Barcelona shopping and museums
Cultural centre of the Caixa Pensions Bank Foundation
Though not strictly speaking a museum, this beautiful exhibition space is a must for art lovers; there is always a well-mounted and sophisticated show here, and there are chamber music concerts in an enclosed garden area, plus a contemporary-style arts bookshop and cafe. The building itself is one of modernista architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch's best, with hints of Moorish and Catalan Gothic architecture incorporated seamlessly into the turn-of-the-century facade.
The Science Museum Barcelona
A popular, hands-on museum with a small planetarium and an innovative children's section, which features experimental exhibits about the body, matter, communication, and movement.
The Barcelona Football Club Museum
One of the most popular attractions in this sports-mad town, this is a small museum of trophies and videos highlighting the local soccer club's illustrious history. It's located in the 120,000-seat Estadi Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe.
Pedralbes Monastery and Museum
A 14thcentury Gothic church known for its stained glass windows, choir stalls, unusual three-story cloister surrounded by galleries, and its overall elegant simplicity of design. This gem of medieval architecture also contains an impressive collection of Italian-influenced Catalan paintings and other art. The monastery is now the permanent home of 80 paintings and eight sculptures from the renowned Thyssen-Bornemisza art collection, formerly in Lugano, Switzerland and the bulk of which is now in Madrid's Palacio de Villahermosa Museum.
The Music Museum
An odd collection of antique musical instruments from many countries, dating from the 16th century to the present, in a modernista building by Puig i Cadafalch.
The Museum of Bullfighting
A collection of bullfighters' costumes and other memorabilia, including trophies, posters, and bull-ranch branding irons.
Shopping Barcelona
Barcelona has been a textile centre for centuries, and it always has been a good place to buy leather goods. More recently, it's become a source of upto-the-minute fashion as well.
Passeig de Gracia and Rambla de Catalunya are lined with elegant shops selling leather goods, furs, accessories, and jewellery for men and women, as well as with boutiques carrying Spain's moda joven (young fashion). More boutiques are housed in shopping centres or indoor arcades, of which the best known is the original Bulevar
d Rosa (55 Passeig de Gracia)-an entire city block filled with 100 shops selling everything from clothing and hats to unusual jewellery and paper goods. This complex has been so successful that a second Bulevard Rosa was opened-a much smaller complex with 40 stores (474 Av. Diagonal). At 55 Passeig de Gracia is the government-sponsored Centre Permanent d'Artesania where changing exhibitions of crafts by contemporary Catalan artists and artisans are held. What's on display is for sale, although it can't be taken away until the show closes. For more traditional crafts, don't fail to visit the Poble Espanyol, the model village on Montjulc, where there are some 35 stores featuring pottery, carvings, glassware, leather goods, and other typical folk crafts made by artisans from every region of Spain. Also visit the Ribera-El Born quarter around the Museu Picasso on Carrer de Montcada, known as the artists' and craftsmen's quarter.
There are two El Corte Ingles stores (Plaza de Catalunya; and 617 Av. Diagonal;) in the city. Branches of the country-wide department store chain, they're known for quality in everything from Lladro porcelain and leather gloves to other clothing, records, and books; best of all, they are open during the long Spanish lunch hour, when smaller shops are closed. A 376,000-square-foot retail centre called L'IlIa Diagonal (565 Av. Diagonal) boasts over 200 shops and includes such well-known foreign names as Marks & Spencer, Benetton, and Foot Locker. There are also offices and a hotel in the blocklong edifice.
Somewhat smaller, but still carrying a wide range of merchandise, are the two Galerias Preciados stores (on Porta de l'Angel; and Plaza Francesc Macia;) Top avant-garde Spanish clothing designers are represented, as well as everyday goods from children's clothes and toys to food.
A visit to at least one of the city's markets is a colourful must, whether La Boqueria food market (see Special Places) or the Mercat de Santa Caterina (Caner Francese Cambo, near the Gothic cathedral), where the fresh, tempting produce puts big-city supermarkets to shame. Els Encants is the principal Barcelona flea market (held Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from dawn until dusk), on the Plaza de les Glories Catalanes. An outdoor art market is held on the Plaza de Sant Josep Oriol on Saturdays.
Spend Sunday mornings in Plac;a Reial among the stamp and coin collectors (9 AM to 2:30 PM) or at the Mercat de Sant Antoni, leafing through old books and magazines (10 AM to 2 PM). There is an unusual organic food market, featuring bread, cheese, honey, tea, and such from the nearby mountains, on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from 10 AM to 2 PM on the Placa de la Sagrada Familia.
Book Shops Barcelona
More than 150 antiques shops are spread along the narrow streets of the Barri Gotic in Barcelona. Major periods as far back as the 12th century are represented. One of the best shops is Alberto Grasas (14 Carrer Banys Nous and 10 bis Carrer Palla;), which sells antique paintings, furniture, and decorative objects, principally porcelain. For ceramics, one of the city's top showrooms is Arluro Ra
mon (25 Carrer Palla). Its prize possessions include 18th-century furniture, as well as the highly prized ceramics from Manises. Look for the monthly subastas (auctions) at Sotheby's (2 Passeig Domingo). A Barri Gotic antiques market, formerly held on the Placa Nova, now takes place on the Placa del Pi every Thursday (except during August) from 10 AM to 10 PM.
It is no coincidence that Catalonia has the highest literacy rate in Spain and can claim to be the only city in the country where the patron saint's day (the Festa de Sant lordi, April 23) is celebrated with gifts of books to friends. In Barcelona, it seems as if there's a bookshop on every block. A good collection of English-language books can be found at Ben Books (277 Arago; ) and The English Bookshop (52 Calaf;). For secondhand books in English, try K.G. and Simon's (13 Carrer La Granja;).
