From Boisterous Budapest to Beautiful Barcelona

[spectralbovine]

Some astute readers may have noticed a few references to an impending trip to Europe, specifically Budapest and Barcelona. In two weeks, I will be on my way to Europe on the company dime. My boss and I are going over there for some Investigator's Meetings at which I will give a half-hour talk in each city. Also, there will be face time with people

Comments

[sophia_helix]

I haven't been to either city, but just got back from Europe trip #4, so general travel tips and some general Spain ones

[spectralbovine]

Check what your bank charges for overseas withdrawals and bank card usage. Ours charged a percentage for every Visa swipe, so this time we opted to take local currency with us there, and then just make a couple of withdrawals as necessary when abroad.
Yeah, if I used my credit card, it's 3% every time. But if I use an ATM, it's only a 1% fee plus five dollars. So that's the better option.

Your bank may also change money for you, which is really useful for avoiding exchange fees. I would suggest getting some Budapest dollars (or whatever they're called *g*) from your bank before you go.
Forints! Which are really weak right now, so that's awesome.

Chances you won't want to mess with local bus schedules
I don't even want to mess with bus schedules in San Francisco, let alone other countries!

You can't bring Spanish hams back into this country.
This sounds like something you learned the hard way.

Barcelona does not really want to be part of Spain and resents tourists who try to speak Spanish.Ooooh dear. Thanks. I will not attempt to ¿

[spectralbovine]

I have awesome friends!

[heartsways]

I can heartily recommend Casa Batllo and La Sagrada Familia: two of Gaudi's masterpieces. The house is amazing and you can get an audio commentary that tells you about the architecture and history. La Sagrada Familia, of course, is one of the most famous pieces of Gaudi's work, and still isn't finished, but it's breathtaking in both design and artistry

[spectralbovine]

I've definitely heard Gaudi Gaudi Gaudi, so I know I need to see his stuff. And La Sagrada Familia looks AMAZING in pictures, so I will definitely check it out.

Roman remains?? I want to see remains! And of course the Picasso museum must be done.

As for cash vs. cards, cards take 3% every transaction, so that's going to add up. I'm going to hit up the ATMs occasionally instead.

I think my boss mentioned the tourist hop-on/hop-off bus as a good option!

Thanks for your suggestions!!

[kroki_refur]

Re: travel insurance: as far as I'm concerned, the most important thing that travel insurance does is insures you for if you get sick or injured while you're away. Of course, you may have a clause that does that on your medical insurance, but being British, I don't have medical insurance, so I always always take out travel insurance. Paying hospital bills in full is a bad, bad thing

[spectralbovine]

Well, you're in frickin' Middle Earth, so there's that. I don't know how you got used to walking upside-down.

the only time I went to Barcelona I managed to get lost in the red light district
Why am I not surprised?

[kroki_refur]

It's actually quite nice, as red light districts go.

...not that I would have anything to compare it to. Obviously.

[spectralbovine]

Speaking of things that rock your body, you all right down there?

[sabra_n]

In Barcelona, see anything designed by Gaudí: Sagrada Familia is the most obvious choice, but there's also the gorgeous Parc Güell, which has a gorgeous view of the city from the top of its hill, and a couple of houses along Passaeig de Gràcia in the Eixample. There's a block along Passeig de Gràcia called Illa de la Discòrdia because it's got several crazily...well discordant Modernista buildings on it, if you want a lot of architectural bang for your buck

[spectralbovine]

There's a block along Passeig de Gràcia called Illa de la Discòrdia because it's got several crazily...well discordant Modernista buildings on it, if you want a lot of architectural bang for your buck.
Sounds fun.

eat at Taxidermista
Uh...

in Plaça Reial, a square which is also notable for having Gaudí-designed streetlamps. (No, really.)
Ha!

Oh, and the National Art Museum of Catalonia is housed in a Disney-worth palace with an awesome "magic fountain" show a few times a week. Music! Lights! Really big fountain sprays! It's really a blast of a way to spend an hour or two at night. :)
That sounds awesome! I love magic fountains! Oh, that's probably the modern art museum heartsways was mentioning above. I have to take some cable car to get to it or something. Aw, Wikipedia says the fountains only run on summer evenings? Ah, got it, "from May to September Thursday through Sunday every half-hour between 9:00 and 11:00pm." Late!

If you're eating at a restaurant around La Rambla, don't pick anyplace that has seating in the middle of the street

[sabra_n]

Taxidermista is full of totally delicious food, and when you come home you can say you ate at a restaurant called Taxidermista. It's a total win-win. :D

The magic fountain show gets a bit less crowded around 10pm, and the light show is more effective once it's dark. The shows also change every half-hour, so you can go from one set to Disney songs (in Spanish, natch) to one backed by an utterly random 80s pop medley to another with classical music.

If you're staying by La Rambla, try to get a room that's not facing the street so you don't have to listen to drunk people all night. There's another Gaudí building by there, Palau Güell, but it was under renovation when I was visiting in July.

Tsk. If you get involved in human trafficking, I'm totally not defending you. :P

[sabra_n]

Oh, and there's no cable car necessary to get to the fountain show or palace. It's at the lower part of Montjuïc. Now, the castle of Montjuïc is at the top. That's where Franco would hold his political executions. Good times! And yes, you can use a cable car to get up there.

I preferred the cable ride to the top of Montserrat, but that's a bit outside of town. The rock formations up there are freaking amazing, though.

[wee_warrior]

Can't tell you much about Barcelona (where I've been once, 16 years ago) or Budapest (where I haven't been at all), but you mentioned before that you might be in Berlin? Is that still the case?

[spectralbovine]

Nope, sorry, they traded Berlin for Barcelona!

[wee_warrior]

Oh, okay. Don't worry, it's also beautiful. (And I don't have that much money at the moment, anyway.)