Destination Unlocked

Welcome to Destination Unlocked with me, Daniel Edward.

Destination Unlocked is the chatty travel podcast, where each week a local expert

unlocks their part of the world for you.

Today we’re unlocking Barcelona, not just the Gaudi headlines, but the real

everyday Barcelona that you only learn from someone who actually lives it.

My guest is Ann-Marie Brannigan, co-founder of Runner Bean

Tours, one of the best walking tour companies in the city.

She’s got practical tips on when to visit Barcelona, navigating Sagrada Familia

without the chaos, the best neighborhoods to stay in, and a few Catalan traditions

that I promise you’ve never heard of.

If you are planning a Barcelona trip or it’s somewhere on your wishlist,

this is one worth sticking around for.

So Anne-Marie, where are you unlocking for us today?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Today I’m going to be unlocking Barcelona, home

to Gaudi, Barca football team, and just a very cool vibe for living.

I understand the cool, but, every time I’ve been there, it’s been hot.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Yeah, well, you’d be going around July or August, when

it’s incredibly humid, but the best months, I think, if you come to Barcelona

would be May, the beginning of June and then late September, all of October.

Beautiful.

I do think it’s a really nice place to visit when the

temperatures are a bit cooler

and I imagine the crowds have gone as well.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Barcelona has quite a long tourist season.

So It’s pretty busy all the year round.

It’s quite unusual to suddenly just go online and see tickets available for the

next day for Sagrada Familia, for example.

I think before Christmas, a lot of people are trying to prep up for the

Christmas season, so beginning of December you don’t have to fight the crowds.

It’s lovely.

The atmosphere is very local as well.

It’s definitely a recommended time to come.

I think I need to take you up on that tip because I’ve only seen

Barcelona in that peak tourist season.

It’s crowded, it’s busy.

There are definitely parts of the city that I haven’t managed to get

the true essence of, because of the fact that I’m trying to see

it with a thousand other people wiggling their selfie sticks around.

Barcelona is one of those cities I think everybody thinks they

already know, ’cause there are some really famous parts of the city.

Should we rattle off those ones and then get into the stuff that people don’t

know about, but maybe should know about?

You mentioned Sagrada Familia.

Why don’t we start there?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Well, Sagrada Familia, It is just a must do.

You can’t avoid it.

It’s amazing on the skyline.

I’m never sure whether to trust the architects ’cause there’s always delays.

I know you read it in all the guidebooks and you see it on all the videos, but

it’s something when you see in real life.

It’s pretty spectacular.

Then you’ve got the other Gaudi sites, Casa Batllo, which is

a beautifully colorful house with lots of bone balconies.

It’s always busy, busy.

Is that where Gaudi lived, or he just designed it?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: He designed that.

He lived up in Park Guell, uh, for the last 19 years of his life.

Park Guell is a park on a hill.

It was supposed to be a private housing estate for the very privileged.

A garden community, a gated community.

And the idea was that people would buy their own plot of

land and build their own house.

Gaudi bought the home, because nobody was buying there.

Ultimately it turned into a park and he designed all of the infrastructure:

the pathways and reception.

It’s really stunning.

Very unusual architecture as well.

It’s in his later period and he’s really playful with it.

You can visit his house in Park Guell.

Just don’t go on a hot day.

Because there’s no shade.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Go in the morning or the evening if you’re going in summer.

That’s my recommendation.

It’s very exposed.

He has definitely put his stamp on the city.

You can tell it is a Gaudi city.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Yeah.

It is.

When we get requests, it’s always Gaudi that people are eager to see.

The Gothic Quarter is famous as well.

That’s one of your lead attractions, but not so many people would know about

it offhand, whereas Gaudi is global.

People know the name of the architect.

So, the Gothic Quarter’s beautiful to visit as well.

The cathedral was the headquarters.

All the rich and fabulous people want to live beside the cathedral.

So it’s, beautiful gothic architecture from the 14th, 15th,

16th, and then the mishmash as you build on top, within walls.

