Forn de Sant Jaume – photo © La Florinata

“My perfect day in Barcelona is a walking and eating day.

It starts on a sunny summer day at about 7:30 am with a run down the center of Rambla Catalunya, through La Rambla, down to the pier and over to the W Hotel. This is a great time to be out, as there are not a lot of cars and almost no pedestrians on La Rambla, and it’s a great running route if you’re staying in Rambla Catalunya.

As I head back, I stop a ½ block from my apartment at Forn de Sant Jaume (Rambla de Catalunya, 50) bakery and pick up a post workout snack – the best chocolate croissant I’ve found in Barcelona. It has to be the one with the powered sugar on top, not the chocolate covering the outside. It is perfectly buttery, yet like and flakey. If you get them early enough after they come out of the oven, the chocolate is still oozy. Yummmm.

Rachel & Quim at El Quim de la Boqueria

After a shower, I head back down La Rambla to El Quim de la Boqueria for breakfast at around 9:30-10 am. Quim makes the best potato tortilla (Spanish omelette) in town, but I’m torn as my favorite is actually the huevos con setas (eggs with wild mushrooms).  He uses olive oil for everything, so it’s 2 fried eggs in olive oil, topped with a mix of mushrooms sautéed in olive oil, all topped with a balsamic reduction. A glass of fresh squeezed o.j. and perhaps a plate of either razor clams or gambas con cava to round out breakfast and I’m set for at least 2 more hours. ;) Read the rest of this article…

Sally at the Barcelo 360 Bar

“One of these days, the city of Barcelona will be but an entry in my memoirs. A mere peppercorn in the mill of my life as a whole, but what a glorious little peppercorn it is! Packed with punch, bite and heat. I shall sit in my rocking chair, cast my gaze over the misty English hills and remember a time when I was all over Barcelona like a flannel. I shan’t remember things exactly as they were, rather, I will compose a golden day drawn from all my favourite elements so very perfect that I will almost believe that it was true and tell anyone who will listen that once, I lived like a queen. Read the rest of this article…

Casa Batlló

“I have to thank Rob for letting me share on his blog one of the routes I’ve done on more than one occasion when I go to Barcelona. We usually go alone my Nikon camera and I, from now on I will have the feeling that you’re all accompanying me, it will be a pleasure.

I have the great fortune to live 30 km from this fantastic city, which allows me to get there any day of the week. I don’t know why, but I usually choose Wednesdays. I suppose that even though the city is always crowded with tourists and local people, you can still breathe the calm of the beginning of the week.

First of all a good breakfast and if it can be Pa amb tomaquet i pernil (Bread with tomato and ham) all the better. I know! It is very typical, but… the roots are the roots. Once I have the batteries fully charged I start the route. I advise that if you want to follow me you’d better wear comfortable shoes, because the whole journey is by foot. Read the rest of this article…

I am very grateful to all the people who have written for this blog. They, more than I, have made it what it is. But I’m very proud to have the French illustrator, Lapin, take the time to write something. His wonderfully reprinted old accounting books full of illustrations are beautiful objects. I have the Barcelona one. If you appreciate his style, I urge you to get your hands on one via the link below – but first…

The view from Lapin’s apartment – © Lapin

I woke up around 7:30am, that’s the price of being a father ;). I still felt a little bit sleepy. I made myself a cortado and stepped out onto my terrace. There I had all of Poblenou lying beneath and fulfilling me with its energy. The weather was usual for Barcelona. That’s one of the crucial reasons I fell for this city.

One of my favourite buildings on C/ Pere IV, 63-67 – © Lapin

I had to go to Mercat dels Encants to look for some second-hand accounting books to use for drawing and it’s a perfect day to wander and do some doodling of course!

I took Bicing. Strangely I found one right away! Sometimes it really drives me nuts finding empty Bicing stations or not finding any proper working bicycles. Arrghh! Anyway I still like it and it was my lucky day! I passed all the graffiti of Poblenou and one of my favourite buildings on Carrer de Pere IV, 63-67. Read the rest of this article…

Café Marti, c/ Consell de Cent, 369

“Of all the most beautiful, perfect days I’ve ever had in my life, I think it’s safe to say that a fair number of them have happened in the incredible city of Barcelona. On its best days, Barcelona is like a dream and you keep thinking “I can’t believe this is actually happening to me.”

So what are the ingredients for having such a perfect day? Well, I don’t know what they are for you, but here’s my idea of a perfect day in my favorite city.

The perfect Barcelona day is beautifully warm, and somewhere between April and September, as long as it’s hot enough to gently warm your skin up as soon as you step into the sun.  After having a relaxed lie-in, I’d stroll down to the corner and visit my favorite café, the gorgeous Café Marti, (c/ Consell de Cent, 369) to indulge in a café con leche and perhaps one of their delicious whole-wheat croissants over a newspaper. Mmm…a gentle start to the day. Read the rest of this article…

View of Barcelona from Palau Nacional, Montjuïc

“A warm, late September day would be the perfect time for me to enjoy this Ciudad Condal to its fullest. The heavy crowds of noisy tourists have vanished, and I can have my Barcelona back. I would start the day with a cortado sweetened with honey, and a freshly baked croissant, or cruasán, as the Spanish call them. I like my breakfast extra-long, when I can sit in the rays of the sun, enjoying that morning energy you can almost touch.

The fresh, vibrant air seems to animate everything around, from people to palm-trees, and the city’s green monk parakeets alike. Sipping on my coffee, I scribble down some ideas for articles, or just doodle in my diary, letting my rested mind crochet unwritten stories. I like to reserve my mornings for writing, my biggest passion, and my profession as well. Read the rest of this article…

Bar Mendizábal, Raval (Oh-Barcelona.com)

“My perfect day is inspired by a First World problem, if ever there was one. I apologise in advance if I sound ungrateful, (and I’m really not) but Barcelona sometimes just has a little bit too much going on. For instance, I’d love to try more of the tapas bars, drinking dens and restaurants, old and new, that I hear about, but I don’t want to end up looking like Jabba the Hut on the beach every weekend. When I’m on the beach, nibbling on some watermelon, I still feel guilty – because I’m lying in the sun and not, say, checking out an exhibition that I know is about to finish. I’m not really tugging on any heart-strings, I know, but if we’re talking about a perfect day, and since those rarely happen, then I’d fill mine with low-key indulgence and guilty pleasures.

Santa María del Mar

For maximum clarity of conscience, this day would take place in October, when my bikini has been safely packed away for another year. It would fall just after payday, and would be enjoyed with a like-minded, undemanding visitor, such as my sister.

We’d start off with a bit of late breakfast and a look through the paper at the most unpretentious café in the world – Bar Mendizábal, across the street from me (c/ Junta de Comerç, 2) – then would wander over to the Gótico to begin our assault on the off-high street shops. We’d coo over the lovely accessories and separates at Le Fortune on Avinyó, then swoop onto El Born, the richest hunting ground of all. We might get little a taste of the spine-tingling Gothic interior of Santa Maria del Mar, and remind ourselves of what we can enjoy on a day with a more cerebral bent. (And we can try to spot the FC Barcelona logo in one of its stained windows, too.) Read the rest of this article…