If you happen to find yourself halfway across the world in mid-August, preferably with a sense of adventure and an affinity for insomnia, I'd advise heading to Barcelona and joining in on the annual revelries of the Gràcia Fest. Every August from the 15th to the 21st, Catalans return from their luxuriously long summer vacations and the small barrio of Gràcia plays host to one of the most vibrant neighborhood festivals in Europe.
The Gràcia Fest is basically a hyperbole of a block party- events and feasts are scheduled all throughout the day, live music persists every night until dawn, and outdoor bars and their patrons make it impossible to cross even the smallest square in under ten minutes. Every year, over a million people flood the narrow streets of Gràcia to gawk and to party until literally flooded out by street cleaners in the morning...
Read the rest of: "Gràcia Fest"»  An unfortunate foray was made by yours truly into Roses, in response to its overly simplistic bus connection to Figueres - a mistake that will not be made again. This beach town on the Costa Brava has a lovely name, and a long and lovely sand beach, and little else of charm.
It is for the most part a package-holiday paradise for French pensioners and young families, with newly built condominiums dotting the shoreline, and many more sprouting nearby. In effect, it is exactly the opposite of what I look for a in a coastal escape...
Read the rest of: "Nothing's Coming Up Roses"»
To really enjoy Barcelona - without a doubt, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe - you will be better off steering clear of tourist traps and high-traffic areas. Some landmarks, however, are a "must see"...
Read the rest of: "Gaudí's Barcelona"»
Somewhat inaccessibly located on the Costa Brava, this small fishing town is the perfect escape from the heat of Spain's major cities, a place to dally for days on end. Some hippies have been dawdling here for decades, and their presence keeps the town from developing into a full-blown designer village, à la Martha's Vineyard or the Hamptons. I can imagine this place becoming a more obscure "south of France" for celebrities, and get the sneaking suspicion that some of the hippies fishing off the rocks might in fact be celebrities incognito.
Cadaqués is famous for being Dalí's home, but my husband and I came for the beaches and stayed for the food and the slightly off-kilter atmosphere...
Read the rest of: "Dallying with Dalí in Cadaqués "»  While the rest of you are out scoping out scenic bus tours of Barcelona and bronzing on the city beach, please excuse me, 'cause I'll be at the fish market getting back to my Mediterranean roots.
In fact, for me, this place is the only reason to go to Las Ramblas. With 7 kinds of shrimp, live lobsters crawling off tables, hundreds of crazy-looking fish and creatures I don't even recognize, I will be entertained for hours. Thank Neptune (or his Spanish twin Neptuno) we have rented an apartment with a hot plate - now I won't have to go away empty-handed. (Because I would rather eat a raw flounder than leave without buying something. Yes, thank Neptune indeed for that hot plate!)...
Read the rest of: "The Seafood Side of Spain"» 
Fondue in Barcelona? Well, why the hell not? That's what we said when after a five-minute deliberation involving counting dining patrons and talking to a kitchen employee on a cigarette break, we decided to "go for it".
Apparently approving of our decision, the ultra-modern glass door slid away automatically, and with that we stepped inside "GADES"...
Read the rest of: "Fondue'ing at Gades in Barcelona"» 
When I am at the beach, things that would usually irritate me - communal showers, peeling paint, strange creatures found bedside- take on a certain charm. All I want after a day in the sun is be lulled to sleep by the surf and feel a slight sprinkling of sand between the sheets. And so I like the Hostal Cristina, a simple but adequate hotel by the water's edge in Cadaqués (a small town on Spain's Costa Brava).
Read the rest of: "Hostal Cristina, Cadaqués"»
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