So the streets make no sense, but it’s really picturesque, beautiful plazas.

There’s lots of churches, beautiful old shops as well.

And you can really lose yourself in there.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Yeah, you can.

Geography wise and mentally as well.

That Quarter, the Gothic Quarter is off of La Rambla.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: It is.

When we refer to the Old City, it’s walls that went around the city in the

13th and 14th century, and La Rambla runs more or less through the center.

On one side you’ve got El Raval.

On the other side, you’ve got the Gothic Quarter, and then there’s another parallel

street and that’s where you’ve got La Ribera, that’s where the working class

people used to live in the olden days.

That’s the three neighborhoods of the old city.

So it was a very distinct structure of the city.

If you were this, you were living here.

If you were that you were living there.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Yeah.

Like nowadays!

How, yeah.

How has it worked out nowadays?

’cause Barcelona has grown, it’s really spread.

If a tourist is visiting, chances are they’re staying in the center.

But that’s not the whole of Barcelona now, is it?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Barcelona, transport wise, is fantastic.

So don’t be scared to stay a little bit outside of the center.

When we talk about the center, we do talk about the old city.

built, and that’s called the Eixample.

And the Eixample swallowed up small towns that used to surround Barcelona.

These towns, and nowadays neighborhoods, each contain their own character.

Gracia, for example, which is probably one of those closest neighborhoods

that got swallowed up, is a really cool neighborhood to stay in.

Lots of beautiful plazas.

It still has that feel of a village, but within a city.

Full of nice galleries, great takeaway eateries, hipster places.

Gracia would be a great neighborhood to stay in.

If you wanted cheaper accommodation, but still quite well communicated,

I would head out 10, 15 minutes by Metro: Hostafrancs, Sants, they

would be cheaper places to stay.

You have to kind of get into the smaller areas that used to be a little center

of the village or a neighborhood.

How does the metro work?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Very simple.

If you’re not colorblind, you’re grand.

Great.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: It’s very similar to London, but it runs on

time and the trains don’t break down.

Unheard of.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Yeah, it’s really simple.

It’s all color coded.

The lines are listed and it’s very cheap as well.

It’s all one zone.

The only zone that you have to pay for a little bit extra would

be to go to the airport by metro.

That’s just a tourist tax.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: I suppose so.

Funnily enough, if you catch a train, you don’t pay any extra than in the metro.

And with a metro ticket, when you buy your ticket, you can buy a family

ticket where you get eight journeys and you can share it between all of you

. Or you can get a T10, a casual ticket , and that gives you 10

journeys, but only you can use it.

It’s very cost effective and you can change modes of transport.

So you can go from metro to bus to tram and they won’t charge you any

extra within the hour and 10 minutes.

, It’s clean, it’s efficient.

We just have to watch out for a few pickpockets here and there in busy times

. Daniel Edward: I was gonna ask you about Pickpockets because Barcelona

does have a bit of a reputation.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Yeah.

like any big tourist city, you’re gonna have pickpockets.

I do feel that it has gone down in the past few years on the metros and the

trains, but you do have to be very aware.

If you bring a bag with you, just don’t have it open.

Don’t have it towards the back.

Don’t leave your mobile phone when you’re eating in a terrace.

We all get struck.

The years that I’ve lived here, I’ve been pickpocketed three times.

Even though I feel I’m aware and quite savvy, so it is just something

that you gotta look out for.

But I do feel it’s not as bad as it used to be.

I see a big change since the pandemic.

Oh, there’s a, a positive come out of Coronavirus.

Okay.

Well, let’s, let’s move away from the pickpockets.

Let’s talk a bit about food.

I don’t know if this was part of your naming of your company Runner Bean

tours, but, it gets me thinking of food, rather than running, I think

that probably says more about me.

What would you say is the perfect Barcelona breakfast?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: I suppose you gotta try out the

pastisserias, pastries and sweets.

