On arrival at El Xalet we will begin with aperitifs on the terrace with drinks, followed by dinner from 9pm with a 3 course meal and of course the wedding cake.

We're planning on arranging for a coach to take guests from the church to the restaurant, and the restaurant will be able to arrange taxis for the return journey. I recently attended a business dinner there. The standard of English is excellent, even at the front door where despite me conversing in Spanish, the doorman insisited on speaking to me in English!

We're aware that Friday 22nd is the last day of school for many before the mid term break. I noticed that Easyjet is actually more expensive than flying with BA. Flights from London Heathrow can still be had for around £100 return, while Easyjet is around £100 just for the outbound leg on the Friday. If you can travel earlier than Friday, the prices are better and of course you'll have extra time here!

That May weekend will likely be very busy with tourists, and unfortunately the pickpockets will be out like flies. Please be on your guard at all times. They're usually Eastern European, and work in groups, women and well as men....and of all ages. It's common for a distraction to be created while the partner rifles through your pockets or bags. They're incredibly quick so if you do see anyone getting near to you, and you sense the behaviour is abnormal, its because it is. If you use the Metro or the bus wheh it's busy, move wallets from back pockets to front pockets, and you'll see people reverse their backpacks and wear them out in front. Las Ramblas is also a great venue for distractions, and it will be loaded with tourists.

There's an absolute ton of restaurants in Barcelona, and the further away from Las Ramblas, the better and cheaper they are. We'd strongly recommend NOT eating or drinking on Las Ramblas - it's a honey pot of tourists and always overpriced and actually not great food.

If you're stuck for hotels, and you want something a little bit different, give Anita a call as we're sure she'll have a few apartments for rent www.barcelonaflats.co.uk