![\"\"](\"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220619_203358-1024x768.jpg\")
I also noticed that Barcelona is very clean. Most large cities are littered with, well, litter. Barcelona is not. The city employs an army of street sweeps. Both infantry and mechanized. Night and day, someone is sweeping the sidewalks, streets and alleys of Barcelona. Really, it\u2019s quite impressive. Also, not as much graffiti as I would have thought\u2026 huh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barcelona is, unlike most old cities, laid out in delightful grid. You can even spot it from the plane on final approach to the airport. Prominent, often tree-lined, boulevards set up a grid pattern, with only the occasional diagonal to keep you on your toes. Compared to cities like London and Paris, Barcelona is actually navigable! Turn right, turn right, turn right, turn right and you are back where you started. Wander about, explore the side streets, avoid the famous pickpockets, AND still find your hotel. I won\u2019t give you a money back guarantee, but it\u2019s pure freakin\u2019 magic!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The beaches are easy to find (there next to the sea), clean and friendly. Except, I am reliably informed, during major holidays, such as the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. On those days and, especially, nights, step lightly. Still, it\u2019s worth the short walk, bike, scooter, bus, or taxi ride, to walk along the sandy beach, to the rocky shoreline, to the frigid sea. Perhaps the water warms up later in the summer? It is only June, after all. Pro tip for cold water: dive right in. What doesn\u2019t kill you, and all that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for food\u2026 Tapas. Yep, Tapas, Tapas, and Tapas. Every restaurant has them. No, not every restaurant. I found three that didn\u2019t: KFC, McDonald\u2019s and Taco Bell (all located near each other and surrounding 4 Irish bars\u2026 coincidence?). (The answer is no. It\u2019s not a coincidence. Drunks have to eat, too.) If you\u2019re only in Barcelona for a few months, just stick to those three and be Tapas free. Or, have some Tapas! Fill the table with plates of the stuff. In all different shapes and flavors. Bring a friend. You can\u2019t order just one Tapas, because that\u2019s a Tapa, and it\u2019s just weird. Maybe even try some Sangria. Want some variety? There\u2019s every other kind of food you can imagine. I, for example, had one truly great pizza. I only ate one pizza, so that\u2019s a small sample size, but still a shout out to \u2018Da Nanni.\u2019 I enjoyed my wonderful wood-fired pizza — did I mention it\u2019s hot in Barcelona? \u2013 while sitting beside a wood-fired pizza oven! The pizza made it all worthwhile, but most folks took their fresh-baked box of goodness to go. Wusses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you\u2019re tired of Spanish, Sangria, wine, and all-around good sense, step into one of the 17,000 Irish bars in Barcelona. (Seriously, I counted 4 within 100 yards.) Some folks there will still speak Spanish, drink wine and Sangria, but most will not have any all-around good sense. I was there, so I know!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barcelona is an all-around good time. Maybe a bit expensive, but worth the visit. Probably not my next home town. I\u2019m off to a couple of smaller towns next, followed by Madrid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, yes, I\u2019m still alive at time of posting\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As you know, this blog is not a minute-by-minute travel blog. It is a what\u2019s-going-on, am-I-still-alive, what-are-my-general-thoughts travel blog. Yes. I am still alive. I spent my first week in Spain visiting the city of Barcelona. Yep, it\u2019s pronounced \u2018Barthelona\u2019 \u2013 \u2018c+i\u2019 and \u2018c+e\u2019 get the \u2018th\u2019 treatment, so get used to the lisp. You\u2019ll […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1478"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1506,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478\/revisions\/1506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/downhilltravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220618_154819-768x1024.jpg\")