When
I arrived off the train from Madrid I found that the hotel I had booked in
London had lost my reservation. So I was
standing in the middle of the street perplexed at what my next move might be. A
hotel, booked by phone lost my reservation other six months ago. But one thing
I could do is get down to the Turismo as soon as possible. So I had to sprint
down to the Turismo in the Placa de Catalunya and they fixed me up with a very
nice hotel.
It
was situated up in the Eixample (Expansion in Catalan) and was a few streets
away from the Placa de Catalunya. For about £20 a night I got a reasonable room
with bed and desk and use of a common room which was always buzzing with
international guests. But best of all were the free buffet breakfasts where I
could dine on pineapple juice, rolls, jamon and cereals and get to know the
other guests.
It was situated
only a few minutes’ walk from La Ramblas and near to the wide Gran Via des
Corts Catalanes where the entrance to the subway was situated near the
Universitat. The Eixample itself was beautiful. When 19th Century Barcelona
began to expand out of its Gothic quarter (Barri Gotic) it enabled new
architects (notably Gaudi) to experiment with modernism. The grand boulevards
are a pleasure to stroll with cars forced down avenues on either side and the
centre given over to pedestrian walkways with palm trees. Gaudis modernist
buildings are dotted all over the Eixample. There was a beautiful grey and
purple building on Passeig de Gracia which looked like a piece of
confectionary.
It was very
close to gay nightlife which was why I wanted this part of the world. First is
PUNTO which was high tech inside with Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s playing repeatedly.
It was finished by ‘METRO’ a mega club. The place was so packed it housed a
big dancefloor – plus around the corner a separate dancefloor for flamenco
dancers.
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