It was some coincidence that as I was sipping some home-made sangria last week and TV-surfing, there was a 30-minutes series on ‘Ports of the world’ on Arte (my go-to-channel for travel & culture combined with listening to some french!) and that evening’s feature was Barcelona!
That evoked some strong memories of my 3 days in Barcelona a couple of years back. While everyone who visited the city had raved about it earlier, on Night 1 we found our way to the hostel through narrow alleys with hoards of Asian (Indo-Pako-Bangladesh, yeah yeah we are everywhere) owned stores and tons of women in skimpy flashy outfits trying to get our attention (not so much mine but that of my male buddy!). And this was right off the famed ‘La Rambla‘!
But I suppose Barcelona is one of those cities that grows on you with each passing day. On Day 3 as we left for the gorgeous city of Valencia, I was already wishing that I had more time to explore and discover the Spanish capital. A vibrant city that appeared to be grappling between the much-wanted siestas & late night fiestas and a plummeting economy that was resulting in unemployment.
Here are some images that partly represent the city:
1. Food
Vegetarian food was a shocker! Yes, I was aware that Spanish cuisine primarily dealt with meat but I was hoping that I would have at least one veggie option in Spanish eateries with the warmer climate and all. That was totally not the case and while I won’t complain, I had to live off patatas, eggs and of course sangria.
Note: Visit the chaotic and somewhat-inexpensive street mercado near La Rambla if you ever visit Barcelona to see and savour the wonderful selection of vegetables, fruits, chocolates and creepy-crawlies fresh off the coast.
2. Gaudi
Gaudi is omnipresent. Gaudi is Barcelona. Or as the locals would say, Catalonia.
3. Art & Entertainment
One thing that city is not short of is colour. Quite a contrast from northern Europe and its grey-beige-blue atmosphere. There are performers around every nook and corner in touristy areas and some of their petit-spectacles are amazing.
Spend an hour or so listening to some of them play spanish music off the guitar. Amor! Amor! Amor!
Enough said.
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LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!
Gracias 🙂
Hi Dipoo… nice piece. I had a great trip a couple of years back… loved the squares in the city, and especially the views of the harbour from the Montjuic castle and the magic fountain at its base…and for vegeterian food, our desperate attempts landed us at Maoz – like the subway, its a life saver for vegeterians…! Keep posting
Thanks Arch! Yeah it definitely is a charming city! All the best in ur travels as well 🙂
Hey Dipti! i saw your post quite last. I got back from my trip to Barca a few weeks back. I havent gotten over it yet. I loved the city, it was easy to get around the place. Loved Gaudi’s work, the food ( i am a vegetarian too), the old Gotic Quarter. I cant stop talking about the place.
Haha Barcelona sure does that to you, glad u had a great time! Did you get enough veg options, I had a bit of trouble with that!
Well I ate a whole lot of potatoes. At Barcelonetta I was lucky to get served a Vegetarian paella which was yumm. Mostly, I survived on lot of tapas.
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