This place great tip if you love cooking international recipes at home, but can’t seem to find some of the ingredients because they are odd here (never mind how popular they are in other latitudes). I’m talking about DeliShop, the kind of food and cooking supplies store you were looking for.

DeliShop develops an interesting culinary and commercial concept (world cooking basics), ideal for a city like Barcelona where an important proportion of its population comes from so many and different places.

What would you like to eat today? Where does that flavour comes from? Let your appetite pick up the right destination: Maybe Japan or India, China, Thailand, North or South America? If you feel curious about other cultures you should go to the DeliShop and take a look. You will make a trip around the world at a glance.

Details about this spot
DeliShop | Shopping, Art & culture
Travessera de Gracia 141 | Gracia (area map) | +34932389945
Mon - Sat 11:00 - 21:00

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I’ve been visiting this place since 1987 and I still can’t decide whether I love it or hate it.

It’s featured in my novel After Goya. Why would I hate it? Well, the museum has adopted a very traditional way of displaying the collections - all glass cases, broken pots and coins and very little interpretation - it reminds me of compulsory school museum visits.

And why do I love it? It has a fascinating, very extensive, collection of everyday bits and pieces and paper ephemera from the late 19th century.

Frederic Marès was a sculptor and an eccentric, avid collector of things - crucifixes, walking-sticks, opera-glasses, fans, dolls, toy theatres, pipes, cigar-bands, cigarette papers, printers’ handbills, business cards, tram tickets, it goes on and on and on.

As you wander through the galleries you’ll build a fairly strong picture of the leisure preoccupations of the moneyed classes of early 20th century Barcelona.

Through the museum’s omission of any mention of working-class existence you’ll begin to understand the simmering resentments which fuelled the class struggle that climaxed with the Spanish Civil War.

Another good reason to visit this curious museum is the courtyard and summer café - a lovely spot to chill out with an iced-coffee. Go there on Wednesday after 14:00, it’s free admission, though one of the galleries will be closed.

Details about this spot
Frederic Marès museum | Art & culture | Admission € 3.00
Plaça Sant Iu 5-6 | El Barrio Gotico (area map) | +34932563500
Tue - Sat 10:00 - 19:00, Sun 10:00 - 15:00

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Gràcia Arts Project is a small, lively art gallery situated right at the heart of the city.

The gallery is run by a growing association of over 60 artists, designers, photographers, makers, writers, film-makers and performers.

Though it’s called Gràcia Arts Project, because that’s where its roots lay, the gallery is in Barrio Gótico, immediately adjacent to the Generalitat (Catlunyan government HQ). The association has a good multi-national mix, and includes members originally from the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Italy, Netherlands as well as Catalunya and Spain.

The exhibitions change every two weeks. The gallery also hosts music, poetry, film, spoken word and multi-media events every now and then.

It’s a good spot to visit to get a good, up close feel for the range, quality and sensibility of art being produced in the city right now.

I enjoy going along to the exhibition openings and closings - informal cava fueled affairs which spill out into the street - to meet and chat with some very talented, sparky artists.

There’s an air of creative possibility, and the association has exciting plans for a much larger arts center, including performance spaces and studios, to be based in Gracia. The association is very open to ideas and is looking to form creative partnerships with other artist-run projects across Europe.

Check out their website, take a tour of the virtual gallery, and maybe sign up to receive regular e-mail bulletins and invites to openings, closings and surprise events.

Details about this spot
Gràcia Arts Project | Art & culture
C/Honorat 11 | El Barrio Gotico (area map) | +34671300638
Mon - Sat 10:00 - 20:00

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I really enjoy a good art exhibition and I really enjoy good architecture. Here, at the CaixaForum, I get to enjoy both.

The building, housing five exhibition spaces, a kids’ art workshop, 350 seat auditorium, café-restaurant and museum shop, is a former state-of- the-art textiles factory.

