Page 386 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

Museu Cau Ferrat colossus to rival Paris or 261-265; adult/student/child
(p377), built in the Rome, let alone Madrid. €20.50/16.50/10.25; h9am-
1890s as a house-cum- Take our ‘stretch your 8pm Mar-Oct, to 6.30pm
studio by artist Santiago legs’ walk (p442) to Nov-Feb; mDiagonal) with
Rusiñol – a pioneer of bag some of its many its rooftop chimney pots
the Modernista move- highlights. The city’s and statues of medieval
ment. The whitewashed ever-evolving symbol is knights. History lurks
mansion is full of his Gaudí’s one-of-a-kind in the Barri Gótic, home
own art and that of his Sagrada Familia (%93 207 to La Catedral (%93 342
contemporaries, includ- 30 31; www.sagradafamilia. 82 62; www.catedralbcn.org;
ing his friend Picasso, cat; Carrer de Mallorca 401; Plaça de la Seu; admission free,
as well as a couple of El adult/child under 11yr/senior special visit €6, choir admis-
Grecos. & student €14.80/free/12.80; sion €2.80; h8am-12.45pm &
h9am-8pm Apr-Sep, to 6pm 5.15-7.30pm Mon-Sat, special
The Drive » It’s only 40km
to Barcelona! Get back onto the Oct-Mar; mSagrada Família), visit 1-5pm Mon-Sat, 2-5pm Sun
C32 and pay your last cursed which rises like an un- & holidays; mJaume I), while
toll. Fly through a multitude of finished symphony over the modern hip crowd
tunnels. After 30km of driving, L’Eixample district. The congregate in the Born, a
take exit 168 and follow the surounding grid is well subneighbourhood of La
signs for Barcelona, Gran Via known for the whimsical Ribera quarter.
and Centre Ciutat. waves of Modernisme A good orientation
architecture, a style ex- point in this complex
SPAIN 27 MEDITERRANEAN MEANDER
TRIP HIGHLIGHT pounded most eleoquent- city is the legendary
c Barcelona ly in La Pedrera (Casa Milà; (and much copied) La
%90 220 21 38; www.lapedrera.
Rambla (mCatalunya, Liceu
Barcelona is a guidebook com; Carrer de Provença or Drassanes), a tree-lined
in itself and a cultural
LEGACY OF THE ROMANS
What did the Romans ever do for us? Well, quite a lot actually, an assertion
that rapidly gains validity as you drive northeast up the Mediterranean coast
of Spain.
The Roman colonies in Hispania (their name for the Iberian peninsula) lasted
from around 400BC to 200BC and reminders of their existence are spread all
along the coast from Andalucía up to Catalonia. The three main stops for Roma-
philes are Málaga, Cartagena and Tarragona, all once flourishing Roman cities
whose pasts equal or outweigh their present profiles in modern Spain. Málaga’s
Roman amphitheatre (%951 50 11 15; Calle Alcazabilla 8), nestled beneath its
Alcazaba, was rediscovered in 1951 and dates from the 1st century AD when the
settlement was called Malaca. An adjacent interpretive centre has touch screens
and displays artefacts dug up from the site. Cartagena (Carthago Nova to the
Romans) has multiple Roman sights including villas, a theatre and parts of an old
wall. The history is all pulled together at the new-ish Museo del Teatro Romano
(p380), where you can buy a museum pass for all the sights. Tarragona (Tarraco)
was once capital of Rome’s Spanish provinces and has ruins to prove it, including
an amphitheatre, a forum, street foundations and the Aqüeducte Romà (Pont
del Diable; admission free; h9am-dusk), a glorious two-tiered aqueduct. Wonderful
ocean-themed mosaics can be seen in the nearby Museu Nacional Arqueològic
de Tarragona (www.mnat.cat; Plaça del Rei 5; adult/child €2.40/free; h9.30am-6pm Tue-Sat,
10am-2pm Sun).
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