Barcelona - A Place to Be At

A vibrant city with rich culture, memorable history, and elegant architecture, Barcelona is a must travel destination.

Rich in art and architecture, Barcelona is a city in Spain. While this city is mainly known for the exquisite buildings designed by gifted architects like Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, the city’s culture and history are impressive as well. Consequently, Barcelona has been a hub for tourists from all over the world for a long time. Mr. Abdullah Tuncer Kececi, Turkish Airlines’ General Manager for Nepal, was one of the lucky ones to relish the splendor that Barcelona embodies. 

Before the trip
Mr. Kececi and his family have a special type of passport that allows them to travel throughout Europe without a visa. Making good use of this privilege, Mr. Kececi made an impromptu decision of taking a trip with his wife and children to Barcelona. However, later on, he and his family decided to invite his parents to travel with them. Thus, this trip to Barcelona became one of the biggest trips the entire family went on together. 

The beginning of the trip
Although this trip was a last minute decision, Mr. Kececi had pre-booked a six-bedroom rental apartment for three days. This apartment made a good impression on the family members as it had a rather organized setup though it was not a hotel. Mr. Kececi explains, “The apartment owner called us up soon after we landed and fixed an appointment with us. He offered to advise us on ways to make the most out of our days in Barcelona and helped us draft a plan to do so.”

While each attraction in Barcelona was memorable to the Kececi family, their trip to La Sagrada Família, which is a huge Roman Catholic Church made by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and a UNESCO World Heritage sites, took a special place in their hearts. Along with this, the special Flamingo dance in Barcelona was eye pleasing and entertaining for the entire family. 

For both of these outings, Mr. Kececi explains that the apartment owners were tremendously helpful. “Even though it was not part of their job, the apartment owners offered an extended service of making reservations and arranging tour guides,” said Mr. Kececi. He further added, Kececi says, “They really knew what they were doing. They had a detailed answer to all the queries we had in our mind. They also made bookings for different activities in the city and provided us with a discount for those activities. What impressed me the most is the transparency and accountability in their work. The trip would not have been the same without the warm hospitality that we received in the city.  

Additionally, the Kececi family fondly recalls visiting La Rambla (a tree-lined pedestrian mall) and Camp Nou (largest stadium in Europe and home stadium of FC Barcelona), both of which were mesmerizing in a distinctive manner. 

The other highlight of the trip was the scrupulous delicacies in the city. The Kececi family visited a myriad of restaurants most of which were seafood restaurants to taste the Barcelona cuisine. The family also had a wonderful time enjoying the world-famous Tapas, which are appetizers in Spanish cuisines. 

One of the very few problems the Kececi family experienced during their trip was a minor inconvenience in communicating because of language with people from local neighborhoods. “While the lifestyle in Barcelona was similar to the one I had back in my home and while we had no language barrier in tourist areas, exploring local streets and markets was a bit difficult,” says Mr. Kececi. 

Mr. Kececi adds, “However, for my daughter who was interested in learning Spanish at that time, the trip turned out to be a good way to practice the language through interactions with the locals.”

End of the trip
Unfortunately, the Kececi family decided to finish the trip a bit early because of the availability of their flight and thus, could not visit beaches and other historical monuments. However, Mr. Kececi believes that this just gives his family one more reason to visit Barcelona again. 

Post trip thoughts

Mr. Kececi feels that Barcelona has a good market for tourists and caters well to them. He suggests everyone to visit Barcelona at least once in his or her lifetime, while hinting that visiting just once is not enough.

“Barcelona has become my favorite place after my homeland capital Istanbul,” states Kececi with a smile on his face and a spark in his eyes.