Runner Bean in Barcelona

If you really want to have Barcelona’s Old City come alive, take one of the tours offered by Runner Bean Walking Tours (Carrer del Carme 44, pral 2ª 08001, Barcelona, Spain; phone +34 636 108 776, www.runnerbeantours.com).
While planning for a post-cruise stay in Barcelona, we saw a recommendation for this company in the “Rick Steves’ Barcelona” guidebook. Runner Bean provides several walking tours of Barcelona, two of which are free.
The Runner Bean website is extremely helpful and very user friendly, answering just about any question a person might have regarding the tours. Tour registration can be accomplished via the Internet. We made our reservations about two months before the date of our tour, Sept. 30, 2015, and received confirmation within 24 hours.
We decided to take their Old City tour, which lasted about 2½ hours.
The Runner Bean guides meet at Plaça Reial in the general vicinity of the fountain. To easily distinguish them from other companies’ guides, Runner Bean representatives wear bright green vests and carry green umbrellas.
The leader of our tour group of 18 people was Catherine, a lovely lass originally from Ireland. She knew the city’s history, architecture and culture very well, and her enthusiasm infected us all.
On Runner Bean’s free tours, the guides rely totally on tips. If you are satisfied with your tour and guide, you’ll want to be overgenerous with the tip.
The tour was fantastic, a 5-star tour, and we gave Catherine €30 (near $33) for the two of us.
NANCY & ED NORBERG
Mount Pleasant, SC