Mobile World Congress Barcelona - Visits and Trips

If you are coming to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and have some time to kill, want to visist some tourist attractions, or take part in some activities in the area, then read on. Here is another article which explores a few things that you can do with a limited amount of time. If you have more time, be sure to visit, www.barcelonaeventorganisation.com, to see the full range of tours and activities available.  Remember, that we will be adding a new article every week day, so keep coming back.

SIDE TRIPS

Right Around the Fira
Immediately around the Fira's South Entrance, there's an impressive collection of first-rate modern architecture.

Start your quick tour with the bright-red Hotel Porta Fira, just across the street from the South Entrance. Designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito, the Porta Fira and its accompanying office tower are supposed to echo the two Venetian towers by the entrance to the older Fira Montjuïc.

Just north of the Porta Fira, across Plaça Europa, is the new Renaissance hotel, designed by Jean Nouvel. You'll recognize it by the palm tree-shaped windows. The whole hotel has a garden theme. There are little seating areas with indoor gardens on the 14th floor, and the ride up in a glass elevator facing the outside is fun.

Other notable buildings on the Plaça Europa include a black office building by RCR Architects that looks like a radiator and the award-winning Torre Plaça Europa apartment building, another block up Carrer Herrero at the corner of Carrer Juan de Juanes.

If You Have 1 to 2 Hours

Even with less than two hours away from the show, it's possible to get a glimpse of real Spanish life in the city of L'Hospitalet. A quick walk will take you to a traditional covered market, a gorgeous crumbling ruin and a 12th-century church, with a stop for pastries.



From the Plaça Europa, walk up Carrer Natzaret to Carrer Igualtat. Take a left there and walk up to Carrer Aprestadora. Ahead of you slightly to the right is Panaderia Cabré, a family-owned bakery. The pastries there are spectacular; make sure to get one.

Proceed up Carrer Pi i Margall to Carrer Santa Eulalia. There, take a left and walk two blocks to the Parroquia Santa Eulalia Provenzana (Carrer Santa Eulalia 203, L'Hospitalet 08902; +34 (93) 422-4219; parroquiasantaeulalia.org), a peculiar two-sided church.

From the front, it's a grand 1950s building. But walk around the back to find the 12th-century Romanesque hermitage, with a Latin inscription from 1201 above the door and a beautifully dim, vaulted interior. The sanctuary is open daily, but you have to be lucky.

Double back down Carrer de Santa Eulalia, one of L'Hospitalet's main shopping streets. At Carrer Gasometre you'll pass Can Trinxet, a beautiful, crumbling ruin of a 1910 textile factory destined to become a cultural center.



Proceed to Carrer Pareto and take a right. In two blocks you'll reach the 1929 covered Santa Eulalia Market (ppen Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Carrer Josep Anselm Clave 35, L'Hospitalet 08902; +34 (93) 331-4694; www.mercatdesantaeulalia.com/), a traditional market built in 1936. The market has clothing and flowers around the outside, and food vendors within, including meat, fish and fresh fruits. You can stop at Bar L'Antic, at stall #4, for coffee.

Leaving the market, continue down Carrer Pareto until it becomes Carrer Alhambra. You'll pass a plaza with a fun local landmark, giant red metal letters reading "L'HOSPITALET." Turn into the Alhambra Gardens park beyond Carrer Aprestadora to walk through some greenery or sit a while. At the base of the park, you'll be back on the Gran Via.

You can take a left down the Gran Via to return to the South Entrance of the convention center, continue straight ahead across the street and down Carrer Alumini to the North Entrance, or enter the Granvia 2 shopping mall across the street.

The whole walk should take well under two hours.

If You Have 2 to 4 Hours
With two to four hours, you can take a bus into Barcelona and get a glimpse of some of the city's attractions.

The Passeig de Gràcia

My top pick is to wander up the Passeig de Gràcia, the city's most fabulous promenade, and get a glimpse of the Sagrada Família, the city's signature building.

Take the H12 bus to Passeig de Gràcia and take a right. One block down at the far end of the Plaça Catalunya, you'll find the Mobile World Centre, the global mobile industry's showplace for technology. It'll have some major exhibits running during the show, and it'll be fun to see how our industry presents itself to the public.

Turn around and proceed back up the Passeig de Gràcia. You'll pass several major Modernist buildings and a lot of great shopping. Between Carrer de Consell de Cent and Carrer Aragó is the "Block of Discord," with signature modernist buildings by four different architects; Gaudí's Casa Battló is a common site for MWC corporate events. At Carrer Provença you'll see La Pedrera (open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; adult admission €16.50; www.lapedrera.com/en/home), another great Gaudí building, and one you can tour.



At Carrer Roselló, pop down into the Diagonal Metro stop and take the Metro two stops to Sagrada Família (open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily; adult admission €13; www.sagradafamilia.cat) The peculiar, spectacular Sagrada Família is the single iconic image of Barcelona, a crazed modernist dream of a church that's still under construction; it only got its roof a few years ago. Make sure to see all sides of the building, as they were designed by different sculptors in different styles.

When you're done at Sagrada Família, take metro line 2 back to Passeig de Gràcia, where you can catch the H12 bus back to the Fira.

Montjuïc and Museums
If you're just feeling overwhelmed by a crazy week, a trip into the Montjuïc park may be what the doctor ordered. In Montjuïc, you can enjoy some top museums or just wander through the greenery.
To get to Montjuïc, take a taxi (€10) or catch the TMB 125 bus from the corner of Metallurgia and Foc, just by the North Entrance of the convention center.



Montjuïc is one of those parks where everything's windy and it's very, very easy to get lost, but that's fine. If you need a goal, three great ones are the Miró Foundation Museum (open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; adult admission €10; +34 (93) 443-9470), with hundreds of paintings and sculptures by native son Joan Miró; the tram up to the 17th-century Montjuïc Castle (Carretera de Montjuïc 66, Barcelona 08038; open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; free admission; +34 (93) 256-4445), which offers you a terrific view of downtown and the sea; and MNAC (open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; adult admission €10; +34 (93) 622-0376), the city's main art museum.

If you find your way down to MNAC then you've made it into the old Fira area, which means you can walk straight through the old convention center to Plaça Espanya to grab the trains back to MWC. Otherwise, bus stops around the Montjuïc area let you hop on the TMB 150 bus, which will take you to Plaça Espanya for the train.

If You Have a Half-Day Or More (click this link)
With a half-day or more, it's time to head into Barcelona and enjoy all it has to offer.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com by Sascha Segan

If you are visiting Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress, MWC or GSMA in 2014 or just want to make a Tour, Day trip, Attractions or Excursion or are interested in any other tour services, then check out the picture above at the top and if you can't find what you are looking for, call us on +34 647 044 889, because you can be sure we can do it.