Why I fell in love with Barcelona, Spain.

People always ask me, Neema of all the places and cities you have visited, which is your most favorite country and city in the whole world? That’s Easy! Barcelona, Spain. I fell in love with Barcelona but I especially love Spain.

My love for Spain started in October of 2013 when I visited the lovely city of Barcelona. I fell in love with a cosmopolitan capital of the Catalonia region. Barcelona is defined by quickly art and architecture, imaginative food and vibrant street life.

I describe Barcelona as an enchanting seaside city with boundless culture, fabled architecture, and a world-class drinking, partying and dining scene.

Port Olimpic Barceloneta.

So why do I love Barcelona so much? I love the people, the sea, the morning walks that I take along the beach is one of the best things about this city. I love walking along the Gothic quarter and enjoying food when I am tired.  And then there's the food and drink – the first-rate tapas bars, excellent sea-food, the abundant and inexpensive wine, the superb and reasonably priced multicourse lunches. Add to all this Catalan creativity, bohemian bars and stunning nearby getaways and you have, quite simply, one of the world's most captivating cities. That to me is why I love I fell in love with Barcelona.

Enjoying food at CDLC, Barcelona

Let us not forget to mention twenty-four hour party people.  When in Barcelona, the night holds limitless possibilities. Start with sunset drinks from a panoramic terrace or dig your heels in the sand at a rustic beachside chiringuito. As darkness falls, live music transforms the city: the rapid-fire rhythms of flamenco, brassy jazz spilling out of basements, and hands-in-the-air indie-rock at vintage concert halls. Towards midnight the bars fill. Take your pick from old-school taverns adorned with 19th-century murals, plush lounges in lamp-lit medieval chambers or boisterous cava bars. If you're still standing at 3am, hit the clubs and explore Barcelona's unabashed wild side. And well, I cannot forget to mention the clubs along the beaches – endless choices with endless partying and music. Barcelona is also known for its architecture which spans over 2000 year. Temples, ancient city walls, stroll through the shadowy lanes of the Gothic quarter, cathedrals,  and artists who have been inspired by Barcelona  such as Pablo Picasso, Jaon Miro.

So what do you do when you visit Barcelona?

Park Guell

Visit Park Güell. Park Güell was designed and built by Antoni Gaudí in the years 1900 to 1914. Originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, it is today a municipal garden. Walk thru this modernist park to discover the multicolored mosaic salamande, the unique shape of the serpentine bench and a terraced area where you get a wonderful view of Barcelona. Park Güell is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

See the Picasso museum of Barcelona. The Picasso museum of Barcelona is devoted to the most important Spanish artist, in the city where Pablo Picasso spent the first period of its life of young adult. 4000 of its works cover the period of 1890 to 1967 but the majority of the museum presents the first work of the artist like his childhood. At the 14 years age, Picasso moved with its family from Malaga to Barcelona. This city being also the place of its first exposure dating from February 1, 1900 to the cabaret Els Four Gats, it is logical that it accommodates a so broad collection of its first work. Moreover, these works being time when Picasso lived in Barcelona, the collection reflects the relation which it maintained with the city.

Port Vell, Barcelona

The Beach.  Everyone knows your trip to Barcelona especially Spain is not completed without the beach. From the Barceloneta district to the Universal Forum of Cultures district, Barcelona offers 4.5 kilometers of coastline. Most know beaches are Sant Sebastià, Barceloneta, Somorrostro, Nova Icària, Bogatell, Mar Bella, Nova Mar Bella and Llevant. After the 1992 Summer Olympics a new district appeared, The Olympic Harbour. A place that invites to the movement, during the day as well as at night : water sports, discotheques, bars. It is always in effervescence. And when tired, get yourself one of those tapas bars and sit under the beds as you enjoy a glass of wine and tapas. And at night, sea-food is plenty as you listen to the warm breeze drive the night away.

La Catedral.  It is known as Barcelona’s central place of worship presents a magnificent image. The richly decorated main facade, laced with gargoyles and the stone intricacies you would expect of northern European Gothic, sets it quite apart from other churches in Barcelona. For a bird’s-eye view (mind the poop) of medieval Barcelona, visit the cathedral’s roof and tower by taking the lift (€3) from the Capella de les Animes del Purgatori near the northeast transept. You may visit La Catedral in one of two ways. In the morning or afternoon, entrance is free and you can opt to visit any combination of the choir stalls, chapter house and roof. To visit all three areas, it costs less (and is less crowded) to enter for the so-called ‘special visit’ between 1pm and 5pm.

Motheo and I on the streets of Las Ramblas

Las Ramblas. Barcelona's most famous street is both a tourist magnet and a window into Catalan culture, with cultural centres, theatres and architecturally intriguing buildings lining its sides. Set between narrow traffic lanes and flanked by plane trees, the middle of La Rambla is a broad pedestrian boulevard, crowded every day until the wee hours with a wide cross section of society. A stroll here is pure sensory overload, with souvenir hawkers, buskers, pavement artists, mimes and living statues all part of the ever-changing street scene. 

And to finish this journey in Barcelona, especially for the soccer fans, have a look to another aspect of the Catalan Culture, maybe the most popular one, go to FC Barcelona.  Every week-end entire family including grand-parents and child are going to the famous Camp Nou stadium to support the local football team: The FC Barcelona best known as the Barça!!  It is said to be the best team in world.

To sum up Barca, What's over here? And a couple of streets over there? Wherever you are in Barcelona, there's always something to see nearby around the neighbourhood or district: jewels of home-grown Catalan architecture, modernisme, and contemporary architecture, markets that are a treat for the senses, treasures of the ancient Roman and medieval city, parks where you can unwind … And the best thing of all is, you don't have to be a great explorer to find and discover all of Barcelona’s neighbourhoods.

Welcome to the city that I fell in love with and enjoy all that it has to offer.