Exploring Barcelona with an Explorer II

[steveclocks]

nice photos Filipp explorer looking good too !!!

[Fila0220]

Originally Posted by DCheeta

Great city, thanks for sharing! Where else in Spain did you go? It's one of my favorite countries.

I only did Barcelona, and Sitges this time, while 2 years ago I did Girona and Begur. I would love to see the other cities tho.

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

[Racerdj]

Great photography!

[sea-dweller]

Great photos!

[simbal]

Nice pictures, great city!

[time2see]

Some nice tapas (appetizer) bars in Barcelona.
Great watch and city! Thanks for sharing.

[style88]

Originally Posted by Mick P

Chaps

I hail from the UK but being retired, I bought a house in Spain and I spend about 24 weeks a year out there, soaking up the sun and enjoying the scenery.

Barcelona is a beautiful city but it has one awful statistic. You have more chance of being robbed in Barcelona, than in any other city in Europe.

The main hot spot for theft is the touristy area called the Rambla which Somerset Maugh once described as the most beautiful street in the world.

Over the last few years it has also attracted pick pockets and muggers in abundance but at long last the local police have made a concerted effort to get things back under control.

Fortunately for us, wrist watches are not the main targets. There are specialist gangs who grab the handbags of non Spanish speaking women and its all over within seconds. Women have a habit of placing their bags between their feet when looking or handling goods in a market stall. When they notice their bags are gone, being non Spanish, they are slow to contact the police etc by which time it is all over.

So please enjoy Barcelona, but just tell your wife / girl friend to keep the hand bag strap over her shoulder and never leave your passport and your wallet in her bag.

Regards

Mick

Thanks for the heads-up Mick.

I used to go on tours in Europe, but have not yet visited Spain and Portugal.

The pick-pockets and muggers seem to be an issue in most touristy Europe countries. I was mugged in Milan Italy for 50 Euros, which fortunately ain't a big deal. But one of the woman in the tour group got her handbag stolen in a shoe shop in Switzerland, and quite honestly, not the country which I thought would have such crimes. With her handbag stolen, all the passports (including her kids) were lost and that's really a big let-down during the tour.

I would suggest however to keep TT or FG watches away, not worth attracting unnecessary attention whenever one is in those touristy areas.

[ltmgeller]

Great pics, thanks for sharing.

[jyan212]

Great shots, FiL!

[PoderEsBueno]

Great shots.