A trip to this magical Spanish city will reawaken feelings you thought were long dead.
It sounds melodramatic – until you experience it. That’s because this city has the power to arouse all your senses through its food, music, art, architecture, energy and charismatic people.
There’s a creative flow that permeates Barcelona city life. Even something ordinary – a walk down a city street, for example – is extraordinary because creativity is central to the city’s soul. There are no boring concrete sidewalks: Here, they are works of art, dotted with stones and etched with symbols.
Barcelonans wouldn’t dream of allowing strip malls with big-box buildings. Architecture is admired, and some of the most venerable designers of all time have left their indelible print – chief among them Antoni Gaudí, with his whimsical designs that make you feel as though you’re Hansel eyeing a gingerbread house.
At every corner, in this Catalonian capital on the Mediterranean Sea, the aroma of fresh-baked croissants and seafood paella beckon as the sounds of hybrid flamenco- rock music blare from the ubiquitous tapas restaurants.
And, oh, the wine! From cavas to riojas to tempranillos and beyond, the amazingly flavorful wines of Spain explain why it’s the third-largest exporter of wines in the world, behind France and Italy.
As someone with eclectic tastes who loves bopping through art galleries, checking out jazz trios, visiting museums, dancing at clubs that feature techno and house music – and, of course, shopping – I felt like a kid in a candy store. My only problem: I wish I’d had more time.
So much to do
With only nine days to take in all we wanted to, my friends Louis Aguilar and Erik Benavides (who would later become my boyfriend) and I had made long lists of places to visit during our fall trip.
But some of our best experiences came from our detours. One night, we stumbled into a neighborhood hideaway bar called The Rock. We later learned the significance of its name – according to the people we met there, it’s a place where wealthy cocaine addicts hang out. That might explain why complete strangers hugged us after talking to us for all of a minute.
Another night, we came upon a protest by street performers who had been evicted from a building they had been squatting in for years. The city planned to raze the tenement to make way for a rail line. There, in front of police headquarters, we joked with unibrowed clowns perched on candy-striped unicycles.
People here are compassionate and warm. At nightclubs, I’d chat up local women and tell them we were here to celebrate Louis’ birthday. That’s all it took for them to kiss him on the cheek and wish him felicidades (congratulations). He loved it.
It’s also a city that doesn’t know how to say goodnight. We would bounce from one bar to the next, winding up in “sunrise clubs” that stayed open until dawn.
We’d pay the price, though, the next day. In fact, one afternoon, while Erik and Louis checked out sofas at the very chic Loft furniture store, I fell asleep on one.
A clerk woke me, and soon I was off to Zürich Café, where a cup of strong café con leche would stave off sleep.
We spent the first few days sightseeing and taking in Gaudí landmarks such as the breathtaking La Familia Sagrada (sacred family) cathedral, Casa Batlló (known locally as the “house of bones” because it looks like it was assembled with femurs of a tyrannosaur), and Parque Guëll, an amazing playground with storybook towered buildings and undulating benches adorned with colorful mosaic tiles.
We also saw jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux at the Palau de la Música Catalana (Palace of Catalan Music) – another modernisme-style building designed by architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner – and visited several art galleries.
The call of the shops
By now, though, my female gene was kicking in, and I needed to shop. Apparently, men have a need to shop too, though, so we went together to visit Campers store to see their world-famous shoes.
Louis and Erik each left with a pair of funky leather sneakers; I splurged on two pairs of boots. I also snatched a funky jacket at the hip Custo, and when I wear the Camper boots and Custo jacket together people compliment me on what a cool dresser I am, even though I’m normally plain. Funny how a few pieces from Barcelona can transform someone, at least for the day.
Soon we were running out of time, and our list of things to see was still long. We packed in so much: a visit to the Fundació Miró (a foundation/museum dedicated to the work of surrealist artist Joan Miró), a day trip north driving along the Costa Brava to picturesque medieval Girona, a night of dancing at the packed Le Kasbah, where the insidious mojitos kept us giggling.
We never made it to the Picasso museum or to the Harlem Jazz Club, or had that bonfire on the beach as we’d hoped. At least not on this trip. But there will be a next.
That’s the hypnotic way of Barcelona. One visit keeps you yearning for more.
Staff writer Cindy Rodríguez can be reached at 303-954-1211 or crodriguez@denverpost.com.
INSIDERS GUIDE:
GET THERE
Flights from Denver to Barcelona aren’t cheap. Expect to pay at least $800 and up to $1,300 in the summer, but you can find a cheaper flight if you book in advance. American Airlines, British Airways, Continental, Delta, Frontier Airlines, Lufthansa, Northwest Airlines, United and US Airways fly with at least one stop. Sidestep.com is a good website to search. Once there, you can get euros at the airport by using an ATM.
