24 rainy hours in Barcelona
WHEN YOU GET UP: REFUSE IN THE RAIN IN A PLACE WITH A LOT OF GLASS
We start with the nerve center of Barcelona, Catalonian square . For an experience similar to absorbing yourself in the pattering of the drops against the glass of your window, go to the cafeteria of the Hotel Olivia (Plaza Catalunya 19), which right next to the bustle bustle of the Hard Rock Café offers a glazed room where you feel protected from any inclement weather and even better, wrapped by her.
One step away and with breakfast in mind, we cannot ignore the existence of the El Corte Inglés cafeteria. We recognize that having some pancakes in your cafeteria, surrounded by clueless tourists and ladies with mink is a bit like going back to childhood.
Perfect to enjoy the storm from the calm
Returning to more cool environments, La Federal (Parlament 39) It has glass windows that give it its powerful light, Enjoyable even on rainy days. The benches with soft cushions are a privileged place to contemplate the movement of the street, well protected. Almost all new Parlament sites offer open glass walls: Tarannà (Viladoma 23) is green and warm, Cometa (Parlament 20) white and multicolored, Calders (Parlament 25) burgundy and Mexican. The Vinito winery (Parlament 27) or Els Sortidors (Parlament 53) They are perfect for vermouth time on the wet street.
Very precious and cozy
Changing the area (Sant Antoni is so cool that we're starting to get a kick out of it), the Tarambana Bar (Borrell 148) has a large window and warm, Nordic wood that couldn't be more flattering for when it rains. The Palau de la Música cafeteria (Palau de la Música 4-6) is essential for rainy days, mainly because of its modernist interior, which is the apex of froth lovers and for that great glass structure that protects the red brick facade and allows the rain to crash freely (metaphorically) against us.
And if we are talking about modernism, the window of the Center Cívic Can Deu (Plaça de la Concòrdia 13) is in the rain when it acquires its most vivid colors. It is located in the cafeteria of this vortex of life in the neighborhood of Les Corts which is always worth approaching.
Good glass, good cuqui protection
MID-MORNING: MUSEUM STRIP
This is a basic classic that you can always throw away. Queues for museums multiply on rainy days, but it is worth doing them to leave the hours of sunshine to come (because they will undoubtedly come, in Barcelona it never rains for long) for outdoor activities.
The eternal Picasso is always there (watch out for his temporary exhibitions); the Macba and the CCCB are essential in his reading of contemporary art and urban history; the visit to the MNAC will take a few hours (you can also take advantage of it to eat inside, see the next point); the Caixa Forum is also very interesting from an architectural point of view (beware of its neighbor, the pavilion mies van de rohe , which in the rain becomes an almost magical place) and you have to sign up for the DHUB with its design collections finally assembled for when it opens in December 2014. If you go with children, the CosmoCaixa is unavoidable.
And if you have eclectic tastes and a bit of kitsch, there are also the museums of L'eròtica (La Rambla 96), the Mamut museum (Montcada 1), the Ideas and Inventions museum (Ciutat 7) or the Funeral Carriages (Mare de Déu de Port 56-58), ideal to see in the rain and in a gloomy mood.
Mies Van de Rohe Pavilion
AT NOON: EAT WITH A VIEW TO THE GRAY SKY
City views in the rain can be just as seductive as those on a clear day , especially if you have a romantic soul, with a tendency to melancholy but without falling into depression. To eat like a gentleman (or lady, or gentleman) without forgetting the weather conditions for a moment, you have to climb the mythical Torre d'Alta Mar (Passeig Don Joan Borbó 88), with views of the sea and the city that leave you speechless.
The other must-see for high-flying meals is Dos Cielos (Pere IV 272) by the irreducible Torres twins, where, this time, the food is capable of overshadowing the views. And as if something is left over, Barcelona has spectacular views, the Òleum del Mnac offers them on Montjuic and in one of those historical settings that have little parallel.
High flying meals
More intimate but equally beautiful is what La Balsa (Infanta Isabel 4) offers us, surrounded by plants and nature that shine in the rain and make us lose a little perspective of where we are. at the foot of Tibidabo tram, the Mirablau (Doctor Andreu, s/n) has a direct bar to the Eixample marker and covering the entire maritime perspective . If the rain is not accompanied by fog, it is one of those panoramas difficult to forget.