Though not strictly speaking a museum, this beautiful exhibition space is a must for art lovers; there is always a well-mounted and sophisticated show here, and there are chamber music concerts in an enclosed garden area, plus a contemporary-style arts bookshop and cafe. The building itself is one of modernista architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch's best, with hints of Moorish and Catalan Gothic architecture incorporated seamlessly into the turn-of-the-century facade.
The Science Museum Barcelona
A popular, hands-on museum with a small planetarium and an innovative children's section, which features experimental exhibits about the body, matter, communication, and movement.
The Barcelona Football Club Museum
One of the most popular attractions in this sports-mad town, this is a small museum of trophies and videos highlighting the local soccer club's illustrious history. It's located in the 120,000-seat Estadi Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe.
Pedralbes Monastery and Museum
A 14thcentury Gothic church known for its stained glass windows, choir stalls, unusual three-story cloister surrounded by galleries, and its overall elegant simplicity of design. This gem of medieval architecture also contains an impressive collection of Italian-influenced Catalan paintings and other art. The monastery is now the permanent home of 80 paintings and eight sculptures from the renowned Thyssen-Bornemisza art collection, formerly in Lugano, Switzerland and the bulk of which is now in Madrid's Palacio de Villahermosa Museum.
The Music Museum
An odd collection of antique musical instruments from many countries, dating from the 16th century to the present, in a modernista building by Puig i Cadafalch.
The Museum of Bullfighting
A collection of bullfighters' costumes and other memorabilia, including trophies, posters, and bull-ranch branding irons.
Shopping Barcelona
Barcelona has been a textile centre for centuries, and it always has been a good place to buy leather goods. More recently, it's become a source of upto-the-minute fashion as well.
Passeig de Gracia and Rambla de Catalunya are lined with elegant shops selling leather goods, furs, accessories, and jewellery for men and women, as well as with boutiques carrying Spain's moda joven (young fashion). More boutiques are housed in shopping centres or indoor arcades, of which the best known is the original Bulevar
d Rosa (55 Passeig de Gracia)-an entire city block filled with 100 shops selling everything from clothing and hats to unusual jewellery and paper goods. This complex has been so successful that a second Bulevard Rosa was opened-a much smaller complex with 40 stores (474 Av. Diagonal). At 55 Passeig de Gracia is the government-sponsored Centre Permanent d'Artesania where changing exhibitions of crafts by contemporary Catalan artists and artisans are held. What's on display is for sale, although it can't be taken away until the show closes. For more traditional crafts, don't fail to visit the Poble Espanyol, the model village on Montjulc, where there are some 35 stores featuring pottery, carvings, glassware, leather goods, and other typical folk crafts made by artisans from every region of Spain. Also visit the Ribera-El Born quarter around the Museu Picasso on Carrer de Montcada, known as the artists' and craftsmen's quarter.There are two El Corte Ingles stores (Plaza de Catalunya; and 617 Av. Diagonal;) in the city. Branches of the country-wide department store chain, they're known for quality in everything from Lladro porcelain and leather gloves to other clothing, records, and books; best of all, they are open during the long Spanish lunch hour, when smaller shops are closed. A 376,000-square-foot retail centre called L'IlIa Diagonal (565 Av. Diagonal) boasts over 200 shops and includes such well-known foreign names as Marks & Spencer, Benetton, and Foot Locker. There are also offices and a hotel in the blocklong edifice.
Somewhat smaller, but still carrying a wide range of merchandise, are the two Galerias Preciados stores (on Porta de l'Angel; and Plaza Francesc Macia;) Top avant-garde Spanish clothing designers are represented, as well as everyday goods from children's clothes and toys to food.
A visit to at least one of the city's markets is a colourful must, whether La Boqueria food market (see Special Places) or the Mercat de Santa Caterina (Caner Francese Cambo, near the Gothic cathedral), where the fresh, tempting produce puts big-city supermarkets to shame. Els Encants is the principal Barcelona flea market (held Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from dawn until dusk), on the Plaza de les Glories Catalanes. An outdoor art market is held on the Plaza de Sant Josep Oriol on Saturdays.
Spend Sunday mornings in Plac;a Reial among the stamp and coin collectors (9 AM to 2:30 PM) or at the Mercat de Sant Antoni, leafing through old books and magazines (10 AM to 2 PM). There is an unusual organic food market, featuring bread, cheese, honey, tea, and such from the nearby mountains, on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from 10 AM to 2 PM on the Placa de la Sagrada Familia.
Book Shops Barcelona
More than 150 antiques shops are spread along the narrow streets of the Barri Gotic in Barcelona. Major periods as far back as the 12th century are represented. One of the best shops is Alberto Grasas (14 Carrer Banys Nous and 10 bis Carrer Palla;), which sells antique paintings, furniture, and decorative objects, principally porcelain. For ceramics, one of the city's top showrooms is Arluro Ra
mon (25 Carrer Palla). Its prize possessions include 18th-century furniture, as well as the highly prized ceramics from Manises. Look for the monthly subastas (auctions) at Sotheby's (2 Passeig Domingo). A Barri Gotic antiques market, formerly held on the Placa Nova, now takes place on the Placa del Pi every Thursday (except during August) from 10 AM to 10 PM.It is no coincidence that Catalonia has the highest literacy rate in Spain and can claim to be the only city in the country where the patron saint's day (the Festa de Sant lordi, April 23) is celebrated with gifts of books to friends. In Barcelona, it seems as if there's a bookshop on every block. A good collection of English-language books can be found at Ben Books (277 Arago; ) and The English Bookshop (52 Calaf;). For secondhand books in English, try K.G. and Simon's (13 Carrer La Granja;).
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