Tarannà, c/ Viladomat, 23
“She is lovely. She is flirtatious. She is passionate. Others call her Barna. Or, mistakenly, Barça, which only refers to the football club. Or, shortened, BCN. But I don’t call her by her nicknames. After several years of being together I began taking her beaches for granted, I got bored with her modernist buildings and I was not quite sure where things were heading. To beat the seven-year itch I moved to another part of town. There I discovered new eating-places. Barcelona knows the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
My perfect date in the city is on a sunny day in June. When I wake up in the morning some raindrops fall. Then the sun starts to shine like it is already summer and I have a late breakfast at Tarannà (c/ Viladomat, 23). Tarannà is the Catalan word for mood. And this place with a brick wall on one end, Parisian metro tiles on the other and vintage furniture certainly brings me in a good mood. I usually choose sweet muffins to accompany my glass of breakfast orange juice, but their savoury sandwiches are also really appetising. Read the rest of this article…
“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…
A fab article from illustrator, Kat Cameron, on the delights of sketching in Barcelona (including some of her even fabber illustrations).
Barcelona Landscape – © Kat Cameron
A mosaic of green, blue, and red emerges in my mind when I visualise Barcelona. A city of flat terracotta roofs, encircled with the olive-green forests of the Collserola rolling down to the aqua Mediterranean. From first touching down in the glass airport to a wander through the textured gothic alleyways or a glance at the modernista architecture, you know you have landed in a city of art. Miro, Gaudí, Dalí and Picasso all spent time here, and as you meet the locals you discover that Barcelona is filled with architects, designers, graphic artists and illustrators, so really it is the perfect city to go for a stroll with your sketch pad and pencils, find a spot and record your surroundings. 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…
