Barcelona is a city that changes its look and energy with the change of seasons throughout the year. After 6 years of living here, I’ve come to the conclusion that winter is the best time to visit this fantastic city – especially if it’s a winter like the one we’re having this year, with plenty of sunny days and mild temperatures. The reason why this season is the best to enjoy this city is mainly because there are fewer tourists, or at least, fewer when compared with the number that are usually here in the warmer months.

If you live and work in Barcelona you might also agree with me that the city also changes a lot from day-to-day; let’s say then that my perfect day would be a sunny winter Sunday in Barcelona.

I’d start the day by making a nice cup of tea and taking it, along with a book, to the Sagrada Família, which is just three streets away from my house. In the garden of Carrer Marina there’s a bench with an incredible view, between the trees, of the Sagrada Família.

Sagrada Família

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Barceloneta sunrise

If you happen to have been caught up in the Barcelona magic like me, it’s not just one special day but almost every day that feels like a dream in our beautiful city.

Now, I’m a farm girl from Africa where I grew up with nothing but peace, quiet, nature and animals around me. After 18 years living this way, it takes a very special city to capture my attention for longer than a week.

I can safely say that a day in Barcelona will make your soul feel fulfilled, leave a huge smile on your face and your heart incredibly happy. Read the rest of this article…

Parc de la Ciutadella

A massive downpour to clean the streets of the night before – and people. Take an umbrella and walk through Ciutadella Park. Sit by the boating lake, a tiny area of water with about 20 boats that pile up fast like a Friday night traffic jam. Over to the Born and En Aparté for coffee or wine. The service is good, friendly. Predominantly French fare so it’s cheese with ham, cheese with bread, cheese with cheese. Or cheese. Apart from the carrot cake. The coffee’s good. So is the price. There’s the brunch menu at weekends.

Head up to CosmoCaixa for no other reason than to walk through the rainforest. Be attacked by a bird (it happened). Worry that the “thing” wandering around the swamp missed breakfast and that the anaconda’s developed an exit strategy. (It wasn’t asleep and they’re fast). Walk down the hill because you can, past houses that look like a set from The Addams Family. Read the rest of this article…

The view from Bunkers del Carmel

This month will be a celebration of the 5th month since I moved to Barcelona. I decided to move here so my girlfriend could study at her university at UPF and I had been looking for work since we made the decision to move here and I handed my notice in at my previous employment back in England (where I had spent 10 years). We moved to a flat in Barceloneta, just a stones throw away from the beach and from the moment we moved in we had a sense of the area never sleeping, with tourists and locals frequenting the local bars, restaurants and cafes which are located everywhere around the area until the early hours of the morning.

My perfect day in Barcelona happened just a month after moving here. I had a job interview with a company who specialise in printing and embroidery services, and I instantly knew after turning up and meeting the owner and the staff that I wanted to work there. It had a friendly atmosphere that was a mixture of busy, on the go and chilled with friendly staff.

A few days after the interview my girlfriend and I decided to visit Bunkers del Carmel, which is located at Carrer del Turó de la Rovira, not far from Park Güell. We decided to begin our adventure at Parc de la Ciutadella where we were amazed by the gorgeous fountain – and the dog that was bathing in it! Read the rest of this article…

My perfect day would be a Friday in September. The city still maintains its business rhythm and schedule (the banks are open, you still can experience rush hour on the metro, with the intervals between the trains short and frequent). However, you already notice that the aura is more relaxed today and there is a foretaste of weekends in air.

Barcelona’s Golden Autumn (El verano de Sant Marti)

I really adore Barcelona’s Golden Autumn. The locals call it “El verano de Sant Marti”. The weather now is not that killingly hot, but it’s still warm and sunny. The bright colors of nature inevitably instigate me to go outside for a long walk around the city with my photo camera. The noise of crispy platan leaves under my feet immediately raises my spirits. Read the rest of this article…

Yes, I love Barcelona. And yes, I have spent some pretty perfect days over there, but there is more to Catalonia than its capital city. Let me take you 60 kilometres up the coast and show you around the place I call home: Malgrat de Mar.

The beach at Malgrat de Mar

It’s a calm Saturday morning in June. The temperature hopefully won’t raise over 25 degrees and the town is not that full of tourists yet. We enjoy our breakfast, that includes pan con tomate and orange juice, in the apartment. Around 10 o’clock we make our way down to the beach where you can go kite surfing or just relax and swim. After a couple of hours we follow our way over the beach and end up having a vermouth in Vivo Platja (Av. Pins, 5). Here you basically sit on the beach and you can totally calm down with the sound of the sea in the background. Read the rest of this article…

The bread at La Fabrique in Poble Sec

This month, Poble Sec and I will have enjoyed a full year of blissful cohabitation. One of the reasons I love living in Poble Sec is because it feels so homely and laid back. The streets are narrow and you generally get to know your neighbours in ways you weren’t quite expecting, but with that comes a sense of community, of closeness. Although I must admit to crossing Parallel on occasion, I regularly enjoy spending a whole day without venturing much further afield than the Sant Antoni metro station. So, I wanted to share my perfect day in Poble Sec and Sant Antoni (to which the subtitle could probably be “A day spent eating and drinking in Poble Sec and Sant Antoni”).

My perfect day would be at the weekend – I like the buzz that occurs at weekends. They feel special somehow, like a lesser version of the feeling you get at Christmas. I love cooking so I often like to start my day with a bit of breakfast at home. And if there’s one thing that makes breakfast special, it’s a croissant, or better yet (if I’m feeling really extravagant) a pain aux chocolats aux amandes from La Fabrique (c/ Radas, 35). This bakery is by far my favourite, all their breads are sourdough and organic – and absolutely delicious. Having grown up in France I’m a harsh judge when it comes to croissants and have not quite been able to come to terms with the lard croissants you sometimes find here in Spain. Unsurprisingly perhaps, and a testimony to my tremendous if unknowing bias, one of the owners/bakers is French. Oh là là… Read the rest of this article…