Arrived in Barcelona on Febreuary 14. I am here for the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009 (MWC09) and to meet some of the groups in Catalonia interested in the Ontario – Catalonia MOU on technology collaboration.
Got to the hotel around noon, a sleep deprived 6 am as far as my body concerned. Past experience says od not nap, so after unpacking, head out to explore. Ancilliary objective – find the one power plug adaptor that I did not seem to bring with me.
Explored down Las Rablas, a wide double street that was once a mostly dry river by the walls of the Roman city. Very touristy, crowded. Streets off to the left (east) enter the gothic section or old city of Barcelona. This area has lots of small pedestrian alleys to explore with shops, restaurants, cafes and pubs.
So a quick comparison in Barcelona’s favour:
- Weather – it’s mid-February and I am wandering around, no boots, not hat, no gloves and just a decent jacket.
- Wandering around – outside lots of shops, restaurants, street performers, things happening, people outside. No cars on a lot of these streets in the old section. Beats the Path. Even beats most streets in downtown Toronto in the summer.
- Stuff happening – there were mini festivals and parades I would run into on Saturday and Sunday. Not sure if they were special to that weekend.
- Roman ruins
- Subway – OK, the TTC is such an easy target, but I love being about to buy a multi-trip pass with my Canadian credit card and all the turnstiles take the pass. Signs tell you that when the next train is coming to the second. The cars are modern, spacious and comfortable. They have about 8 lines crisscrossing the city. Maps are easy to read. I can make out the destination announcements. Cars show you where you are on the line and next stop. A trip costs about CAD $1.20 in the 10 trip card. Why can’t we get even some of these things right?
- Lise Charmel bus shelter ad posters. I can just imagine the ruckus if these showed up in Toronto. (And yes, they are French, not Catalonian.)
- Dining late – a personal preference that would be a tough sell to the rest of the family.
- Beer, wine and liquor in the grocery store at reasonable prices.
- Accessible waterfront – note to Mayor Miller – the airport is not the problem – the condos are. Stop building them within 500m (?) of the waterfront.
Toronto does have better prices for about everything else. But then, I am in the heart of the tourist area.
Will have to come back here on vacation.
