How to use the metro
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The Metro (subway) is the easiest way to get around Barcelona. The closest Metro station is Maria Cristina. To get there, walk to the left along the grand Avenida Diagonal for 5-10 minutes, and walk down the stairs into the Metro.
On all your trips, you will be starting out on the L3 line, in the direction of Trinitat Nova.
Here is the full Metro map of the city:
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You can buy tickets with a credit card. For our purposes, use the single one-way journey option. Note that tickets include the ability to transfer within 75 minutes to another type of public transport, including bus or the funicular (cable car) that we will use to go to the castle:
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And this last
screen does NOT mean you made a mistake -- it is just telling you that you can "refill" your ticket, so don't throw it away. Meanwhile, you have to wait about 10 seconds for each, separate ticket to print out.
How to get to Sagrada Familia
Wednesday is our trip to Sagrada Familia. It is not the original cathedral of Barcelona -- that is the 12th century Gothic cathedral in the old Gothic section of Barcelona. But Sagrada Familia is the world-famous largest cathedral in the world. It was designed by the famous 19th century architect Antoni Gaudi. It was started in 1882 and just completed a few weeks ago!
In order to visit, we have to go in groups of 35 people. You will receive an email telling you which group you are in and at what time you need to get to Sagrada Familia. You should plan for xx minutes travel time (walking + subway). The first group MUST leave the hotel immediately at the end of the presentations at 16:20 or you will miss your group.
Take Metro Line L3 (green) from Maria Cristina to Paral·lel (7 stops). Then change trains to Metro Line L2 (purple) to Sagrada Familia (6 stops). This puts you right in front of the basilica in about 35 minutes.
The visit is organized in 5 groups of 35 people each group starting at:.png)
- Group 1 (35 people): start at 17:00 (leave hotel at 16:20 and rush)
- Group 2 (35 people): start at 17:10 (also leave hotel at 16:20)
- Group 3 (35 people): start at 17:30 (leave hotel at 16:40)
- Group 4 (35 people): start at 18:15 (leave hotel at 17:25)
- Group 5 (35 people): start at 18:25 (leave hotel at 17:35)
Each group will have a visit of 1 hour with an English-speaking tour guide. After the visit they can stay inside the cathedral to visit the museum or expositions. The closing time of the cathedral is 20:00h.
It is important to arrive 10 minutes before scheduled start time. A person of the organization will be waiting for the group to assist them to pass security control in access A (c\Marina corner with c\Mallorca)
Note that the first group will be finished with the cathedral tour at 18:00. Our dinner reservation isn't until 20:00 (which is the right timing for the last group) but some of you may want to go back to the hotel. Just reverse your trip.
Getting to the casa carmen restaurant
After the visit to the cathedral, we will return to the hotel for a group dinner at the Casa Carmen Passeig de Gracia.
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The dinner is scheduled to start at 20:00 at Restaurant Casa Carmen (C/Casp 17).
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staurant:
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From Sagrada Familia: Metro L2 (Sagrada Familia to Passeig de Gracia) à 14 minutes (3 stops)
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From the hotel: Metro L3 (Maria Cristina to Catalunya) à 27 minutes (10 stops)
There are 180 pre-booked seats with the below menu:
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Starters: different dishes to share
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Main dish: 85 solomillo ternera (veal steak), 85 bacalao gratinado (cod, Catalan-styke) , 10 curry de verduras (vegetarian curry option)
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Desert: 85 mojito, 85 coulant, 10 seasonal fruit
After dinner, take the Metro back to Maria Cristina.