A nice pastry and a cafe con leche would be my ideal breakfast in Barcelona.

Here in Catalonia or Barcelona, the ensaimadas are very popular.

It’s kind of a round pastry, very light ideal for dipping.

It takes the flavor of a coffee really nicely.

And is there a distinct feel of, of a Catalan culture rather

than a spanish culture more widely?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Definitely.

Catalonia formed many years ago as a very different place.

History has a lot to do with it.

People had their own customs and laws and very influenced from the north as well.

The south has got a lot of North African architecture and history

to it, and I think that affects the food, it affects the language as well.

Yeah, there’s a very distinct Catalan culture.

What’s one piece that really stands out as a Catalan

dish rather than a Spanish dish you might pick up in Madrid.

What’s a dish for lunch or dinner that you’ve gotta try in Barcelona?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Albondigas and sepia.

Meatballs with squid is definitely Catalan.

So you get your meatballs, but they cook it with cuttlefish,

I think it’s the giant squid.

They cook it with that in the stew sauce.

It’s a very different flavor.

So that’s a very much a Catalan dish.

It was one of the first dishes I tried when I arrived Catalonia.

It was recommended by all my Catalan friends . Albondigas and sepia.

It’s a good dish.

And cannelloni is considered a Barcelona dish, but they do it

very different from the Italians.

You don’t use a tomato sauce, you stew your meat and then

you put it in a bechamel sauce.

You could have pork, you could have beef, you could have duck.

Bechamel sauce in the cannelloni and then bechamel sauce and a cheese on

top and you put it into the oven.

The oldest restaurant in Barcelona Can Culleretes, it’s had newspaper

articles written about their cannelloni, so I definitely recommend

going there if you’re gonna try them.

You mentioned that the meatballs with the squid was

one of the first dishes that you tried when you moved to Barcelona.

What brought you to Barcelona?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: My husband.

He’s not Catalan, he’s from the north.

He’s from the Basque country.

We had a lot of friends from Barcelona and we love the city, the culture, we

visited quite a few times, so we just decided to go for it, make the plunge,

You set up Runner Bean Tours together,

it’s a family run business?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: We set it up together.

I dunno if that’s a best thing for your relationship to work

with your partner full time.

But we have different roles so we kind of avoid each other at different points.

We’d gotten work as tour guys.

When you first arrived to a city, you try to hand in a lot of different

things; I was English teaching as well.

The company that we worked for part-time tour guiding, kind of

crumbled and we thought, well, we’d really like this, why don’t we have

a go and set up our own company?

We just started really, really small and then grew bit by bit over time

and created lots of different tours.

Is it fun to create the tour?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Yeah, we’re curating.

There’s a lot of research, but it came naturally enough.

We run free tours where it’s donation based.

The Gothic Quarter and the Gaudi main sites; they were wonderful to research.

I studied ceramics in college, worked as an artist for many years, so I

found the Gaudi very easy to do, and Gorka was the one who researched

a lot about the Gothic Quarter.

And then from there we started to create paying tours.

So the Kids and Family tour.

I’d worked specifically with kids when I came to Barcelona as an English teacher,

so that was very natural as well.

Lots of games, songs, visiting Giants, candy… I know how kids’

minds work, so that was a good tour.

And then the night tour was set up by Gorka, who’s into the macabre, into the

torture, and into the Spanish Inquisition and the hidden corners that you can get.

As time went on, I qualified as an official guide.

So now we offer transported private tour where families can pick what they want

to do, what buildings they want to go inside, if they want to do day trips

. There’s lots of different things going on in the company.

What’s your most popular tour?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Gaudi.

I think that half the requests we get are for the Gaudi sites.

He is world famous.

And also Sagrada Familia tickets sometimes can be a little bit to get.

In the high season, you need to have your tickets bought about six weeks

or two months beforehand, just to be secure of your place In Sagrada Familia.

On your major tours, the public group ones, how early

should people book for those?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: The kids and family fills up quite quickly.

