barcelona has to be one of the most amazing cities in the world. the sunshine is so good to the people here that they just pass happy vibes around to everyone. the sun and the sea are important here, it governs how people go about their daily lives and very rarely does anything challenge their importance.
this is a city for enjoying all of the good things in life from dancing to eating to talking to swimming to just walking around. every street is an art gallery, barcelona has a beautiful aesthetic and you can feel it from the people even in the way they drive.
on my first visit to barcelona myself and a friend had the great fortune to bump into aleix and adriana on our second night there and because of that initial meeting we've been back many times and i've been lucky enough to have locals to hang out with. as with everywhere it's got to be the best way to spend time somewhere.
barcelonans can be hard to get to know, especially if you don't speak spanish or catalan. i always find people that work in record shops and clothes shops here pretty good places to start, you'll eventually find someone to give you the lowdown.
barcelona can be a difficult place to find off the beaten path places because word of mouth is king here. there are two great magazines though: micro, a pocket sized listing magazine which is in spanish but you'll figure it out and then there's neo2 which is just incredible and has english translations www.neo2.net (i think?)
one thing that has become clear as barcelona attracts more and more tourists is that you have to make the effort to speak some spanish because it really affects the way the locals react to you. making an effort to speak even a little bit of spanish can make an amazing difference - people will pay more attention to you and go that extra bit for you.
this picture is from good friday in barcelona, more of which below
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