Barcelona

Don't get up.

Ah, the hell of all Spanish language learners who make a mistake of going there to practice the language. Catalans will eat you alive.

Love Barcelona: the best of Paris and Naples all rolled into a beautiful city.

You will have no problem whatsoever speaking spanish in Barcelona. Get out R2

The real problem with that city is it is stuck between mountains and the sea, and there really is no place left for it to grow. Also the property market is being ruined by hipster douchebags from the rest of the world buying appartments and leaving them empty 11 months a year. While wages went down like in the rest of Spain during the slump, rent price went up unlike everywhere else.

There's no difference between Catalan and Spanish. It's like going from New York City to London and demanding an interpreter.

Love Barcelona and Valencia. The coastal winds make those cities liveable, for me. Same with Lisbon, Portugal.....which is the best city to eat in if vegetarian or vegan, in my opinion.

R5 no té raó.

R5 is wrong. Rio and Buenos Aires would be a better comparison. The more frustrating part for Spanish speakers is that almost all signs are in Catalan, with Spanish being either secondary or absent. Usually, the general meaning of the sign can be inferred by those who read Spanish, but not always.

I was there for a few days, not even close to being pickpocketed, and capturing one possible con artist situation that was easily avoided (two women who may or may not have been genuinely lost tourists). The Gaudi mansion, or whatever it's officially called, was an overcrowded expensive tourist trap; I preferred the house of the chocolate magnate and his daughter on the same block.

If you know Spanish, and some basic French and Italian, it's pretty easy to read Catalan. (And Portuguese, for that matter.) But it's harder to understand it when it's spoken.

Be careful, OP.

Erna/MPC lives there.

She will swallow you into her cavernous mussy.

Is Catalonia a nation?

Pickpockets and muggers are ravenous. Be on guard

It is an autonomous part of Spain. If you want an analogy, I suppose Puerto Rico within the United States comes close, if Puerto Rico were a full-fledged state.

Sofia Coppola briefly made Paris beloved again by romantic millennial girls, but it's been over since the late 1980s. It is a dead city, few can afford to live in the centre, and the outer suburbs have little character beyond sterile or seedy.

LA has more life in it than Paris.

How many muslims?

Roma are everywhere.

As someone who lived in the USA 9 years (Chicago and LA) and now lives in BCN I find amusing to no end that americans think the place is crime ridden and dangerous. Compared to, fucking where in America?

R17, any good recommendations for restaurants? I'm visiting next month and staying near Placa Catalunya. Thanks!

Oh, but I just thought you might want something fine

Made of silver or of golden

Either from the mountains of Madrid

Or from the coast of Barcelona

In most of New York and Los Angeles, anywhere tourists are likely to go, you really aren't that likely to be shot or stabbed or mugged. On the other hand in Barcelona, if you take your eyes off any possessions for more than a second, a Gypsy is going to swipe it.

Yup. Barcelona is my least favorite Spanish city. It's an international port city and could really be anywhere. Except for all the Roma. At any moment you could be pick pocketed by either an adult or a swarm of criminal children. And leave your jewelry at home. Barcelona is a dump. Go any place else.

R18.. So many great places. My favorite is Dos Palillos (unique food experience). Can Mano in Barceloneta has great seafood (no bookings so get there when it opens).

Thanks, R22!

"Same with Lisbon, Portugal.....which is the best city to eat in if vegetarian or vegan, in my opinion."

What? I thought the Portuguese put salt cod and pork in literally everything.

I do honestly think that the insane idiots talking about swarms of gypsyes and fearing for your every possesion if you as much as set foot on the street have never ever in their stupid rotten lives set foot on Barcelona, but then again this is an anon board so whatever.

To be honest, I'm out when I visited Barcelona last year there was nary a pickpocket in sight. However, if you Google it there are legions of stories of tourists who have been robbed.

I was in Barcelona many years ago. No gypsies to worry about but at night time the junkies came out like the undead and were everywhere in the Barri Gòtic. You had to watch out that you didn't step on a used syringe. I liked the rickety open top cable cars the most. Not for those who suffer from vertigo.

I'd really like to visit.

Anyone here been who can tell me about the food?

