I Want to Ride my Bicycle to See the House of the Queen

Upon arriving in Barcelona, we found it to be quite simple to hop on a bus to the area of the city where our Airbnb was located, the El Born neighborhood. It was inexpensive and easy, so I would highly suggest doing so if you are trying to keep your trip low cost. Once we arrived at our Airbnb and vegetated for a few minutes, it was time to clean up a bit and head out on the town for some tapas! After wandering around for awhile, we chose a cider house because Lynzie really wanted to try some Spanish cider. We munched on some Chorizo and white asparagus as we drank a few adult beverages and got acclimated to being in an exciting new place. Afterwards, we decided we wanted to get cozy, so we bought a bottle of red wine and enjoyed hours of conversation on our balcony until we realized it was three o' clock am and we had a bicycle tour booked mid morning.


After imbibing in so much wine the previous night, it was a little difficult to get excited about going bicycling for several hours, but once we were on our way, I knew it was going to be a perfect day. We had booked a tour with Fat Tire Tours https://www.fattiretours.com/barcelona, and ended up going along with the loveliest woman named Bianca who had moved from India to conduct these tours. She was pleasant, knowledgeable and an altogether wonderful soul.

We first cycled to Placa del Rei, the former residence of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. There, we were told all the juicy tidbits of the supposed steamy relationship between Isabella and C.C., as Bianca so hilariously referred to Christopher Columbus. I mean, these stories have been passed down for quite a number of years now, but it may have been the partial reason Christopher finally received his funding for his voyage to 'India'.

Next up was the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia where a young girl of that name is honored for her martyrdom. The young virgin was persecuted by the Romans, and was said to have been paraded through the city with her head shaved and her nude body exposed for all to see. There is a legend that a snow storm began, even though it was the middle of spring, and it shielded Eulalia's body from the eyes of onlookers. Her bones are now safely interred in the crypt of the cathedral, hopefully resting peacefully forever as a Patron Saint of Barcelona.

The Palau de la Música Catalana was our next stop, and just seeing it from the exterior alone was a spectacle to behold. It was built beginning in 1905 and designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner in the Catalan modernist style. Its giant busts of classical musicians and the myriad of colorful mosaics and stained glass are simply breathtaking.

On the way over to lunch which was included in the tour, we took a brief stop at the Arc de Triomf of Barcelona built for the World Fair in 1888. That archway leads to the Parc de la Ciutadella which boasts a gorgeous gilded fountain that brought to mind images of Poseidon leaping out of the water on golden horses in a chariot.

The final stop on our tour was created from sand that was brought in from the Sahara and palm trees transported from Hawaii...Barcelona's man made beach. This beach, as well as its towering golden fish sculpture, El Peix, were created for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Frank Gehry, the Canadian born architect created this modernist sculpture out of stainless steel which is gold in color, making it shine in the sun like a brilliant beam against the Mediterranean sea. All together, this half day bicycle tour only cost us about $35 US dollars per person, and we learned so much and covered a lot of ground. I would highly suggest booking one of these tours, and they are located in other cities as well.