By Maryalicia Post AN EYE ON TRAVEL Having it all: shopping and sightseeing in Barcelona
IN Barcelona there's no need to choose between serious sightseeing and serious shopping. The two go together like tapas and cava. Here are some ideas for organising your shopping so that the culture comes free.
For crafts, jewellery, and metal work:
The Poble Espanyol – "Spanish Village" - on the hill of Montjuic was constructed to house the Spanish crafts section of the 1929 World's Fair. Copies of buildings from all over Spain, picturesque in the extreme, make up the poble, which is now a veritable city of more than 40 crafts workers. You can visit their studios or simply buy their products in the central crafts market. The Fran Daurel Contemporary Art Collection, with more than 200 works, is also in the poble as are restaurants, souvenir shops, discos and clubs.
Closed Wednesday. Open other days at 9:00, closing at 20:00 on Mondays but not until midnight, or later, the rest of the week. Admission charge. Tel: 93 508 63 00
Avinguda Marques de Comillas
Further down the Avinguda is the Mies van der Rohe "German Pavilion." Also a feature of the 1929 World's Fair, the pavilion was the suitably impressive setting for the reception of King Alphonsus XIII by the German authorities. The original was dismantled after the Fair, but a replica was erected in 1986. It is the home of the famous ‘Barcelona Chair'.
Open daily from 10:00 to 20:00. Admission charge. Tel: 93 423 40 16
For designer clothing and
accessories:
Elegant clothes in an elegant area, high fashion shops are at home on the Passeig de Gracia where Gaudi himself designed the lampposts. There is shop after shop of clothing, interior design, and jewellery. And in their midst stands La Pedrera, one of Gaudi's most admired buildings. On the fourth floor you can visit a flat furnished in the style of the early decades of the 1920. On top is the most famous of Gaudi's roofscapes, a fantasy world of twisted columns and decorated chimneys.
La Pedrera – "the Stone Quarry" - is open daily, from 10:00 to 20:00. Guided tours in English at 17:30.
If you are in the market for designer leather, visit Barcelona's Branch of Spain's great "Loewe" shop, at Passeig de Gracia 35. The boutique is in one of the city's remarkable modernista buildings, the Casa Morera, by Domenech i Montaner. Baques jewellers is sited in another modernista masterpiece, the Casa Amattler, just two doors away.
Antiques:
You don't have to leave the Passeig de Gracia to browse in Barcelona's leading gallery of antiques and arts. No less than 73 dealers are congregated on "The Boulevard of Antique Dealers" at Passeig de Gracia 55-57. A wide variety of treasures here, from Miro lithographs to china dolls. A guarantee of authenticity accompanies your purchase.
Traditional pottery and glass:
For a dazzling selection, Art Escudellers, just off the Ramblas. "Escudellers," in Catalan, is synonymous with "ceramist." This shop is located on the street on which the potters' guild was once located. Representing potteries from all over Spain, some existing since the 15th century, Art Escudellers has two floors showcasing the ceramist's art. Artists in glass are represented too. They will arrange to ship glass and pottery anywhere in the world, fully insured.
Address: Carrer Escudellers 23-25
Tel: 93 412 68 01
While you're on the Ramblas, you can visit two major Barcelona landmarks: the Liceu Opera House and the Boqueria food market. The original 19th century Opera House at La Rambla 51-59 was destroyed by fire in January 1994. It has been beautifully restored and technically, considerably improved. A guided visit which includes the Hall, the Room of Mirrors, and the Foyer takes place at 10:00 each day, and there's an "express tour" at 11:00, 12:00, and 13:00 daily.
Tel: 93 485 99 00.
The Boqueria food market, housed in a 1914 glass and steel hall at Las Ramblas 91, is open 8:00 to 20:30, Monday to Saturday. You can buy everything from snails to sheep's heads and/or enjoy some of Barcelona's most authentic bar-restaurants.
Chocolates:
The first chocolate factory in Europe opened in Barcelona in 1780 and chocolates make a good souvenir of the city. Buy them at the Museu de la Xocolata, situated in the old Convent of San Augustin, and you will also have the unique opportunity of viewing a life-sized Gaudi made of chocolate, his Familia Sagrada in miniature, a model of a Roman chariot and other fantasies of the chocolate maker's art. There's a presentation of the history of chocolate from its discovery by the Mayans and Aztecs of North American to the present. The museum has a small cafe where you can linger over a coffee, or a cup of chocolate.
Address: Comerc 36.
Open every day except Tuesday from 10:00 to 19:00. Open on Sundays and holidays from 10:00 to 15:00.
Tel: 93 268 78 78.
