How
to make the most of winter sun in Barcelona with compras, cultura y comida – Ian
Henderson enlists a home-grown local expert.
The wettest month in Catalunya is October. And once it passes, the days in Barcelona – while shorter and more subject to cold air currents – can be as sun-filled as the height of summer. On these days, the bars and restaurants adjust with more tables indoors and heaters on the terraces; the shops stay open just as late (with many still closed for the mid-afternoon siesta); the people put on an extra layer and carry on much as they do the rest of the year. It can be the best time to visit what is, in my view, the world’s second-coolest city.
Getting on the Metro next to Diagonal you’re surrounded by the shoppers at Chanel, Tiffany and Vincon, the high temple of design in a designer’s town. Then you might see kids carrying surfboards getting on when you change at Verdeagua onto the L4 line, down to the beach at Barceloneta. If you aren’t tempted by putting on a wetsuit yourself, you can pass a perfect Sunday lunchtime just watching them from a table outside a xiringuito or beachfront bar. One like Sal Cafe where the sardines are fresh, the pan con tomate delicious and the salads perfectly judged. Maybe with a glass of chilled rosado, as it’s Sunday.
Walking along the beach under a December
sky as clear as last night’s gin, we watched hardy swimmers and muscular
bodybuilders on Barcelona’s version of Venice Beach. The surfers wouldn’t have
looked out of place in Malibu either – although the fishermen on the sea wall
had a more Latin, even Cuban look. As we walked we reflected that home was only
a couple of hours away but considerably colder, damper and further into its
winter hibernation. We’d come to visit our oldest son, working in Barcelona,
for his birthday and – with some help from his local knowledge – enjoyed an
almost perfect weekend. And from experience (his and ours) we know that with a
bit of meteorological planning it’s possible to find sunny days like this one
right through the Catalan winter.
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| Tibidabo - perfect destination for an early-morning run |
So how should you make the most of
Barcelona if you jump on a plane on a weekend whim? First, take advantage of
lower winter rates by going a bit more ambitious in your choice of hotels.
There are plenty to choose from even at short notice (provided you avoid the
many Catalan fiesta bank holidays), from the Gran Hotel Florida perched high up
on the Tibidabo mountain behind the city near a kitsch Thirties funfair all the
way down to the gleaming tower of the Hotel Arts right on the Barceloneta
beach. But ideally, you’d want to be in the middle of town for compras, cultura
y comida (shopping, culture and eating) so maybe Chic & Basic (like it sounds) in Born or the very
central, extremely hip Hotel Omm, where Diagonal crosses the expensive shops of Passeig de
Gracia just below the more villagey district of Gracia.
As well as a glorious (and deserted)
terrace overlooking Gaudi’s La Pedrera just to the south, it has the
Michelin-starred Roca Moo restaurant run by the same people as the astonishing
El Celler de Can Roca (constantly voted among the world’s top three
restaurants) and with a tasting menu that’s just as good, minus a few of the
Girona establishment’s more baroque flourishes. Famously, a late dinner is just
the beginning of Barcelona’s nightlife which doesn't need much endorsement from
me (my son knows considerably more, so ask him) but Bar Mut on Diagonal is a
good place for an aperitif or to finish up at if your stamina doesn’t run to
getting home at 7am from a club.
Providing you haven’t stayed up too late or
misjudged Barcelona’s industrial-sized gins the night before, you can walk (or
even cycle on a BiCiNg rental bike, and the taxis aren’t expensive) to
practically anywhere in the city. You can work out a list of shops for
yourself, but El Corte Ingles should be on anyone’s and it’s hard not to like
the boutiques or old-fashioned delis like Gispert (which feels like
shopping in 1900) near the Born market. Speaking of markets, if you haven’t
yet been to La Boqueria (in the old Barrio Chino, transformed from the den of
vice it used to be twenty years ago) you’re in for a rare treat – your first
visit to one of the world’s finest covered markets with everything from candied
fruit to acorn-fed pata negra. Make sure to perch at one of the many bars
inside the market where you can watch your breakfast or lunch being cooked
fresh fro |
| The Picasso Museum, Barrio Gotico |
Don’t leave your compras to Sunday though,
or you’ll find most places closed. Instead, do your culturas (con comidas,
naturally) on Sunday – maybe the bite-sized but riveting Picasso museum by the
old cathedral in Barrio Gotico, an ancient stone mini-palace with just enough
of his work to make you realize the full extent of his genius in the invention
of modern art. (Get there on the first Sunday of the month and you’ll save the
entrance fee.) Cultura is everywhere in this city – from world-class buskers
through to public sculpture like Gaudi’s Parc Guell above Guinardo or Frank
Gehry’s gigantic fish gulping the sea air in Barceloneta, where you can relax
in the sunshine and recover from a cultural morning. There’s a very good view of
the fish from the xiringuito where we started - so perhaps that’s a good place
to finish. With an after-lunch café con leche, of course.