If people book early, we know whether to put on a second

guide or run a second tour.

It’s always better to book a bit earlier than a bit later.

The family tour, it’s such a good idea.

’cause it gives the children a way of engaging with a place at a

level which is appropriate to them.

‘Cause seeing old buildings can’t be a child’s favorite activity without

a little bit of structure to help.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Yeah.

It is made for the children.

I think if you’re gonna visit a city, you have to be interested in culture.

There’s lots of places along the coast that if people want sunshine and beach.

You don’t come to Barcelona for the beach.

It’s not an incredibly nice beach.

So the people that will come to the city are interested in the culture.

I have had people who come on day trips as well with the family.

Say they’re staying down the coast in a different town, but they’ll take

the day into the city with the kids.

And sometimes the adults told me that they learned an awful lot on the tour,

but they hadn’t realized, because it’s done in an engaging manner and they can

sit back and they can let somebody else take the responsibility for bringing the

kids through the history of the city.

It’s not on their shoulders, so they can relax on tour as well.

If you’re thinking of taking the kids to Barcelona or you want

to check out the full range of tours, Ann-Marie and her husband Gorka offer,

their website is www.runnerbeantours.com.

www.runnerbeantours.com.

Barcelona is one of my favorite big cities in Europe, and Ann-Marie has lots of

insider tips still to come in this episode of the Destination Unlocked Podcast.

Just before we get back to Ann-Marie, now is a really good moment to check that

you are subscribed to the Destination Unlocked Podcast wherever you are

currently listening to this episode, it’ll make it so much easier for you to

find us again the next time your mind’s taking a little wander somewhere lovely.

For now, let’s head back to Barcelona with Ann-Marie from Runner Bean

Tours, and it’s time for our quiz.

Good luck.

Which famous Barcelona Church has been under construction for

more than 140 years and counting?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Sagrada Familia.

Ding,

ding.

Correct!

Do you know the year it started?

By Villar, not by Gaudi.

Villar quit.

He had a big argument with the ecclesiastical committee about

Wow.

Gosh.

One fight led to all of that.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: No, I led to all that.

Well, Villar’s design was a lot smaller.

And it would’ve been finished.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Eight years, nine at the most.

Oh, it would’ve been finished, but not as spectacular.

I think you’ll definitely get the next one.

Very easy question for you.

Which architect’s, colorful mosaics, cover Park Guell, and half the

Fridge Magnets sold in the city?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Ha ha ha, Gaudi.

Correct.

Which street is famous for its flower stalls, human statues, and

pickpockets all at the same time?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Las Ramblas.

Yes.

Barcelona hosted the Summer Olympics in what year?

Correct.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: That’s what led to the beaches.

We didn’t have beaches before that.

We got sand imported in.

That’s the Olympic legacy in Barcelona.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: There’s a bit of debate about that, whether

the city council should be paying for it or the Spanish government.

So let’s see if we keep that beaches.

We have to keep topping them up and it’s an expensive business

Yeah, I might get into the sand distribution market.

That’s, I hadn’t even thought about that.

Final question.

If a Catalan says Visca Barca, what are they cheering for?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: No say, um, maybe I, I, I, I get my son

to do a lot of the translation.

But, um, what’s it mean?

Apparently it means they’re cheering for FC Barcelona.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: I’m not a football fan either…

you got five out of five,

Fantastic

Even with that one at the end.

If somebody doesn’t speak Spanish or Catalan, how are

they going to do in Barcelona?

Is English widely spoken?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: English is widely spoken.

There’s a big international community in Barcelona.

I’m quite dyslexic, so was advised to learn one language

first and then the other.

So I did pick Spanish to learn first.

Has that been okay for getting around then in Barcelona,

to rely on the Spanish first?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Yeah.

What will happen quite often is that you might talk to somebody in Spanish

and they’ll reply in Catalan, but you know, you can kind of wriggle

your way around the conversation.

No problem.

Now that’s in Barcelona.

If you go outside Barcelona, it’s a different story.