That would be my main reason for going.

R28 types fat.

Liked Barcelona but LOVED Madrid! Food and wine good in both cities and a great value. Barcelona overrun with tourists as many companies have left because of the Catalan language rule. Everyone in Barcelona was eager to practice their English so no problem there (my husband is fluent in Spanish so also no problem). But I would live in Madrid in a heartbeat-- very civilized, beautiful city. People were great though in both cities.

[R30] here again: watch out for the "pigeon scam" in Barcelona. We were sitting at an outdoor table having drinks and a man (who had been loitering for a while and looked like an Anglo tourist) came over and pointed to the top of the building near us and said, "I think the pigeon just shat on your table." We never looked up, smiled and didn't respond, and he finally walked away. This, apparently, is common there.

I am fat, R29 - but I still want to hear about the food!

Any special dishes I should order?

Dust

The rule that applies in Barcelona, as in the rest of Spain, is that if a place is crammed with foreigners and few to no locals, you better search somewhere else.

What do they do, R31? Steal your food?

Can you just carry a baton and beat the shit out of any potential pickpockets? I think it's a great idea.

Try Tregaluz-- excellent food-- and Paco Meralda for tapas.

R24 They seem to have embraced veg/vegan food as a viable option. Lots of use of micro proteins. Seitan is widely used as a meat alternative. There are great extensive vegan buffets that are very high quality and incredibly reasonable in price. And often great restaurants to spend any evening in, if you desired. For food, Lisbon would be my favourite!

*an evening in....*

[quote]For food, Lisbon would be my favourite!

Admittedly, I didn't eat vegan, but I found Portuguese food to be universally awful. It was a shame because I loved the country otherwise.

El català és una llengua de transició entre les llengües iberoromàniques i les llengües gal·loromàniques, encara que antigament fos molt pròxima a l'occità, amb qui comparteix origen i grup: l'occitanoromànic.

People there are not particularly nice or warm. I found them almost rude

Barcelona

So you said

And Madrid

Bon voyage

On a Boeing

It is said that Haiku doesn't work as well in English as it does in Japanese.

Not a haiku. It's Sondheim.

R30 do Catalans respond warmly to native English speakers? Of course one would assume it's best to speak as much Catala as you can while there, but do locals appreciate this and indulge you? And how do they characterise and (stereotypically) view English speakers more generally?

I went there on a cruise in the middle of summer. There were two other cruise ships in port that same day. EVERYTHING was really crowded, so I didn't get a chance to see as much as I would've liked, but I'd definitely go back.

Handsome men, perfectly intact.

R48 Iove the guys there that are more slender, especially the ones with olive skin & dark-eyes. Somehow they've got something special over other European men.

R49. It's called sex appeal.

There are some hotties on FC Barca's squad rn. Denis Suarez is very cute, he's 22 and plays midfield.

R51 But does he play for OUR team?

Sondheim song lyrics R44.

I hope that guy from CNN who went there wasn't inspired by us and traveled there to his death!

Has anyone ever gotten a chance to see any of the Spanish Legion? God, those men are fine!

Unlike most military uniforms, the Spanish Legion tropical uniform can be worn open at the chest.

R19 Hey I was just listening to that song!

It seems that Paris is completely left out of the discussion in this thread.

R55 R56 How can I catch Spanish Legionnaire's Disease?

Hit the showers at their barracks r58 and tell them to lay it on you....look at those thighs on R55...

Wear your Polisario t-shirt. Will get them on your ass in no time.

You may hear it compared to London these days, which is not flattering if you know the London of today. Nowadays people say it's becoming as segregated, commercialised, hostile and chilly as the British capital...

Surely Barca is better, though. At least she has finer weather, finer guys wandering around, and better football clubs. If Barca isn't the go-city in Spain anymore, then where to go to avoid the tourists & the big corporations?

I walked the Camino De Santiago De Compostella from France into Spain a few years ago. Having a few days free before flying home after reaching my destination, I chatted in a bar to an Italian of whether I should go to Madrid or Barcelona.

"Madrid", he assured me.

"I was going to choose Barcelona", I replied.

"No. Madrid. Barcelona - is lika Naples"