Beginners' Spanish: Getting around

8.2 Actividad

Actividad 8.2

In this activity you are going to find out about three hotels situated in the old part of Barcelona and around the Ramblas, one of the main arteries of the city. You will also become familiar with ways of talking about approximate distance to or from a place.

LAS RAMBLAS

The ramblais an urban feature virtually unique to Catalonia, and there is one in most Catalan towns. Originally, the Rambla of Barcelona was a seasonal river bed, the name deriving from an Arabic word for river bank, ramla. Different sections of the Rambla in Barcelona have different names, as one descends from Plaza Catalunya: Rambla de Canaletes, Rambla dels Estudis, Rambla de San Josep, Rambla dels Caputxins and Rambla de Santa Mónica. Hence the plural is often used – Rambles (Catalan) or Ramblas in Spanish and English.

(Adapted from Time Out Barcelona Guide, p. 50, Time Out Group Ltd)

Español de bolsillo

¿Dónde está el hotel Oriente? Where is the Oriente hotel?
A dos pasos del Teatro Liceo. A few yards from the Teatro Liceo. (Literally: Two steps from…)
A cien metros de la Plaza Catalunya. A hundred metres from the Plaza Catalunya.
A cinco minutos del puerto. Five minutes from the harbour.
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Distance

1 Listen to the three advertisements for hotels in Barcelona. Then note the proximity to the city centre, and the exact address of each hotel. The following phrases may help you.

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Barcelona hotels

Escuche y complete.

Proximity to city centre Exact address
Hotel Duques de Bergara
Hotel Oriente
Hotel Rívoli

Vocabulario

afueras (las outskirts
pueblo (el) village, town

2 Now listen to the audio clip below and do the exercise.

Escuche y participe.

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Where is the hotel?

Answer

1

Proximity to city centre Exact address
Hotel Duques de Bergara En el corazón de Barcelona, a pocos metros de la Plaza Catalunya Calle Bergara, 11
Hotel Oriente En pleno centro, en las Ramblas Calle Ramblas, 45–47
Hotel Rívoli A dos pasos de la Plaza Catalunya La Rambla, 128