People do make amends for that and they’re very welcoming.

But if you go outside, Catalan is more spoken.

The education system here is in Catalan.

The children will learn Spanish as a second language

That’s in the state schools.

So a few catlan phrases then., I think you’ll

be able to help us with this.

It’s not difficult ones.

How do you say hello?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Uh, bon dia.

Bon dia.

Okay.

How do you say please?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Uh, si us plau.

Oh, si us plau, gosh, that’s nothing like, I would’ve guessed.

Thank you?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Merci.

They use the French for thank you.

Again, I would never have guessed that one.

Goodbye?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Adeu.

And another sangria please?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Ultra mas.

Gosh, that’s very different from Spanish.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: It’s a separate language.

It is a separate language.

Yeah.

My goodness.

Well, I’m pleased i’ve learned a few words there.

I’ll give them a go.

Let’s get into some insider secrets.

Once you’ve seen Sagrada Familia, you’ve been to Park Guell and maybe been to the

football stadium, if you’re interested in the football, what’s the local secret that

you love to show your private visitors that they would never otherwise see?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: There’s a lot of hidden gems in the Gothic Quarter.

Businesses, for example, that have been open for many years and still have

the same beautiful decoration inside.

They’re very humble.

Not a lot of people think to go, but you’ve got the oldest magician shop

in the center – El Rey de la Magia.

You’ve got the oldest business in Barcelona, a candle shop, and they’ve

all got their original decoration.

They’re absolutely beautiful.

So it’s a little slice of history within a business.

Another really nice thing to do is, when you wander up Eixample, is the

golden quarter of the Eixample, so, Passeig de Gracia and all the streets

that would cross over in that zone.

Wander along and go inside different doorways, sometimes they’re open.

You can see the most beautiful art nouveau decoration just in the

hallway with original old wooden lifts that will bring you up to the top.

So it always surprises me, lots of little hidden gems like that.

Sometimes they have doormen and sometimes they don’t.

Just let yourself in.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Just follow behind someone

That’s how you get your secrets.

It’s true.

One thing that I found when I was wondering around the Gothic Quarter in

that sort of maze of old streets that don’t make any sense until you’ve left

them and you realize you’ve just done a full circle without realizing it, and

you’ve got all these little shops…

I found a shop.

It’s one of my first thoughts when it comes to Barcelona.

And it’s a farmer doing a poo.

I dunno if I’m gonna say it right, a caganer?

Cagener?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Oh, caganer.

Caganer.

What’s the story?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: The el caganer goes on the nativity scene.

It’s a farmer doing a poo.

It’s an old countryside man doing a poo.

Got the red

hat, the white shirt, the black trousers, and uh, the idea is it was a symbol

of good luck for the new year harvest.

What you take from the earth you give back to the Earth.

But now on the big Bethlehem scenes, they’ll put a few el caganers, and he’s

always hidden when he’s doing a poo.

So be behind a bush or a stable.

And the big thing for the children is to find, try and find el caganer.

So it’s a bit like, Where’s Wally?

You know, you’re kind of trying to find him there.

It’s a, it is a, it is the fun thing for them to do.

Suddenly it took off with visitors, they found this custom very unusual.

So now you’ll find modern day versions of al caganer, as in they’ll do

Trump, Madonna, famous politicians and they’ll all be their trousers

down and they’ll be having a poo.

Did you see the little log while you were in the shop as

well, with little red hat on?

No.

The logs are another pooing tradition that we have here in Catalonia, and

it’s basically a log and you paint on a face and a smiley mouth when

you’ve got the red barretina hat.

And about three weeks before Christmas, a lot of Catalan families

will go out to the forest looking for the log that the parents have

obviously planted for their children.

The children will find the log, bring it home, put it under the Christmas tree.

Feed it food every night.

The log magically wakes up in the middle of night and eats it.

Um, it was when we had a dog because she would eat all the food.

Now we’ve got to remember to empty the plate.

