Life & Style | Travel
Barcelona footnotes
Walking is the best way to get up close and personal with this Spanish city.
- By Mary Rourke, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
- Published: 00:01 June 14, 2008
- La Rambla.
- Image Credit: Los Angeles Times-Washington Post
People who like to walk will never be lonely in Barcelona.
This city — with its rich history, Roman ruins, Gothic cathedrals, Art Nouveau-inspired buildings and hypermodern hotels — invites a closer look that you can get only on foot.
In fact, several of Barcelona's most popular neighbourhoods are for pedestrians only.
Cars are off-limits or only grudgingly accommodated.
My favourite memories of other cities — Paris, of course, and New York — are of the hours I spent there on foot, stopping in front of every store window that caught my attention, following the winding streets to see where they led.
So, when I visited Barcelona for the first time, I decided to walk my way through it.
Barcelona's office of tourism makes exploring on foot easy, offering four guided walking tours that start at the Placa de Catalunya, the large city square at top of La Rambla, one of the most popular walking streets.
I signed up for a tour of the Barri Gotic, the Gothic quarter that still has the flavour of its medieval roots.
Some of the quarter's streets are named for the guilds that once flourished there, including bookbinders and swordmakers.
On my own
But before I took the tour, I spent two days taking in La Rambla on my own. My hotel on Carrer Santa Ana was just off the concourse.
The street comes to life around noon and by 7pm it's crowded with locals stopping on their way home to meet friends or do errands.
I noticed new things each time I wandered down La Rambla, with its magazine stands, flower stalls and birdcages with parakeets and canaries.
I passed tapas bars serving eggplant frittata, salted almonds, shrimp in olive oil and potato salad.
Well-known pastry shop Escriba Patisseries is a haven for chocolate lovers.
You just can't miss this restaurant housed in a Modernisme-style building and decorated with a green-and-violet floral pattern on the façade.
Halfway down La Rambla, heading from Placa de Catalunya towards the seaport, is one of the most popular meeting places in the neighbourhood, Mercat de la Boqueria, the local market.
The food hall is cavernous, filled with restaurants, fresh produce, fish, meat and other local products, including almonds, figs, olives and ground spices.
At Pinotxo, one of the busiest of the market's restaurants, people stood three deep behind each of six or so stools and a counter, waiting for their turn.
With so many locals ready to pounce on the next available seat, I didn't enter the fray.
All this was entertaining but for me the narrow side streets that wend from La Rambla into Barri Gotic were far more appealing.
So I signed up for a walking tour of the neighbourhood, which cost me $23 (Dh84).
At 10.30am, I joined two tourists from Australia and three from England.
Our guide, a Barcelona native who was fluent in English and the history of her city, gave us a generous two-hour tour.
Our group set out from the Placa de Catalunya to Avenida de la Portal de l'Angel, a walking street where tapas bars were tucked between clothing boutiques.
Interesting shop
Wearing the wide tile façade of a doctor's clinic, a shop called Happy Pills showcased spicy jelly beans in bins.
Purchases were packed in medicine bottles. We passed the remains of a 4th-century Roman wall and on to the Gothic-style Holy Cross Cathedral, whose construction began in the 14th century and ended in the 19th.
Its tall, narrow spires hark back the taller, narrower spires of the Sagrada Familia just a half-hour walk away.
The church, designed by architect Antonio Gaudi — an icon of Modernisme architecture — is still under construction, although Gaudi died in 1926.
Our tour also took us past a 15th-century mansion that was once the home of the cathedral's archdeacon.
On my next visit, I want to take the Modernist Walking Tour for a closer look at the architecture of Gaudi, Josep Puig i Cadafalch and others who helped make Barcelona a showplace of Modernisme.
After that, there is the Picasso Walking Tour and the Gourmet Tour. The city is worth at least that many return trips.
Go there ... Barcelona
From the UAE ... From Dubai
British Airways flies daily via London.
Fare from Dh4,210
Air France flies daily via Paris.
Fare from Dh3,730
Lufthansa flies daily via Frankfurt.
Fare from Dh3,020
Alitalia flies daily via Rome.
Fare from Dh3,000
— Information courtesy:
The Holiday Lounge by Dnata.
Ph: 04 4298576
Where to stay
- Nouvel Hotel (www.hotelnouvel.com): A charming, older hotel on a quiet side street off La Rambla. Doubles start from about $175 (Dh643), including breakfast.
- Hotel Rialto (www.hotel-rialto.com): A modern glass structure near City Hall, it is an easy walk to Barcelona's old cathedral. Doubles start from $166 (Dh610), including breakfast.
Where to eat
Els Quatre Gats, 3 bis Carrer de Montsio (www.4gats.com/web.html): A local café that was once a favourite of artists Pablo Picasso, Miguel Utrillo and others.
A blend of colourful tiles and natural wood, and an outdoor patio give the room a cosy feeling. Meals start from about $48 (Dh176).
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