Itchy Feet Adventures: Barcelona - Cool things in Barcelona

There are certain things in this city that I really like. Not only the city itself but sometimes the way people live and the way they react to their environment. I have a feeling that this is going to be a series of posts as I have a lot of things to talk about.

1. Cycling in the city

As you probably know cycling is a big part of our lives as we both cycled to work every day. In London we mostly used the ‘Cycling Super Highway’. Here in Barcelona the cyclists do not have to cycle on the road with the cars, they have their own lane on the pavement/next to the pavement etc.

Even the underground accommodates bikes although I think Barcelona is not that big of a city so it kind of defeats the purpose but still, it’s a cool thing.

2. Fountains

There are fountains all over the inner city and they are not only there, they actually look nice! You can find them on the side of big squares or in the middle of little ones. You never have to be thirsty.

3. Music

There is music everywhere, more so now that we are getting close to the summer and more and more tourists flock to Barcelona. And not only guitars but also violins, harps, and many more.

4. There’s always something going on

I love that every weekend something always happens! You can plan for it or you can stumble upon it, like we did with the Folklore Festival. There’s never a dull moment. And if you don’t feel like being a part of it, you can always just go to the beach.

5. Children

It seems to me that children here are not looked at as a group of little people with their own needs and their own little lives that adults have to provide for and protect, they are not a ‘vulnerable group’, like in England. They are full members of the society participating in everything (well, almost), like the adults. They were there on the Holi Festival…

… they get the most important part in the Human Towers…

and they don’t have to go to bed at 7 or 8 in the evening, although as a nursery nurse I’m not sure I agree with the last bit.

6. Street art

Street art is really big here in Barcelona and you can see it all over the city. Street art is actually so big that you can go on a free street art tour where a guide takes you through the city and shows you the best examples (here’s their website). Even I find them great, and I don’t know anything about street art.

This is my favourite.

7. Shop window shutters

Let’s be fair, there is a lot of vandalizing as well when it comes to street art. In my opinion writing your ‘tag’ on somebody’s door is not an art, but I might be wrong. Most shops here have a shutter that they pull down after closing the shop and they all seemed to be written on. They soon realised that if it gets painted on, they might as well make something they like and asked street artists to do it for them. (Ok, this story is not entirely true but this is what I can gather from what I’ve seen.) As a result the city is full of colourful shop windows like these.