2007: Client feedback (copied from my website)

☺☺☺☺☺ At the end of September, Krissy McLean, New Zealand, and her father came to Barcelona along with their puppet cow. It seems her son had been in a team called the Moos, and as a joke she was taking pictures of the cow everywhere we went. It was a lot of fun! Check it out: THE TRAVELLING COW !



☺☺☺☺☺ I found by chance another Tripadvisor.com that mentions me! Ben Gillikin., California USA, posted his experience with me at Tripadvisor.com using his nickname BayAreaTraveller00.

☺☺☺☺☺ It was the first time that we had been to Barcelona. We're seasoned travelers, and we know how much a good, knowledgeable guide can add to a vacation. Equally we've come across too many guides for whom the process has become routine. Marta worked with us to build bespoke tours, doing the things that we wanted to do, in the time and in the fashion that we felt comfortable with.
If you want to really understand a city, to take a step away from being just another tourist find a good guide; in Barcelona Marta is that choice.
Paul and Denise Mayne, USA.


This is me and Denise at the Park Güell. Click on the picture to see the whole Mayne’s album of their trip!

☺☺☺☺☺ Hi Marta, just to thank you again for an enjoyable and informative day on Saturday. We all felt thoroughly briefed on Gaudi, especially after eating at the 4 Gats and Casa Calvet which was very pleasant too.
I will definitely recommend you to anyone I know who is coming to Barcelona for a holiday. You were such a great guide, finding us a nice bar when we were tired and flexing the day around our interests. And of course you were a very amusing source of information and great company. Your tips for places to visit later during the trip were great and we had a lovely time exploring the foodie shops around the Born on your recommendation.
Heather Male, UK.

☺☺☺☺☺ Faith W., California USA, posted her experience with me at Tripadvisor.com using her nickname rocksCalifornia.

☺☺☺☺☺ It has been a wonderful trip, starting with Barcelona. And we all agree, the highlight of Barcelona was gettting to meet you.
Michael Horvath, USA. Clic here to see his family photo gallery on their European trip and more about their Barcelona tours.

☺☺☺☺☺ This is a post you can find on Tripadvisor.com: “I have booked a tour with Marta of http://foreverbarcelona.com/. She has scheduled us for a full day tour of Barcelona and a tour of Montserrat/wine country. She's been really great to deal with and was very accommodating. “.
Swcosguy, Colorado, USA

☺☺☺☺☺ Hi Marta!!! Thanks so much for the Romesco Sauce recipe and thanks again for a wonderful day in Barcelona…what a fun and interesting day….you made it so special for us! You did a fantastic job for us and I really do appreciate all the special touches that you provided…you were a first class guide!!!
John White, North Carolina, USA

☺☺☺☺☺ Marta has a wealth of knowledge about Barcelona and its artistic history. She accommodated our particular interests, spoke excellent English and made the whole experience a lot of fun. I highly recommend her.
Sam, California, USA

Coming to Barcelona for Christmas?

Christmas is a very convenient time to travel, however, if you are coming to Barcelona you need to take into account that our traditions might be a bit different from what you expect, and they might affect your schedule...

Here there are many busy restaurant times:
Evening of the 24th: it's the traditional dinner in for most Spaniards.
Lunch of the 25th: it's the traditional family lunch in Catalonia.
Lunch of the 26th: it's the next traditional family lunch in Catalonia.
Evening of the 31st: although many locals eat at home or with friends, MANY foreigners eat in restaurants.
Lunch of the 1st: Who wants to cook after a long night?
Lunch of the 6th: it's a kid's day, the Three Wise Men bring presents.

So my advice is... GET A RESERVATION ASAP FOR THOSE DAYS! Ask at the concierge of your hotel to help you with that.

The other important thing is that ALL monuments and tourist sights will be closed for visitors on the following times:

24th: they are likely to close sooner than a normal day.
25th: everything closes after 2pm.
26th: everything closes after 2pm.
31st: they are likely to close sooner than a normal day.
1st: everything closes after 2pm.
6th: everything closes after 2pm.

And of course, shops will be closed as well... So shopping is NOT an option.
I suggest you reserve that day to walk around, go to the cinema or have a warm capucchino in a cafe.

As for New Year's Eve... don't think you'll find locals partying out in the streets... We don't! It's cold outside! So make sure your concierge gets you tickets for a party in some nice club or an elegant hotel or you'll risk waisting your time wandering the streets! It's not a night to improvize...

And if you keep clubbing until the sunrise... follow the local tradition: hot chocolate with churros in some earlybird caffe! Nuria, in Rambla near plaça Catalunya, is an option.

Enjoy your holidays!

Picasso Museum in January

Attention!

The permanent collection of the Picasso Museum will be closed from January 7th to 14th!

Training tours and workshops

The low tourist season is the right time to train and keep learning new things to share with our future clients and to expand and improve our tours offer.

So in December I have attended the following training events:

- Workshop on Medieval cities. Two days of interesting conferences about urbanism and dayly life in the Middle ages.
- Modernist Canet. We visited the home town of Domènech i Muntaner, one of the most renowned architects of our Modernism and learnt about his life and works there.
- Picasso & Wine in the Maresme County. We discovered an impressive private collection of Picasso paintings, and afterwards visited a local winery where we had some wine tasting.
- Olympic Museum. We had an introduction to this recently open venue that explains the history of the Olympic Games and links it to the history and evolution of Sport.
- AGBAR tower. The local tourguides association was invited to visit this office building (usually never open to the public) so we are ready to answer any questions about this eye-catching building.

Check out this photo album about the visit to the AGBAR Tower!

First post!

Hello!

Today I'm starting my own blog.
I hope it'll become a meeting point for those wanting to visit Barcelona, as well as for those that have had me as their tourguide and want to keep in touch with me!
And feel free to also check out my website Foreverbarcelona !

Welcome and Enjoy!