Authentic Barcelona Hotel and Opera Tour
Authentic Barcelona Hotel 1898 – pool grotto on lower level.
This trip report was contributed by my friend Mary Anne Curray. She and husband Joe are avid travelers. Mary Anne previously wrote about their 14-day Rovos Rail Journey in southern Africa.
We stayed at an authentic Barcelona hotel when we were in Spain in March – Hotel 1898, on Las Ramblas. Loved it. Great location. Good service; good food; quiet. We enjoyed the lovely rooftop terrace garden with lap pool and bar. Teak sun beds, blue tile pool, great view of the city. Location couldn’t be better, yet it was quiet.
View of Las Ramblas from authentic Barcelona Hotel 1898.
The hotel is a block from the Boqueria, the colorful open-air market. This authentic Barcelona hotel really offers luxury in a prime location. It was an easy walk to the opera house from Hotel 1898, which was good because we were on an opera tour. In fact, it was a fantastic tour – one of many each year offered by GreatPerformancetours.com.
View of Barcelona from Hotel 1898 roof garden.
Opera in Barcelona and Valencia
The highlight of the tours are always excellent seats for two or three operas and two or three concerts. This tour included both Barcelona and Valencia. I’m sure you know about the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia.
Hotel 1898, Barcelona.
(Note from Elizabeth: I didn’t know anything about the City of Arts and Sciences, so I took a little peek at Wikipedia: The City of Arts and Sciences is an entertainment-based cultural and architectural complex in the city of Valencia, Spain. It is the most important modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia.
The City of Arts and Sciences is situated at the end of the former riverbed of the river Turia, which was drained and rerouted after a catastrophic flood in 1957. The old riverbed was turned into a picturesque sunken park. Designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, the project underwent the first stages of construction in July 1996 and the finished “city” was inaugurated April 16, 1998 with the opening of L’Hemisfèric.
The last great component of the City of Arts and Sciences, El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, was presented on October 9, 2005, Valencian Community Day.)
We saw Placido Domingo in Simon Boccanegra at the Palau de les Arts (Opera House) in Valencia. In Barcelona we saw Tosca at Liceu Opera House. Floria: Viennese soprano Martina Serrafin; Mario Cavaradossi: Korean tenor Alfred Kim; Scarpia: American baritone Scott Hendricks; and Conductor: Paolo Carignani.
We really like Great Performances Tours and we will go again on another. We’re waiting for northern Italy – La Scala in Milan, Bellagio on Lake Como, and the colosseum in Verona. The tours are limited to 28 people and, in our opinion, perfect in every respect. We try to attend an opera wherever we go if it’s possible.
Thanks Mary Anne!
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Fantastic hotel, I agree! 1898 Hotel is just marvelous, and if you have money of course I especially recommend to book one of the 2 penthouse suite!
I fully agree, 1898 Hotel is truely amazing and worth the visit, especially rooftop suites with their own private pool !