1. At the fountains of Montjuic (close to Plaça Espanya), there is a water, light, and music show Thursday to Sunday, every half hour between 9.30 and 11 PM
2. There are a lot of supermarkets in the neighborhood. Caprabo is just a bit up Av. Mistral, Consum is a bit up Entença, and Bon Preu is down Av. Mistral a couple blocks. Bon Preu is bigger and has more selection. Día, down Av Mistral and then up Rocafort on the left, is the cheapest. Autoservicio Navarro, across the street from Bon Preu, has a good selection of wine and cava, and is not a chain store – so it has a bit more local flavor. Super Fresc, around the corner (towards Paral.lel) on Entença, is open late and Sundays, and has reasonable prices for a convenience store. L’Hort d’Av. Mistral, just down the street a couple buildings, and another green grocer’s just around the corner from that, are the best place for fresh fruit and vegetables.
3. The Sant Antoni Market, more or less at the end of Av. Mistral, is worth a sightseeing visit, but is also a good place to get fresh food. (Because of renovation work, right now it is being housed in temporary structures in the middle of Ronda Sant Pau.) It also has an interesting used book, CD, and DVD market on Sunday mornings, but keep an eye – or a hand – on your wallets and bags! (That’s generally good advice just about any place in Barcelona. The violent crime rate is low for a big European city, but you’d be surprised at how quickly unattended stuff can disappear. Be on the alert also for people who try to distract you from keeping an eye on your stuff.)
4. The closest Metro stops are Poble Sec (Green Line – L3) and Rocafort (Red Line – L1), and there a lot of buses on Gran Vía.
5. The apartment has wifi access, but if you need an Internet café, the closest is Futureland, about a block and a half away at C/ Floridablanca, 54-58.
6. Neighborhood restaurants that we like: · La Pulpería A'Gudiña – around the corner at Paral.lel and Entença. Excellent gallego-style tapas. Difficult to get a table after 9 PM weekends. · Lolita Taperia – C/ Tamarit 104 – a classier, more voguish tapas place. · Market – C/ Comte Borrell 68 – the same owners as the more famous Quinze Nits and La Fonda, it has good, cheap Catalan food in a very pleasant atmosphere. Reservations needed on the weekend (93 289 0130). · Racó de L’Agüir – Tamarit 117 – a bit pricey. Catalan and Spanish food. · La Bella Napoli – C/ Margarit 12 (down Paral.lel a few blocks) – great pizza and good Italian food. · Jardin Rosa – Av. Mistral, 54. Very good and very cheap Chinese food · Volubilis – Av. Mistral and Tamarit (Tamarit 151). Good, cheap Middle Eastern food · For the inevitable Spanish paella, we have 2 recommendations, both outside the neighborhood. Elche, down Paral.lel at Vila Vilà 71 (93 441 30 89) has the better paella. La Mar Salada, in Barceloneta on Pg. Joan de Borbó 58-59 (93 221 21 27), has the more typical seaside atmosphere.
7. Neighborhood bars that we like: · Rocafort XIX – at the corner of Rocafort and Tamarit. Good (and pricey) cocktails · Where Av. Paral.lel, Ronda Sant Pau, and Carrer de Sant Pau meet, there’s a good row of bars for a nighttime drink. · Tres Tombs – where Ronda Sant Pau and Ronda San Antoni meet – a traditional and famous place in the neighborhood, it’s an OK place for coffee, tapas, or a drink from morning to late night.
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