Based on a romantic re-invention of a medieval castle, and informed by a Utopian desire to provide an inspiring and safe working environment for its workers, when opened in 1912 local people refused to believe the building was a factory.

It only served as a factory for eight years. In 1940 the abandoned building was taken over by Franco’s police as a stables and garage.The current complex opened in 2002. Take the lift to the roof for a good view of the decorative brick, tile and ironwork.

They’ve had some very good exhibitions here including one exploring Dalí’s forays into fashion, graphic design and film - including a never before screening of an animation Dalí made for Disney in the 1940s.

As well as retrospectives they also promote an interesting programme of contemporary art. They have a pretty good permanent collection - featuring works by artists such as Joseph Beuys and Sol Lewitt (who produced the permanent work you’ll see on the wall in the entrance).

The venue also promotes a lively music programme. And, when done with wandering this inspired and inspiring building, there’s a café-restaurant which serves drinks, snacks and full blown meals.

Details about this spot
La CaixaForum | Art & culture
Avenida Marquès de Comillas 6-8 | Montjuich (area map) | +34934768600
Mon - Fri & Sun 10:00 - 20:00, Sat 10:00 - 22:00

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I know a place for readers and writers, to take the kids to play football and run around, for families to have a picnic, a place for the elderly, for lovers and friends.

La Ciutadella Park is where everything is possible if the weather’s on your side and this is easy to find in Barcelona where almost never rains.

La Ciutadella Park is one of the most beautiful parks in Barcelona and it’s plenty of cosy corners to talk and spend the time laid over the grass, sit at some bank or walk around through sculptures, statues and trees.

You will find the Museum of Modern Art, The Geology Museum, the Zoo, a greenhouse and a castle called “Three Dragons Castle” where’s also placed the Zoology Museum. This park is a gorgeous open space behind El Borne; it’s close to the France Train Station, the Olympic Village, La Barceloneta, the peer and the beach.

If you use this park as a shortcut to anywhere you’re going, I’m sure you will feel invited to stay. There’s a place for you too. I know.

Details about this spot
La Ciutadella Park | Art & culture, Relaxing
Between Pujades and Picasso streets | El Borne (area map)
08:30 - 22:00 daily

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Situated uptown between the Vall d’hebron and Horta, you will find this small neighbourhood, very different from the rest of Barcelona. As a matter of fact, you don’t feel you are in a big city but more probably in a small village somewhere in the catalan countryside.

No big buildings, not even a store, just a small bar hidden between two trees. All is about stone-houses with their gardens, orange and lemon-trees and vegetable-gardens.

You guess this part of Barcelona like many others has been absorbed by the urbanisation of the XX century. But here time seems to do not pass by. Everything is slow-paced, quiet and peaceful. You can listen to the chirping of the birds, even the smell is different.

It’s an excellent place to stroll around if you want to escape from the crowded centre or just to get the feeling to be on vacations in the countryside.

To reach it, take the subway until Vall d’Hebron (line 3).

Details about this spot
La Clota | Art & culture, Relaxing | Wine & tapa € 3.00
Subway Vall d’Hebron (line 3) | Above diagonal (area map)
Mon - Sat 13:00 - 15:45 & 20:00 - 23:30

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I like art and visiting galleries but never seem to catch as many exhibitions as I’d like. But one exhibition space I do visit regularly - sometimes re-visiting the same exhibition three or four times - is situated in La Pedrera - the famous apartment building designed by Gaudí. It’s only a twenty minute walk from where I live.

They have an excellent exhibition program with related talks and debates. So, while tourists spend maybe half an hour queuing to pay 8 euros to tour the building and roof, you can nip in and catch an interesting art show.

The exhibition program promotes a good balance of solo retrospectives and shows about movements or moments in art history. The shows, always accompanied with well-written notes, help you re-appraise or re-contextualize work by artists often overlooked because they didn’t quite fit with the prevailing mood or movement of the time. I’ve learned a lot about art from attending exhibitions here.

