BARCELONA IS A CITY WHOSE HISTORY DEFINES EVERYTHING. FROM THE FOOD TO THE LANGUAGE. IT’S ALSO BEING SUFFOCATED BY TOURISTS.
Scott is a Kiwi who’s lived in Europe for the last two years. Driven by a need to keep up with his wife he’s spent life bouncing from country to country. Having lived in Montreal, Seoul, Barcelona and now Dublin he’s wondering where his high flying wife will led him next.
Barcelona is so many things that tourist guides wouldn’t tell you about. It has a charm to it that goes beyond the tick the box landmarks. The city oozes history and cool. I spent 6 months in Barcelona being that arsehole who was working remotely, not speaking Catalan and getting fat on bocadillos. Here’s by perfect day.
1. AVOID Iconic Gaudí Landmarks
No visit is complete without La Sagrada Família. Unless you value your time and personal space. Actually I love it. But if I had a day in Barcelona I’d avoid it like the plague. Despite the beauty and history of it the brute force of thousands of tours leaves you hot, frustrated and understanding of why locals want you to piss off.
2. START LIFE WITH COFFEE AND A BOCADILO
Ever good day in Barcelona starts with a bocadilo. A jamón filled slap in the face that makes everything that’s currently causing you anxiety seem a million miles away. A day in Barcelona doesn’t leave much time for worrying so get that out of your head early. Jamón in bread has a way of doing that. A bite of salty goodness followed by a sip of bitter coffee will set you free while you disassociate under the morning sun.
Finding the perfect bocadilo combo heavily relies on what you see as perfection. For me there are two buckets of bocadilo perfection. The first is a mix of the sandwich itself and location. One of my favourite bocadilo spots sits in an alley in Barceloneta where I lived for a short time. The alley looks directly down to the beach with palm tree jutting up perfectly in the middle. Every morning I was there. The second is purely for the ambience. And by ambience I mean old Catalan lady’s serving you a bocadilo which cheap filter coffee while they yell gossip to each other. Chaotic good at it’s finest. I used to turn up to my local and help them put the chairs out in the morning. They spoke to me in Catalan, I smiled as if I understood. I miss them.
3. design in barcelona
While Barcelona get’s a lot of attention for it’s museums there are a lot that are just tourist hyped garbage. Generally if it’s advertised at the airport it’s tourist trash. Avoiding these is a must. One of the key things you will notice is that Barcelona has a flair for design, a very unique vibe that’s catching on from posters for local festivals to lamp post flags.
4. DRINK VERMUT
Sweet, sticky and just an absolute joy.
5. Jazz in barcelona
Jazz and a hot Barcelona night are two things that make life worth living.
6. street festival
7. book store
8. DINNER AND A DANCE
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