Year Abroad Destination: Studied at Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain
You’re in Barcelona. You’ve had enough of the unimaginative wearisome recommendations that keep popping up on Google even though you’ve specifically asked for an Insider’s Guide. Is there anything else to do in Barcelona apart from going to La Sagrada Família, Las Ramblas or Parc Güell?
I’m glad you asked!
I’m Isabel and I spent a year studying at Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and here’s my take on an Insider’s Guide to Barcelona!
Plaça Reial
Gràcia
Where to Eat
You won’t get a more authentic Catalan eating experience than at Gelida, a cosy local restaurant on Diputació 133 serving very flavoursome and very cheap traditional Catalan food. Mains are £3.50-£4.50 and a glass of wine costs 75p!
Xanc i Meli
Xanc i Meli is a magical restaurant in el Putxet (Carrer del Francolí 53), which combines tradition and modernity both in its gastronomic concept and its interior design. Ask Joanet or Ignasi to serve you a few of their best dishes if you’re not sure what to go for!
Bismillah Kebabish on Carrer de Joaquin Costa 22. Best. Kebab. In. Barcelona.
Nightlife!
Hijos de Cain
Hijos de Cain on Carrer de Pallars 122, open on Fridays and Saturdays, is the hole-in-the-wall bar of Barcelona for cheap drinks (which go by the litre) and good music (national pop rock).
Bar Olímpic
Bar Olímpic in El Raval (Carrer de Joaquín Costa 25) is a kitsch old-man bar that everyone is currently loving!
L’Ovella Negra Marina, a former industrial building, is an unpretentious tavern where you can actually order 5L pitchers of sangria or beer.
Culture!
La Rúa del Barça
Up in Montjuïc, you’ll find an interesting building, the Fundació Joan Miró, a museum of modern and contemporary art and a centre for the study and dissemination of Joan Miró’s work.
Biblioteca Arús (Passeig de Sant Joan 26) is a beautiful historic library founded in 1895 with a fascinating collection on the workers movement, anarchism and freemasonry.
La Ricarda
La Ricarda is located in El Prat de Llobregat, just a thirty-minute drive from the city of Barcelona. It’s a serenely beautiful modernist house which welcomes visitors all year round. (For more information email: mgomisb@yahoo.es)
And enjoy!
Oh, don’t forget Tibidabo!
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou
Isabel’s Socials:
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