Selecció d’olives i conserves Gloria, Mercat de l’Abaceria

I kindly received an invite from Devour Barcelona food tours to join them one morning. A food tour in Gràcia, one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Barcelona, sounded like great fun. So one Friday morning I found myself at the top of Passeig de Gràcia with our guide, the lovely Renée, giving us a brief history of the street and its connection to the neighbourhood of Gràcia.

And then off we went. Four hours of walking, talking, grazing, learning and generally passing the morning in a thoroughly pleasant way.

This was a food tour that was about more than just the food. Renée knew her stuff. And we were taken on a tour of not only the food, but of the people who prepare and serve it and the neighbourhood that they call home. It is a cultural walking tour that focuses on real lives with the added benefit that these people’s lives are about their passion for food. Read the rest of this article…

Eixample, Barcelona from the air

“It was around 7-8 years ago when I first stepped into the world that is Barcelona. I didn’t exactly choose a great time of year to visit (it was December) and I wasn’t staying in a particularly touristy area (Gràcia), but nevertheless I ended up falling in love with the city, making it my eventual home.

It’s funny, because over the past 7 years the city has seen the economy go from an all time high to a low. The first restaurant I ever ate at in Barcelona is now closed, many new shops have replaced old ones that just couldn’t make it… A lot has changed… Yet the city is always the same as I remembered it the first time I came here. I call this effect the Barcelona Charm.

So how can you experience Barcelona Charm; a memory of the city that carries on like a flowing story, as if you never left, each time you visit? Maybe if you experience the city the way I have, you’ll see what I mean. Read the rest of this article…

An article from the cava lady, Anna Wallner, on the delights of drinking cava in Barcelona.

Cava tasting in Barcelona

The first time I visited Barcelona, I had already fallen in love with cava during my sommelier studies. It was in the beginning of April and it was still very cold in Sweden, but when we stepped out of BCN Airport the sun was on my face and the warmth was in the air (at least if you compare it to Sweden). Since that first visit I have come back as often as I can, usually 2-4 times a year. But even so I miss Barcelona when I’m at home in Sweden and especially now during winter when the snow builds high outside my door and the darkness is so thick it feels like you can cut it with a knife. But a glass of really nice cava on a Friday when I come home from work, really lights up even the darkest November day.

Barcelona makes me happy because the city embodies everything I love about life, fantastic food, great weather, the sea, wonderful architecture and history, great and friendly people and of course Cava. When visiting the city I feel free, and my husband and I can use our days for exactly what we want. Read the rest of this article…

Plaça del Sol

“Me and Barcelona have a passionate relationship. It was love at first sight. Barcelona seduced me on its birthday, on the Mercè in September when everyone was invited to celebrate. We met on a dark street in Raval, where I was wined with sangría and dined with the cheapest and most heavenly tapas I had ever eaten. We looked at pictures of bullfighters on the wall and I was star struck. We went down to the port, bought a bottle of cava, laid down to watch the fireworks. “I never want to leave your side” I said quietly, so I didn’t. 5 years later we are still in love, a love equally as passionate as the first day we met.

…a swim in the ocean…

Barcelona is a master of all that is seduction. We meet in embraces on hot summer nights in dark narrow gothic streets, we steal kisses under the moonlight on the stairs of Santa Maria del Mar, and we get drunk on cheap wine in a restaurant in the Raval that has been there for a hundred years or more. We dance until the first rays of sun in the morning at the Port Olimpic, and end it all with a swim in the ocean when the city is just waking up. It’s the best date you’ve ever had, but it never ends. Read the rest of this article…