We kicked Friday off with fruit salad and pastries at La Boqueria – a bright and buzzing indoor produce market where the locals were starting their day with champers and vino (very sophisticated!) while they picked up their groceries. We spent the rest of the day meandering through the narrow streets of the old town with its gothic architecture and art nouveau street lamps, and walked La Rambla from top to bottom and in & out a few shops while we were at it.
That night we did a pintxos crawl in El Born. It’s the latest up & coming area where we were staying in a great little apartment, and where the cava was flowing. Euskal Etxea had the yummiest tapas. A drink at cocktail bar, Ginger, helped wash them down.
Fuelled by blueberry pancakes from Milk Bar on Saturday morning we joined the hoards at the construction site that is the fantastic Sagrada Familia. Not to my taste but impressive all the same. We found more of Gaudi’s greatest hits on Passage de Gracia as we wandered around L’Eixample. After a pit stop at Kasparo in a charming square in El Raval we spent a couple of hours seeing the early work of Picasso at his Museu. Somehow there are more hours in the day there!
Looking up at the Nativity Facade... pretty crazy
Forest inspired interior is starting to take shape
No shop front is free from graffiti. Fortunately it's not all tags.
That evening I saw one of my fave things in town – Frank Gehry’s copper fish sculpture – down on Barcleonetta (the redeveloped beachfront – or Spanish version of Southbank!). We had a glass of wine at Hotel Arts and dinner overlooking the beach at Bestial (Lou’s tip) and finished off the night with a few drinks at a bar called Marmalade.
After a lazy brunch on Sunday we went to Barcelona’s contemporary art gallery, MACBA and spent the afternoon chilling out at Gaudi’s Park Guell with a view of the city. No weekend away is complete without trying the best gelati in town and Gelateria Pagliotta is definitely noteworthy. Dinner was at a bustling tapas place before going to the very stylish bar, Gimlet – a definite highlight of our stay.
View of the city from Park Guell
The obligatory lizard photo
Loving not having to be at work on Monday, we brunched on Ra’s terrace and did our own walking tour of the vintage clothes & furniture shops in upper El Raval. I bought a black clutch and Becky looked for inspiration for her new flat. Before we had to head off, we sat at Bar Lobo contemplating whether I should buy the Chanel pumps in my shoe size we saw. I love Coco but decided not to be frivolous.
One of the many cool things about Barcelona is its underlying retro style – in the bars, the shops and even in El Xampanyet (a local tapas joint) where we drank our cava in coupes. Another is the modern architecture - spying the Mercat de Santa Caterina’s wavy roof between old apartment buildings was a great surprise; as is seeing Barcelona’s answer to the gherkin - the cucumber or vibrator - alongside La Sagrada Familia.
The list of cool things goes on. Barcelona could be one of those places you can go back to time and time again and never get bored of it. Like London!
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