The Spanish city of Barcelona sits on the Iberian Peninsula, 100 miles from the French border, and just a few steps from the Mediterranean Sea. With its roots reaching back into pre-history, the hands of many cultures have shaped Barcelona. But it was the Catalan spirit that created something truly unique. In Barcelona, everything you see, taste, reach out and touch every detail is an expression of Catalan creativity. For this is more than just a city, Barcelona is a dream.And just like our dreams,

Barcelona is sometimes chaotic, often intense, and always, always seductive. The dream begins in the city’s heart, in Placa de Catalunya. Follow the gaze of Barcelona’s luminaries and legends, along avenues where iron, tile and stone melt together in a sensual dance. To the South, drift with the sea of souls down La Rambla, which the poet Lorca called, “the only street in the world I wish would never end.” But beware, the busyness of La Rambla makes it a dream for pickpockets too.




To the north, glide up Passeig de Gracia, a boulevard lined with creations by some of the giants of the Art Nouveau and Modernista movements. But it’s not = just the city’s main avenues that lull the senses into a divine stupor; Barcelona’s side streets and alleyways are often rabbit holes into the sublime. And when the Mediterranean sun turns up the heat, cool off in one of the many plazas and let the city come to you. Barcelona is a dream shaped by the past. Lose yourself in the old town, Barrio Gotico, where each turn reveals some new layer of the city’s 2000 year-old history. Pass through the Roman towers, which guarded the city when it was known in ancient times as Barcino.

Just beyond, Barcelona Cathedral, a Catalan-gothic masterpiece 600 years in the making rises from the ruins of a roman temple. While a few streets away, visit Saint Mary of the Sea, a spiritual safe harbor for generations of seafarers. Barcelona is a city that has forever looked to the sea. High above Port Vell stands Christopher Columbus, the intrepid mariner Catalonians proudly claim as one of their own. Nearby, set sail on your own voyage of discovery in the medieval dockyards. Though the sound of shipbuilding faded long ago, the Maritime Museum preserves the glorious echoes of Barcelona’s sea power throughout the days of sail.

Nearby in the old general stores, explore the Museum of the History of Catalonia, a portal into the daily lives, nightmares, and aspirations of Barcelonans across the centuries. If Barcelona is a dream, it is dream set to music. Music is everywhere on the streets, in flamenco bars, and clubs. For this is a city whose soul is laid bare in the stirring laments and pounding heartbeat of song. This passion reaches its crescendo in the Palace of Catalan Music,

where even the statues, intoxicated by the joy of music, burst from the very walls. Just off La Rambla a different kind of theatre awaits. La Boqueria began as a goat market in the 13th century. Today, it’s the place to sample delicacies from across Catalonia, such as jamon from forest-roaming pigs, fattened to perfection on herbs and acorns. Wherever hunger strikes in Barcelona, a tapas bar is just a few steps away. For like everything they do, Catalans have turned the humble snack into an art form.