STAY
Fancy boutique hotels are all over Barcelona, but why spend a lot of money on a hotel when the hope is you will be there only to sleep and shower? We rented a nicely furnished, three- bedroom flat that was a short cab ride away from the Gòtic neighborhood for about $1,000 for our nine-day visit. Oh-barcelona.com has good listings. Another good site is
barcelonaapartments.com.
SHOP
In Barcelona, as in all of Spain, the currency is the euro. As a visitor you are entitled to get taxes reimbursed to you on goods if you spend more than 90 euros. For more information, visit globalrefund.com.
Campers shoe store (there are several locations in Barcelona, check www.camper.com for the addresses). Campers are practical, comfortable shoes, sandals and boots with an edge. The fun is in the details: Some of their designs are asymmetrical, with the left shoe looking slightly different than the right.
Custo (three stores, visit www.custo-barcelona.com for locations) offers men and women hip, irreverant clothing doused with frills. For example, the military-style jacket I bought (about $240) was lined with a removable furry pink vest. Embroidered red roses flowed down the arms and the back was embroidered with a little girl dressed in a bear outfit.
Casa del Llibre (Passeig de Gràcia 62, 93 272 34 80, casadel libro.com) is an old-fashioned bookstore that offers an amazing array of books, from novels to art and history books to self-help in Spanish, French and English.
But, really, all you need to do is just start walking on any of the busy business districts for great shops. One of my favorite shopping districts is along the tree-lined Passeig de Gràcia, where you can stop along the way to rest at one of the myriad cafes.
DINE
As a general rule, no matter where you eat you’ll be sure to find something fresh and flavorful. And even people who are not fans of meat will come to enjoy the dried ham that is a specialty. Vegetarians find plenty of great offerings, especially at tapas restaurants, where bite-sized bits of heaven – marinated mushrooms, specialty cheeses and rice dishes – await.
Breakfast is usually light. The big meal is served midday, where the menu of the day is typically a four-course meal for about $20. Barcelonans eat light at night, but the food is so delicious you might find yourself hankering for seafood paella almost every night. Enjoy a delicious and cheap meal at the Boqueria market or enjoy a lamb roast for about $10 at Mesón David (Carrer de les Carretes 63, 93 441 59 34).
Casa Delfin (the dolphin house, Passeig del Born 36, 93 319 50 88) offers an amazing array of seafood specialties but it’s a busy place so get there on the early side (before noon) to enjoy the menu of the day, which should cost only about $16.
Café Zürich (Plaça de Catalunya 1, 93 317 91 53) is a great meeting place, situated in one of the busiest corners of the old city. It offers an array of coffee drinks and desserts and (fortunately) outdoes business at the Starbucks a block away.
PLAY
We found a great bar in the Raval neighborhood called Bar Muy Buenas (Carrer del Carme 63, 93 442 50 53) – translation: very good bar – that we loved so much because of its old-fashioned charm and zesty mojitos that we returned the next night.
Le Kasbah (Plaça de Pau Vila, 626 56 1309) in the Barceloneta neighborhood is a great spot if you love loud techno and house music. The mostly young crowd is all about dancing. This isn’t a place for wallflower types. The drinks are a tad on the pricey side, but worth it because the DJ knows how to keep the crowd moving.
If you are out on a weekend night, head to one of the plazas (we loved the Plaça del Rei in the Gòtic neighborhood), where you’ll find clowns, magicians, and musicians performing just a few hundred yards from each other. It comes alive at night with families strolling the plaza while children run around and dance.
If you want to hear live music, best to check out barcelona-met ropolitan.com, an online magazine in English to find out what shows and concerts are taking place in town when you plan to be there.
Art is everywhere, but don’t miss these places: La Familia Sagrada (Mallorca 401, 34 93 207 30 31, sagradafamilia.org), an amazing cathedral that Gaudí designed and worked on until his death in 1926, and it’s still under construction! Words can’t explain how beautiful it is.
If you’re a fan of Joan Miró, you must visit the Fundació Miró (Parc de Montjuïc, 934 439 470, www.bcn.fjmiro.es). Ditto on Pablo Picasso; the Museu Picasso is full of his treasures (Montcada 15-23, 93 256 30 00, www.museupicasso.bcn.es)
The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (the CCCB; Montalegre 5, 93 306 41 00, www.cccb.org) is a great place to see modern art. Plan on spending at least a half-day; it’s a huge place. We saw three exhibits, all of them riveting.