If you can understand Spanish it’s worth doing one of the free guided tours of the current exhibition on Fridays at 18:00. The staff here are friendly and helpful, and will look after your bags and coats at no charge. And, just so you know, the exhibition space has a public toilet, handy if you’re on the Paseo de Gràcia, as most of the cafés now only allow customers to use their facilities.

Details about this spot
La Pedrera | Art & culture
Passeig de Gràcia 92 | Eixample (area map) | +34902400973
Mon - Sun 10:00 - 20:00

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If you have a shoe fetish like I have, I would recommend you a visit at the Museu del Calçat (shoe museum) on Placa San Felip Neri in the heart of the Gothic Quarter nearby the Cathedral.

Showing the historical development of shoe manufacturing, the museum also displays shoes of famous people like Columbus.

The shoe museum is placed in a beautiful renaissance building which used to be the Shoemaker’s guild in the Middle ages.

It is located on Placa de San Felip Neri, one of the most peaceful, shady and neat squares in the old city center which once was a medieval cemetery.

The Neri hotel has a stylish cafe outside on the square which invites you to have a refreshment and chill for a while in the shade.

If you wonder why an ancient square smells like strawberries and vanilla, you can just have a look at the gorgeous soap factory “Sabater Hermanos” on the square. The family business sells soaps in 40 different fragrances. A bar of chocolate soap costs about € 3.00.

The historic Felip Neri Church right opposite the soap factory reveals scars from the Spanish Civil War on its Baroque walls caused by bomb explosions and executions.

There is so many interesting things to discover on that tiny square but in the end it is a place to relax right in the middle of one of the most buzzing neighborhoods of Barcelona.

Details about this spot
Museu del Calçat | Art & culture | Entrance € 2.50
Placa San Felip Neri | El Barrio Gotico (area map) | +34933014533
Tue - Sun 11:00 - 14:00

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Ras is probably one of the most interesting book shops in town owned by the Barcelona based Actar editorial.

Specialized in architecture, design and art, it offers a variety of books and magazines from international editorials.

Besides being a book store, Ras is also an exclusive gallery exhibiting contemporary art and design.

Check their website for exposition openings and get some chocolate, nuts and wine for free! But watch your alcohol consumption; you might end up buying some of the gorgeous accessories, displayed in the entrance area.

Ras is one of the gathering points of Barcelona’s urban scene, as it also offers many books on street art, and you might as well end up with a hot skater date!

Details about this spot
Ras bookshop | Art & culture, Shopping
Calle Doctor Dou 10 | El Raval (area map) | +34934127199
Tue - Fri 11:00 - 21:00

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Vinçon is a design store situated in what was once the painter Ramon Casas’s family house - just a few metres from Gaudí’s famous apartment building La Pedrera.

Casas, together with his collaborator Rusiñol, was a witty, clever arts activist who did a lot to prepare the way for the following generation of artists such as Picasso. In keeping with the building’s cultural history the store features a gallery at its heart - La Sala Vinçon - showing work by artists, photographers and product designers.

During the Christmas period the gallery promotes a very succesful art supermarket where you can pick up an original print or painting for less than � 100. Even the carrier bags are artist designed - and have become collectors’ items.

I really enjoy visiting this shop - not to buy things, I could never afford to, but for two reasons: firstly to enjoy the arts and crafts decorative stone, tile and ironwork, and secondly to pick up ideas. Call in, have a wander around, check out the quirky toys and gadgets, climb the stairs to the first floor and marvel at the huge fireplace.

Wander out onto the patio at the back, where you’ll see what was the family chapel, and the trees which grow from inside the shop. Turn around and look up at the back of La Pedrera.

If only Vinçon had a coffee shop and a place to sit and read a book. Like a Catalan Ikea for grown ups with platinum credit cards.

Details about this spot
Vinçon | Art & culture, Shopping
Passeig de Gràcia 96 | Eixample (area map) | +34932156050
Mon - Sat 10:00 - 20:00

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