A night in Gracia?

I am sure your priorities here in Barcelona are working, studying…but let’s not forget the “living” part of the blog! I want to start speaking about restaurants, bars, clubs and other places where you and your friends can have fun. So the first entry about this very important topic, to be taken with the utmost seriousness, will be a general description of the Gracia neighbourhood. You can start your night eating at one of the many ethnic restaurants, from Turkish or Lebanese to Japanese. Most of them are fantastic , although you do find some bad ones: there is this one with Egyptian decorations outside the door on Calle Verdi – don’t go there. Around Plaça del Sol you can also find many tapas bars…very cultural experience, as there will be many locals and very good food of course. You can ask for anything you want:, Patatas Bravas, Pimientos del Padrón, so on and so forth. I like Gracia because the atmosphere is relaxed, no need for fancy clothes, you meet people, prices are normal if not cheap, and there is variety. Remember that if you start eating at 19:00 it will be too early for BCN. Here one starts having supper after 21:00. Then once you are done eating you start “bar hopping” – go from one bar to another ordering beers, mojitos, caipirinhas or whatever you want. Going out in Gracia is a very good way to warm up to the city, it is also a very good place to live. You are in the middle of BCN, close to a lot of places and apartment prices are affordable. There is always life, people and laughter in the streets. You walk around and you can see many different stores selling anything you'd imagine. It is a distinguished atmosphere, especially with the festivals and demonstrations that make Gracia very different from the rest of BCN. In the next few posts I will ask students that live in Gracia how life is in this fascinating neighbourhood.