Snacks

A pizza and a pint of beer in Barcelona for less than $7

6th May 2022

Carn Bier,Espinac,Gorgonzola pizzes, Lucania ii Barcelona

Barcelona's restaurants and bars offer a wide and wild variety of cuisines and creative dishes.

Even the most ardent foodie will confess that grazing on tapas and dining in fine restaurants is both wearing on the wallet and bruising on the palate.

When out and about there will come a time when you want something more ordinary… a tasty, light bite.

Well… you could grab a pizza.

And, one of the best places to grab a pizza in Barcelona is Lucania II in Vila de Gràcia.

For less than the average price of a Bikini (grilled ham and cheese sandwich) you can enjoy a delicious, freshly prepared pizza margarita.

Variety

25 plus variations — including one of my favourites: minced beef cooked in beer with bacon, plus two or three daily specials.

Tapas

Bar Bodega Quimet in Barcelona

14th August 2020

Celebrations

FESTES DE GRÀCIA, 2019 IN BARCELONA

16th August 2019

Festes de Gràcia, 2019 — and we're off!

Agost 15, Day One:

8.15am: We set off to Plaça de la Revolució de Septembre 1868 where we met up with Miquel and Silvia.

En route we caught a passing look of Carrer de Puigmarti, where a team of locals were still hard at it.

8:46am: and the Trabucaires fire the traca and prepare to fire their very loud guns to launch the parade…. and, a few seconds later I lost the sense of hearing in my right ear.

And then…we were joined by…the Lord of the Flies himself…Beelzebub.

The cardboard bin next to me caught fire. No biggie.

And on to Plaça del Sol…and a decorated balcony…

Then off to explore the streets…

… before the hordes arrive…

Palette and brushes, Mozart, Gràcia, 2019

…before resting a while for breakfast in Plaça de la Vila

And then we wended a roundabout route home, via Carrer de Llibertat…

Eye-catching exotic crab on Carrer de Llibertat

10.30pm: We wandered out again, via Passeig de Sant Joan, Plaça Joanic and over to Carrer Verdi…I have never seen an entry line so long… so we headed up to the exit…

Carrer Verdi, Gràcia, 2019

Then we headed over to Plaça de Rovira i Trias via a packed, and lively Carrer de Providencia…

Carrer de Providencia

Providencia Mine and miner2, Gràcia, 2019

We hung out a short while in Plaça Rovira i Trias, surrounded by eerie birds, before heading over to Plaça del Nord…and the most pleasant surprise of the evening.

Every year during the festes there's always a stand out band, a band which pumps out party pleasing music and gets the crowd singing along.

The rumba band, Alma de Boquerón (Soul of Anchovy), a tight and polished 7-piece ensemble, knocked out a string of irresistible tunes before segueing into a rip-roaring version of Dick Dale's classic, Miserlou, and, then, without dropping a beat, segueing unexpectedly into a thunderous version of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall. A rumba band playing Pink Floyd? You bet. Brilliant. And then they teased us all with the opening bars of Led Zeppelin's, Stairway to Heaven, before reverting to lively, witty, tongue in cheek contemporary rumba.

Ama de Boqueron, Plaça del Nord, Gràcia, 2019

Alma de Boquerón, Plaça del Nord, Gràcia, 2019

HERE's a LINK to their official website, where you'll find a sample compilation of tunes:HERE.

Enjoy! They are playing four more gigs during the festes.

TONIGHT (agost 16) Carrer Verdi at 11pm.

Sunday, agost 18, Passeig de Sant Joan at Midnight.

Monday, agost 20, Carrer Tordera at 11pm.

Tuesday, agost 21, Carrer Joan Blanques de Baix de Tot at 11pm.

If you get chance do try and catch them in action.

After the gig we trekked back down and along Carrer Verdi, where it was still rammed, before heading to Raïm for a mojito, and then down along Carrer Progrés, Carrer Perill and home for around 3am. Another great day in the barri.

Bones Festes!

Insert Content Template or Symbol

La Salut

Gaudí’s Dreamlike Park: La Salut, Gràcia in Barcelona

29th April 2018

Map of La Salut neighbourhood in Gràcia,

Dreamlike park and hilltop views.

