Barcelona, Gràcia
I will say that it is my favorite district because it has been able to keep a lot of its traditions and celebrations with a strong catalan spirit. It is very “alive” and everything can be found in there. Before it was a small village but in 1897, it has been integrated to be part of the city and it changed from village to district. Shops are mainly located at gran de gracia street and I like to walk in verdi street where I can find restaurants, bars, shops, movies in original version, supermarket... In spite that there are many places like plaza del sol, plaza del diamante... I only prefer 2 – plaza de la virreina and plaza de rius i taulet. |
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The first one because it is close to a bar at santa creu street (there is only one so if you want to go, you can't miss it) where I go often to take my tea and during summer time or sunny day, I can drink a coke by seating on one of the terraces and enjoy the heat. The second one is a good place to eat surrounded by trees and in the center, a clock tower in front of the City Hall of Gracia which gives it a kind of charm. Sometimes concerts are organized in both places.
The other streets where I can go to buy things are via augusta, travessera de gracia and asturies streets. Of course there are many more like bailèn, corsega... but those are the ones I go often and with that, it is enough to find what I need.
One of the best cinema theater Bosque (rambla de prat) is located in this district because it is not easy to find a good place to watch a movie with a good surround and a big screen but only in spanish version. For people who don’t master the language, they can go to Verdi Cinema to watch them in original version but they don’t put blockbuster movies – only one time I saw that they didn’t respect their rule and it was for Matrix !!!
It is not easy to walk and even local people get lost in this area. Luckily for me, when I arrived at Barcelona in 2000, my first apartment was in this district so I learned quickly its secret and now I can go without the help of a map !!!
The passeig de sant joan is a good place for me to skate but only between avinguda diagonal and travessera de gracia because the center is a pedestrian zone, I just have to try to not fall on someone !!!
The famous Parc Güell of Gaudi can be found at olot street, after climbing up the larrard street which has almost an angle of 50 degrees (well in fact all streets which bring me to the main entrance), I can enjoy this wonderful park with its different areas like the wave tunnel, the snake place... and going up a little more, a great view on the city.
Famous to be a party area, Gràcia is very animated during night time and it can be very crowded in particular during the Fiesta de Gràcia in august. Like you can guess I go often there to take a cocktail and/or to dinner. There are many kinds of foods and I can choose between catalan, indian, arabic, argentina, japanese, french... all around the verdi street. If really you want to melt and know spanish culture and people, this district is a good place.
I like to go to:
- Rustic (terol, 43) to eat a good argentine meat and very cheap
- Salambo (torrijos, 59) to take a drink and sometimes I eat there (catalan meal)
- Teatreneu (terol, 26) to eat a snack or to take a drink (this place is particular since they have a theatre room but majority of the spectacles are in catalan)
- Alabina (verdi, 40) to eat a turk pizza
- Bo or Amélie (plaza de la vila de gràcia, 11) to eat spanish food...
Well there are many more and restaurants are cheap except Salambo which, for me, is expensive for the kind of food (nothing particular) and in comparison with the quarter. One counsel, pick one and let yourself guide by its specialty and above all, don’t be scare about its decoration because sometimes even if the place looks old or strange like Taverna La Llesca (terol, 6), it hides good foods.