Hotel Oriente Famous Guest - Barcelona, Spain
Posted by: 
denben
N 41° 22.790 E 002° 10.457
31T E 430955 N 4581252
The plaque is attach to the outer walls of Hotel Oriente on La Rambla in Barcelona. It commemorates H.C. Andersen stay at this hotel during the flood of September 1862.
Waymark Code: WMQKGT
Location: Cataluña, Spain
Date Posted: 02/27/2016
Views: 10
"Danish Fairytale Author Hans Christian Andersen visited Spain 3 times and particulary enjoyed Barcelona, which he called "the Paris of Spain." His visit to Barcelona was in September of 1862 during a cold spell with constant rain. He was staying at the Hotel Oriente de la Rambla 45. On one of his last days in Barcelona he witnessed first hand violent storms and a flash flood on the Rambla with flood water cascading down from the hills of Collserola. He wrote that water levels in the shops of La Rambla were up to "hip level.. Nevertheless Andersen loved Barcelona and apparently never tired of strolling on La Rambla.
It was also in Barcelona, according to his diaries, that he got used to smoking cigars and decided that he enjoyed it. He had smoked his first cigars earlier the same year in Copenhagen, but didn't really enjoy it until he repeated the experience on a Spanish balcony. He also experienced a bullfight during his stay.
There is a plaque by the hotel Oriente door to commerate his visit.
Other famous names who stayed at the Hotel Oriente on La Rambla 45 include General Grant, Mary Pickford, Errol Flynn and Maria Callas." (
visit link)
The plaque reads Catalan:
Hans Christian Andersen
(Odense 1805 - Copenhaguen 1875)
Escriptor Danès
Va viure des d'aquest hotel la inundacio de la rambla el 15 Setembre de 1862.
Translation:
Hans Christian Andersen
(Odense 1805 - Copenhaguen 1875
Danish writer
He lived in this hotel during the flood of 15 September 1862 on Barcelona's La Rambla.