by Carole Conforti
Like all cities in the world, Barcelona too has two faces.
A tourist face, with the usual obligatory, well-known and touristic stops (Las Ramblas and La Boqueria, for example).
Typical places where there are restaurants with pseudo local cuisine and where it is very likely to have a bad experience and some muggings.
And then there is the Barcelona of the “Barcelonese” or foreigners who have settled in the city.
To get to know the Barcelona of the residents, we suggest you go from the sea to the mountains.
Barcelona is not a very big city, because its expansion is limited by geographical obstacles: the mountains and the sea.
Public transport, metro and bus, work very well.
There are several tickets that can be bought at any metro station with infinite possibilities and combinations. You can pay with Visa.
Then there is the typical tourist bus
A nice walk can be from the Mare Magnum and port
towards the Born quarter neighborhood to discover narrow street by narrow street.
Here a list of very interesting places to visit
The parallel is las Ramblas… with the Liceo Theater, the Boqueria market and the Plaza Real to see quickly if you want.
Beware of muggings!
On your bucketlist
- Plaza Catalunya
- Rambla Catalunya and Passeo de Gracia (Shopping Area)
- Passeo de Gracia: Casa Battló and La Pedrera
At Casa Battló there is a good show with virtual reality glasses.
Going up you pass the Diagonal and enter the neighborhood of Gracia (Barrio de Gracia)
Eclectic neighborhood, with squares and corners typical of the city
Even higher up is Parque Güell
Then you can walk Traverso Vallcarca towards Tibidabo, and Collserola
From where you can see all of Barcelona and discover modernist houses.
This part is way up on the mountain.
We descend towards the Cosmo Caixa
La Bonanova, Sarría Sant Gervasio (where the headquarters of the One-Health Conference El Illustre Colegio de Medicos is located ).
Then you can walk Traverso Vallcarca towards Tibidabo, and Collserola
Then we go towards La avenida General Mitre, Calle Balmes or Calle Muntaner (Barrio el Putxet)
From there towards Calle Diagonal, one stop in La Illa Diagonal shopping center
We are in the upper and richer part of Barcelona
And then you can go back down to the estación de Sants, visit the picturesque and popular barrio de sants-Montjuic (again watch out for muggings)
… and we are back in the sea area!
Enjoy Barcelona
Italian