Shopping on the Ramblas

I was in Barcelona only for a short while, just enough time to take a look. But what I saw stayed with me and I can talk about it...Among the main attractions we must mention Las Ramblas (in Spanish) or Les Rambles (in Catalan), the avenue between Plaça Catalunya, the centre of the city, and the old port. Day and night the street is packed with people, and along its central pavement you can find newsstands, florists, bird sellers, street artists, cafés, restaurants and shops. Near the port you often come across little markets where painters and draughtsmen practise and work. Strolling along Les Rambles you can admire various buildings of interest such as the Virreina Palace, the colourful Boqueria market and the famous theatre, [El Liceu], where operas and ballets are performed.

The side streets are characteristic too; one of them, only a few metres long, leads to Plaça Reial, a square with palm trees and flanking buildings whose arcades house beer halls and restaurants, and where at weekends stamp and coin collectors gather.The Rambla ends at the old port, where the statue of Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colón) stands, pointing his finger towards the sea.Barcelona was the city where Antoni Gaudí lived and worked; with his works, which attract many tourists from all over the world every year, he left his mark on the city. The most representative is the Sagrada Familia, which Gaudí left unfinished and which is still being built in the same way cathedrals were built in the Middle Ages. Given modern construction methods, the cathedral will be completed around 2020.

Among Gaudí's other works, the most famous and important are Park Güell, Casa Milà, better known as "La Pedrera", and Casa Batlló.Barcelona is also a city for shopping. In the modern districts there are several streets and avenues such as Passeig de Gràcia or Paseo de Gracia, the Rambla de Catalunya and the Avinguda Diagonal or Avenida Diagonal, where the best-known international brands are present and where there are shops of famous fashion houses, leather goods, jewellers and more. I only bought a couple of T-shirts that I still have and a keyring as a souvenir of this splendid city, ancient and modern...