Catalunya is terrific! (Barcelona area for those without passports). Barcelona itself used to be a garbage pit while Madrid was a gem. Madrid has not changed much with a visit to the Prado museum and dinner at Zalacain (4/5) for foie gras lasagna still the thing to do after 20 years. Barcelona on the other hand has cleaned up considerably. The Olympics helped clean up the port with the Arts hotel in the middle as one of the best hotels in Europe (the world?). The beach that then stretches over to the port is a wreck but some new construction on the tip will hopefully be a positive. Curling into the harbor you get Rambla del Mar which is an 8 year old commercial development that gets a 7/10. Not bad at all. Throw in all of the culture with Gaudi, Miro, Picasso, tapas in the old town and dozens of great new restaurants and an epic traditional restaurant – Botefumeiro (5/5) and Barcelona is on the move. GSM just moved their mobile phone conference (50k visitors) to Barcelona from Cannes so the continued rise of Barcelona is certain. It will be under construction for 20 more years but buy real estate now. Rich folk buy in percalves but I would buy in the old town!
Down the coast 30 minutes is Sitges known as a gay community but it looked incredibly diverse to me. Lot’s of restaurants a beautiful fort and beautiful beaches makes this another place to buy!
Up the coast 1 hour is S’Agarro. Wow! There is a 1 mile millionaires row where you can walk on a rustic path between the $10 million mansion and the craggy coast with beautiful ocean crashing all around. I struggle to think of more desirable real estate any where in the world. Carmel? The houses are too big. Naples? No. Porto Cervo Sardegna? No I think this is it. Any challengers?
What else? Cadeques, the Dali triangle, El Bulli, the second best restaurant in the world…go soon.
no but if you recommend it...I will be going soon!
Posted by: | September 02, 2006 at 03:35 PM
It looks like you did enjoy your visit to Barcelona. Do you know a small Resto called Can Ravell?
Posted by: Joan | August 16, 2006 at 05:52 PM