Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
others are frankly bonkers - like taxi-umbrellas or karaoke mop-microphones. All sorts of
gadgets are also available in the shop, but mostly, especially if you're under 10, you're going
to be begging for just one more go on the chute.
Plaça Reial and around
Liceu
Of all the old-town squares, the most popular with visitors is the elegant nineteenth-century
Plaça Reial
, hidden behind an archway, just off the Ramblas. Laid out in around 1850, the
Italianatesquareisstuddedwithtallpalmtreesanddecoratedironlamps(madebytheyoung
Antoni Gaudí), bordered by high, pastel-coloured arcaded buildings, and centred on a foun-
tain depicting the Three Graces. Taking in the sun at one of the benches puts you in very
mixed company - bikers, buskers, eccentrics and tramps, not to mention bemused tourists
drinking a coffee at one of the pavement cafés. It used to be a bit dodgy in Plaça Reial, but
most of the really unsavoury characters have been driven off over the years and predatory,
menu-toting waiters are usually the biggest nuisance these days. The surrounding bars and
restaurants are becoming increasingly more upmarket, but don't expect to see too many loc-
als until night falls.
On Sunday morning Plaça Reial hosts a long-standing
coin and stamp market
(10am-2pm). Otherwise, the arcaded passageways connecting the square with the surround-
ing streets throw up a few interesting sights, like the quirky
HerboristadelRei
(c/del Vidre;
closedMon),anearlynineteenth-century herbalist'sshop,whichstocksmorethan250medi-
cinal herbs designed to combat all complaints.
Carrer dels Escudellers and Plaça de George Orwell
The alleys on the south side of Plaça Reial emerge on c/dels Escudellers, where the turning
spits of grilled chicken at
Los Caracoles
restaurant make a good photograph.
Carrer dels
Escudellers
itself was once a thriving red-light street, and still has a late-night seediness
about it, but it teeters on the edge of respectability. Bars and restaurants around here attract
a youthful clientele, nowhere more so than those flanking
Plaça de George Orwell
, at the
eastern end of c/dels Escudellers. The wedge-shaped square was created by levelling an old-
townblock-afavouredtacticinBarcelonatoletinabitoflight-andithasquicklybecome
a hangout for the grunge crowd.
Carrer d'Avinyó
Liceu
Carrerd'Avinyó
,runningsouthfromc/deFerrantowardstheharbour,cutsthroughthemost
atmosphericpartofthesouthernBarriGòtic.Itusedtobeared-lightdistrictofsomerenown,