The small hillside barri, La Salut is one of the most visited neighbourhoods in Barcelona. Why? Gaudí’s Park Güell.

As well as the Park there’s the Gaudí House Museum situated within the Park, and the interactive Gaudí Experiència, with its 4D cinema-ride, at Carrer de Larrard, 41 on the approach to the Park.

It's a curious, residential barri and…

Graffiti

Amy Winehouse in Barcelona IV

13th September 2017

Graffiti portrait of Amy Winehouse on Carrer Mozart during festes de Gràcia, 2017

One of the many wonderful things about exploring Barcelona is happening across curious portraits of well-known, and not so well-known, people in unexpected places.

Here's another portrait of the singer, Amy Winehouse which appeared on Carrer Mozart in Vila de Gràcia during the Festes de Gràcia, 2017.

Context

The graffiti is on a door in Carrer de Mozart, Vila de Gràcia.

For more graffiti featuring Amy Winehouse go HERE, HERE and HERE

Enjoy discovering graffiti in Barcelona.

Celebrations

Festes de Gràcia, 2017, Day 2, in Barcelona

17th August 2017

Day 2, 10:30pm: After yesterday's exertions we planned to spend most of our time on one street, Joan Blanques, split into two decorated sections and with two stages featuring two very different crowd pleasing bands: A Contrablues and Dani Nel·lo's Jazz Savages.

Carrer Joan Blanques de Baix

11pm: We found two chairs and a table and installed ourselves on Joan Blanques de Baix.

Carrer Joan Blanques de Baix de Tot

1am: Having decided we all needed a halfway decent mojito the four of us wended a way through the streets to Raïm. I ordered a mojito made with an oscuro (dark rum) the Nicaraguan, 7 year-old Flor de Caña.

Visca Cuba! Visca Catalunya! Visca Nicaragua!

Advertising poster for cigars in Raïm

2:30am ish: Having joshed and chatted with the Italian chef from a well-known and popular (or, should that be 'polpolar'?) Gallego restaurant, we left Raïm and headed down Carrer Progrés…

Collage of posters from USSR on Carrer Progrés

…and a huge statue of Lenin….

Mr. Vladimir Ilyich Ulaynov on Carrer Progrés

…where we encountered a handsome looking bloke wearing an Augusto Sandino t-shirt chatting with his poet girlfriend.

Visca Nicaragua! Visca Catalunya!

Carrer Progrés

And then to Carrer de Llibertat…

Skellies on Carrer Llibertat

5am: We finally called it a night and headed for bed.

Celebrations

Festes de Gràcia, 2017 in Barcelona

17th August 2017

Festes de Gràcia, 2017 — and we're off!

Day One:

8am: A group of eight of us assemble for coffee and pastries at La Corrala before setting off to Plaça de la Revolució de Septembre 1868 to catch the start of the parade which announces the start of the festes.

En route we caught a passing look of Carrer de Puigmarti.

Carrer de Puigmarti

8:38am: and the Trabucaires prepare to fire their very loud guns to launch the parade….

Trabucaires

And then…we were joined by…the Lord of the Flies himself…

Beelzebub

And, so to Plaça de la Vila — now transforned as The Little Prince square…

Plaça de la Vila during festes de Gràcia, 2017

While the morning correfoc reached a climax…

Then off to explore the streets…

Plaça Rovira i Trias

… picking up a few stragglers along the way. Now we were 10.

VW camper van in Carrer Providencia

But, before Carrer Verdi we lost two fainthearts. We were again 8.

Carrer de Puigmarti

After visiting every decorated street we wended a way home via Carrer Perill…

Carrer de Perill

…and a bar on Bailén before getting home for a shower, lunch and a nap.

6pm: And, four of us strolled out again to watch the cercavila.

Mean looking hombres from outta town looking to party

And here comes the T-shirt man…

…and the Castellers…

Castellers on Travessera de Gràcia and Torrent de l'Olla

11pm: And, so, after mazing and grazing around, and after choripans and empanadas at Plaça Joanic, the four of us ended up on Passeig Sant Joan to see A Contrablues and meet a few friends.

From the very first vibrato chords the band had all assembled in the palms of their sticky hands. A brilliant band who never fail to deliver.

