I had preconceived ideas about Barcelona being a very middle, upper class city and a reputation not unlike that of St Tropez. In reality, it is a thriving cosmopolitan mixture of artistic, architectural, cultural influence where all walks of life coincide. Go to the Placa Reial – a tree-lined Square in the centre of town – bustling with tourists, expensive diners, clubbers, barflies, street performers and dodgy geezers (and lots of people trying to sell you single red roses!) The back streets are interesting – some reminiscent of Soho but I wouldn’t like to walk down them alone.
I would recommend staying on the Ramblas (Barcelona’s famous pedestrian walkway in the centre of town) An excellent place to people watch and breathe the atmosphere. (We stayed in the Ramblas Hotel *** which was £80 a night ex tax. but includes breakfast. Clean, comfortable, good service and we had a very large terrace) Be very careful of your belongings here, as the area has a reputation for theft.
Can’t beat it for galleries and Museums if that’s your thing – being Picassos stomping ground, along with Miro and Gaudi. Park Guell – a park designed by Gaudi to replicate an English country garden is a must, as are the Cathedrals.
Funky hip bars and clubs and an extremely wide variety of good restaurants.
Shopping (if that is your bag) is pretty good too, but fortunately for my bank balance, my boyfriends ‘shop tolerance’ level is low!
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Sep 8th, 2000
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