Barcelona is for all intents and purposes a wild, beautiful and spectacular city. It seems to be everything a visitor could want from a metropolis rolled into one pulsing,vibrant entity.
Like an Indian city, life happens on the streets - with amazing markets and colourful people hawking and performing, or like any fine European city it is steeped in history and culture possessing some of the world’s finest architecture; and like a huge American beast of a place like LA, Las Vegas or New York… the party never stops.
Las Ramblas is the main street and the centre of the city; it runs like an artery through Barcelona, full of life of all shapes and sizes – both good and bad. This is where street performance was invented and it offers everything one could imagine, from chainsaw juggling to stilt walkers in carnival attire, to some of the most amazing living statues in the world… this cannot be missed. So long as travellers keep a keen eye on their wallets and phones Las Ramblas and the rest of Barcelona is a very safe place.
Barcelona is Spain’s second largest city with an urban population of 1.6 million, it was voted the 16th most liveable city in the world and it’s easy to see why. It dates back to Roman times and, like every good city, it has had a fascinating and varied past. The city has a wealth of different influences due to invasions and trading, these influences include the Moorish conquests, Charlemagne with his Italians, and the Byzantines. The meeting of all these cultures over the past two millennia is clearly evident from the architecture and culture of Barcelona today.
Nobody, not even entire empires, have put their mark on Barcelona quite as much as the hugely celebrated architect and artist, Antoni Gaudi. All over the city there are examples of his works - from the very famous, like Park Guell or La Sagrada Familia, to obscure buildings hidden on residential streets in the outskirts of the city. Barcelona’s architecture creates an amazing backdrop for the typically fun loving and carefree Barcelonian to enjoy their lives, and by God they certainly do that. From drinking cans of beer in the city’s wealth of Plazas, to joining in rum-fuelled all night parties in the centre of Las Ramblas. Barcelona is an amazing fusion of the world’s cities, and anyone who ventures to this distinctive and captivating hub is sure never to see a dull moment.