A Contrablues on Passeig de Sant Joan

All in all a great day out in the 'hood.

Bones Festes!

Vila de Gràcia

Lively, radical, arty warren of fun and solidarity: Vila de Gràcia in Barcelona

8th April 2017

Map of Vila de Gràcia.

Vila de Gràcia, the heart of the district of Gràcia, is a warren of very strollable streets and inviting squares fringed with café-bars, craft, design and fashion stores, restaurants offering every kind of cuisine, cool bodegas, independent cinemas, music venues, theatres, art galleries, craft workshops, an excellent market, plus much, much more.

The neighbourhood is famed for its Festa Major in August, when hundreds of thousands of visitors cram the narrow streets to inspect the residents’ wonderfully inventive decorations.

Vila de Gràcia is also well-known for its political activism, with frequent protsts, meetings and direct action which occasionally provoke a heavy-handed response from the Mossos d’Esquadra’s Mobile Group (anti-disturbance police).

You could easily spend a whole month strolling and grazing around, stopping off at squares, window shopping and dancing ’til you drop, and never get its measure.

Graffiti

Breaking Bad’s Heisenberg in Barcelona

12th January 2017

Bryan-Cranston-graffiti-Gràcia-Barcelona-by-Bill-Sinclair.jpg

One of the many wonderful things about exploring Barcelona is happening across curious portraits of well-known, and not so well-known, people in unexpected places.

Here's a portrait of the actor, Bryan Cranston as Walter White — AKA Heisenberg — from the TV series, Breaking Bad, on Carrer de Rabassa in Vila de Gràcia.

Context

The graffiti is on a private garage door.

Walter White AKA Bryan Cranston, Gràcia, Barcelona by Bill sinclair

Enjoy discovering graffiti portraits in Barcelona

Celebrations

Festes de Gràcia, 2016 in Barcelona

15th August 2016

August 15th, 8:40am, Plaça de la Revoluciò de Setembre de 1868.

FESTES DE GRÀCIA, 2016

Time to start the party!

Older Posts

Gràcia

Barcelona's restaurants and bars offer a wide and wild variety of cuisines and creative dishes.

Even the most ardent foodie will confess that grazing on tapas and dining in fine restaurants is both wearing on the wallet and bruising on the palate.

When out and about there will come a time when you want something more ordinary… a tasty, light bite.

Well… you could grab a pizza.

Variety

Festes de Gràcia, 2019 — and we're off!

Agost 15, Day One:

Bones Festes!

Dreamlike park and hilltop views.

The small hillside barri, La Salut is one of the most visited neighbourhoods in Barcelona. Why? Gaudí’s Park Güell.

As well as the Park there’s the Gaudí House Museum situated within the Park, and the interactive Gaudí Experiència, with its 4D cinema-ride, at Carrer de Larrard, 41 on the approach to the Park.

It's a curious, residential barri and…

One of the many wonderful things about exploring Barcelona is happening across curious portraits of well-known, and not so well-known, people in unexpected places.

Here's another portrait of the singer, Amy Winehouse which appeared on Carrer Mozart in Vila de Gràcia during the Festes de Gràcia, 2017.

Context

Enjoy discovering graffiti in Barcelona.

Festes de Gràcia, 2017 — and we're off!

Day One:

Bones Festes!

The neighbourhood is famed for its Festa Major in August, when hundreds of thousands of visitors cram the narrow streets to inspect the residents’ wonderfully inventive decorations.

One of the many wonderful things about exploring Barcelona is happening across curious portraits of well-known, and not so well-known, people in unexpected places.

Here's a portrait of the actor, Bryan Cranston as Walter White — AKA Heisenberg — from the TV series, Breaking Bad, on Carrer de Rabassa in ​Vila de Gràcia.

Context

Enjoy discovering graffiti portraits in Barcelona

August 15th, 8:40am, Plaça de la Revoluciò de Setembre de 1868.

FESTES DE GRÀCIA, 2016

Here's a portrait of the actor, Bryan Cranston as Walter White — AKA Heisenberg — from the TV series, Breaking Bad, on Carrer de Rabassa in Vila de Gràcia.