Barcelona is one of the most exciting cities to visit in Europe. But being one of…
In a city filled with incredible architectural masterpieces from Gaudi, there is another architect who often gets forgotten. And yet he is perhaps just as influential in terms of founding the Catalan art form of ‘modernism’. His name is Lluís Domènech i Montaner and one of his best designs is the Palau de la Música Catalana. The Catalan style of architecture called ‘modernism’ was developed to support a new Catalan identity.
If you’re trying to pick a city to visit based on the food alone, Barcelona is no doubt on the top of that list! Catalonian cuisine combines the very best elements of Spanish and French cooking with that uniquely Catalan flare that is unmatched anywhere else in the world. Knowing which items you NEED to eat when you’re there will help you weed out the authentic recipes from the tourist traps.
Park Guell is one of Antoni Gaudi’s most imaginative and symbolic work of art which thanks to a failed housing project is now open to the public as a city park. Hidden in the north of Barcelona his version of nirvana.
If there one thing I like to do more than anything else it’s to explore locals marketplaces. Whether it’s a rural farmer’s market no bigger than a few tables of tomatoes or a giant European market hall, there is something so exciting about being surrounded by a myriad of colours, aromas and flavours local to that city.
Anytime I’m travelling and staying somewhere for an extended period; I always try to stay in an Airbnb. There is something, not just about the way they feel, but where they are usually located. Airbnb’s, compared to hotels, are usually located outside of the tourist hub. Local neighbourhoods where you can suddenly feel at home. Instead of turning every corner and being faced with camera frenzied, travellers and “American” bars.
During our first visit to Barcelona, we stayed in the up and coming, trendy neighbourhood of ‘El Poble-sec’. We picked a colourful and quirky Airbnb for our lodgings. We hoofed our way up the six floors, barely managing our clunky bags up the narrow 19th-century staircase.