Barcelona from the outside

OK I admit it, Barcelona is not my favourite place. That’s partly why I’m here, to see if it grows on me without kids in tow and with greater understanding of Spain.

You know how children are always cute and wonderful when they’re little and then they grow into big, not-cute adults. I think Barcelona is like that. There are so many beautiful towns and cities in Spain with winding streets, balcony-covered facades, pleasant plazas, and so on. Barcelona has all of these but they are bigger, more cavernous, more commercial, and jammed with people. They lack charm. Don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful city, but it’s definitely a huge city, and a tourist city at that. And I think I prefer the smaller, calmer places.

Everything is seriously expensive and often booked out. Sagrada Familia is booked out three weeks in advance unless you want to pay $200. The Gaudi buildings are 20-30 Euros for a ticket. You even have to pay to visit Park Guell these days. And I’m feeling cheap enough to just skip it all.

So today I wandered the streets. I started in the cooler morning in the gothic quarter – which was lovely, and, as soon as you got a block away from Las Ramblas, deserted.

Then I zigged and zagged, through the heat, past modernist architecture all over the place.

Once things had cooled off a bit I headed North to the Sagrada Familia. It was such a nice walk through a variety of neighborhoods that I changed my plans and walked back too.

The day hasn’t changed my view: I don’t love Barcelona. But I’m a long way from hating it.