Barcelona: Day One

Wondering round and the BEST shopping centre in the world



Sunglasses: Ray Ban, T-Shirt: Gap, Dress: Oli, Belt: Topshop, Bag: Alphabet Bags, Pumps: Fred Perry
I like to get my bearings on the first day of a trip. We strolled into the city centre to the main square and then down Las Ramblas which is full of tourists and hawkers selling crap. It's difficult to get a feel for a place in that sort of atmosphere don't you think? Fortunately I spotted the side street which leads to Placa Reial (Placa should have a different 'c' I know) which was much more sedate. We had some tapas at a hotel cafe, the Roma Reial. After lunch we got the metro to 'Espanya', the big roundabout/square near our guesthouse. This is home to lots of interesting buildings- what I think is a convention centre, an art galary, a huge fountain, and a shopping centre that used to be a bullring. I think I'm correct in saying bull fighting was never a huge thing in Catalonia? A shopping centre is a much better use for it! Especially when it is as fabulous as this one. The bottom floor had a supermarket where we used to stock up on cheap cava (2 euros?! Why not!) and lots of lovely food shops and cafes. The upper floors had a retail area with standard clothes shops, then a cinema, then on the very top floor a lovely open air viewing platform with great views of the city and the surrounding hills.