La Raft, definitive views
AFTERNOON: GET A SOAK IN HOT WATER
If anyone knows greater pleasure than submerging yourself in warm water while it's raging outside, let them say so. As we do not imagine anything better, we recommend visit spas like Aire de Barcelona (Passeig Picasso 22) , some old Arab baths renovated with a lot of charm, where the atmosphere is always warm and to top it off they serve an addictive mint tea. The Six Senses at the Hotel Arts (Marina 19) is also accompanied by views of the sea in which, imbued in a humid and warm atmosphere, you end up wishing that it never stops raining.
From here, any rain feels good
LATER: THE CINEMA NEVER FAILS
But guayoni cinema and at a good price. The film library in its new location on the Rambla del Raval (Plaça de Salvador Seguí 1) is one of those places that requires you to check their schedule constantly. The Zumzeig de Sants (Béjar 43) are the alternative, independent or directly Martian movie theater that you always dreamed of, and the new Texas (Bailèn 205) (they keep opening cinemas, miracle!) project (ahem) films that are no longer in theaters in other rooms and are perfect to remember those summer cinemas of your childhood in which you caught up with the films that had escaped you during the year.
IN GENERAL: WITHOUT SPENDING A HARD
If your budget is low or you are a militant in the faith that it is still possible to be entertained without money, Barcelona will not disappoint you . Besides the obvious (walking around with a good umbrella in the rain, jumping in puddles in the Ciutadella park , shelter under the arcades of the Plaza Real), a visit to a free museum such as the Palau Robert (Passeig de Gràcia 107) is mandatory, which always mounts interesting exhibitions and offers culture with free admission in the midst of the morass of consumerism of Paso de Gràcia.
Give me a book and I will move the world
The public libraries They are a perfect ally that mounts free activities and always offer entertainment possibilities for all those who love to read (that is, for all good people). **Sant Paui la Santa Creu ** (Hospital 56) also has some impressive gothic arcades and a nice garden bar that even in the rain; the Francesca Bonnemaison (Sant Pere més baix 7) has a skylight in the form of a stained glass window in which the pattering of the drops accompanies reading better than anything; the Joan Miró (Vilamarí 61), on the edge of the park, It is built on a pond that the rain could not do better... almost all of them have a nice cafeteria and magazines available to fill any dull afternoon.
Browsing the markets is another free and stimulating activity: the boqueria in the middle of the Rambla is always full of life, and for a slightly different market concept, the new Encants (Meridiana 69) are still the disaster box of the city but now under cover under a design structure one of those that become an urban icon. If the rainy days increase your spirit of tormented soul as a way out of the postwar, the station of France (Marquès de l'Argentera s/n) , made of glass and iron, becomes a musical organ when the rain appears and we all know that there is nothing more evocative and melancholy than the arrival and departure of trains.
With books we don't care about anything else
WHEN NIGHT FALLS: IF MOISTURE HAS GOT INTO YOUR BODY
To combat the most accentuated discomfort, nothing like a cup of chocolate with churros. If you are looking for a more formal but equally comforting dinner, go to ward off the cold at the rustic La llar del Filador (Carrer d'En Cortines 13).
If you are looking for something exotic , the Sichuan Pot (Plaza de Letamendi 12) is one of those Chinese restaurants that Chinese also go to (an unequivocal sign of quality) and where the fire that encourages the pot and the spicy that overflows its soup will make you become a regular necessity on your table. And for even more exclusive experiences, Carlota Akaneya (Pintor Fortuny 32) is the definitive Japanese barbecue where they now serve beef Kobe A 5 around a bed of aromatic charcoal. Try the low back, taste the entrails, taste the entrails . Try them and cry with happiness.
EARLY MORNING: A DRINK
You won't need help finding a bar, will you?
*** You may also be interested in...**
- Barcelona with a magnifying glass: Parlament street
- Cities where the rain feels good
- All the articles of Raquel Piñeiro
Arc de Triomphe