Then on Christmas Eve, the children grab a stick and they start to hit the stick,

and sing a song, telling the log to poop out their Christmas dessert, the turron,

and a couple of Christmas presents.

Usually they sell them in the markets at Christmas time, not a lot of tourists

know about the logs, but they know about the el caganer ’cause it’s kind of little

enough to buy as a souvenir to bring home.

But you’re not gonna buy big log, you know, and shove it into your suitcase.

On my family tour, when parents learn about the log and they wanna bring

the tradition into the house, they usually make their own from home, so…

oh, that sounds great!!

No, I’d never heard of the log one.

I bought my sister and her husband, Peppa Pig as a caganer.

And, uh, it’s all pink.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: It’s all pink.

all all pink.

Bum and all!.

Everything.

It’s such an unusual tradition, but It makes people smile.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: It does.

I couldn’t believe it when I first arrived and a lot of people when they

first hear about it kind of go, really?

But now I’m so used to it.

It just seems old hat at this stage.

We’ve got Groucho Marx in our household, as our caganer.

My husband’s a big fan of Marx brothers, and we called our

son Harpo, after Harpo Marx.

He can change his name when he is 18 if he wants.

Barcelona is the most amazing city break, but there’s

also the Catalonian countryside around it, there are beach resorts

further down the road within an hour.

If someone was coming to Barcelona and they were thinking, I wanna get a little

bit further afield, is there a town?

Is there a countryside special that’s a day trip from Barcelona that you think,

this is one that you’ve gotta go to.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Tarragona is one I would recommend.

A lot of people would go up north to Gerona, which is beautiful;

it was where the Game of Thrones.

So, you know, quite a few scenes were filmed there, so it’s

very beautiful and medieval.

But Tarragona down south is Roman based.

It was a capital of the Northern Iberian Peninsula when the Romans ruled and

it’s got some wonderful museums and it’s very pretty and it’s not very touristy.

Gerona would be more touristy, but Tarragona isn’t.

So I’d recommend that.

It’s not countryside, it’s another city, but it’s not as

big or bustly as Barcelona.

And around Tarragona all along the coast, you’re gonna have

different holiday resorts.

It’s lovely and you can do it all within a day.

In any of the sites, they’ll sell a ticket for the museums and the different

archeological sites, and it’s one price.

To take in all the sites rather than paying individually.

They eat very well in Tarragona and it’s a lot more relaxed, the atmosphere.

I always love Tarragona and it’s not very long on the train.

The train would be the way to get there, it can take you about 45 minutes,

and you’re not far from the center.

Where’s the station in Barcelona to get outta Barcelona then?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: To get out of Barcelona, go to Sants Estacio.

They would to bring you to, not only Tarragona, but you can go,

you know, Madrid, Seville, Bilbao.

That’s the main hub.

Sants Estacio.

It’s very well laid out.

Once you get there, all the signs are very clear.

It’s not difficult to navigate so people shouldn’t be nervous about it.

Alright, let’s wrap up with our quick fire round for Barcelona.

What would you say is the top thing to see or do?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Sagrada Familia, It is just a must

Have we mentioned that before?

We might’ve mentioned it.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: We might have mentioned it.

Apart from that Montjuic is really nice.

It’s got a fort and cable cars going up to the top of the mountain that overlooks

the port and the city and you get really close up views of a city from up high.

So that’s for your panoramic photo.

Some people love to get the panoramic photo of the city.

You go up there.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: You go up there.

And also there’s a lovely walk around the fort.

It’s only a kilometer, so it’s a really nice wander round.

We always find activities.

The fort’s now open if you wanna visit it as well.

It just makes a really complete trip, especially if you take the cable car,

from the funicular up to the top.

The views are spectacular and it’s not that expensive for a

cable car, about 20 euros return.

Top tourist trap to avoid.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Oh, Las Ramblas.

Las Ramblas has got beautiful architecture and I definitely

recommend walking down and looking up.

But if you look from side to side, it’s been taken over by very bad restaurants.

A lot of tourist shops.

Gives you, it is an overwhelming feeling and unfortunately now people are trying

to talk people into the restaurants, so there’s a sense of hassling there,

which is really not part of the culture.

So, I definitely would wander along, but I wouldn’t hand around in Las

Rumblers or eat in Las Ramblas.

Your favorite time of year to visit barcelona.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: December or February.

They’re really quiet periods to come and visit the city.

You feel like you have it to yourself and you get more of a local feeling as well.

And if you’re coming December through February sort of

time, what should you be wearing?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Never goes below zero here.

You can get a chill factor with the wind, so, bring a jacket and jumper.

But some days in December, if you’re catching the sun, you might

even strip down to a t-shirt.

It, it depends.

So I I’d layer, I would layer, but that would only be at midday.

And if you’re suddenly in the sun.

If somebody wants to really get in the mood for a trip to Barcelona,

is there a book you’d recommend?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: I loved Shadow of the Wind, but it’s

stuck in a different period.

I like the Baroque.

It’s really wonderful.

It’s really well written.

The characters are wonderful.

The main character, Daniel, goes with his father.

cemetery of forgotten books and, you know, that alone evokes images.

And on a trail to find the author, he talks about a lot of the sites

of Barcelona, you know, La Pedrera, the prison of Montjuic and all

these characters that play out.

I think it’s a wonderful book to read before coming to Barcelona.

Yeah, for sure.

Top food or drink to try whilst you’re here.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Top food, Cannellonis.

I really do like the bull’s tail or the duck ones.

And Cava.

Cava is a drink.

We’re a Cava producing region, so we don’t have Champagne, we have

Cava here in Northern Catalonia.

Codorniu is the oldest seller.

They first started producing it, so it’s a really nice place to visit if you want

to make a day trip out of it as well.

Last time I was in

Barcelona, I did a Cava tasting.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Ah,

I didn’t know

there were so

many different types.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: Did you try Cava sangria?

It’s now a thing

No.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: that’s really good.

So instead of using red wine, they use Cava.

It’s very refreshing.

Any people I take for dinner to a restaurant and they try it, they’re

like, whoa, it’s really good.

So next time you’re here, Daniel.

Okay.

I think I’d prefer it.

Yeah.

what would be your top authentic souvenir to take

home, not a magnet from China?

What’s a real local souvenir to take home?

Ann-Marie Brannigan: I would recommend maybe going to La Pedrera Gift Shop.

It’s a really nice gift shop and some of the most beautiful things I’ve seen there.

You can buy copies of handles that Gaudi designed for windows or for doors.

Not too pricey considering.

Or cups that are made with handles, of the design of Gaudi.

So it, it is an interesting design shop.

I would kind of nose around there, you get some really nice things like

copies of the tiles, that line Passeig de Gracia, that Gaudi designed; so

rather than one authentic piece, I would recommend to shop so that you can

choose what you feel is to your taste.

Get as much as you can.

I’m still, I’m picking up the Gaudi theme, running quite deep, but it makes

total sense, as a ceramicist coming through to Barcelona, how that could not

speak to you, it would be impossible.

Ann-Marie from Runner Bean Tours in Barcelona, thank you so much

for unlocking Barcelona for us.

Ann-Marie Brannigan: You’re very welcome.

Thanks for having me on, Daniel.

Well, that’s all for this episode of Destination Unlocked.

A big thank you again to Ann-Marie Brannigan from Runner Bean Tours for

unlocking Barcelona with us today.

From Gaudi’s, big hitters to the Catalan traditions you don’t usually hear about.

If this has helped you plan a future Barcelona trip or gave you a few nice

ideas for your travel wishlist, do hit follow or subscribe so you can easily

find your way back for the next journey.

And if you want extra tips, links and guides, you’ll find everything waiting

for you at destinationunlocked.com.

I’m Daniel Edward.

Thanks for listening, and I’ll catch you next time.