Beyond Gaudi: Gothic quarter and shopping reign

If you've had enough of the architecture of Antoni Gaudi, where next in Barcelona?

The obvious choice is the Gothic Quarter, or Barri Gotic, a warren of old streets dotted with medieval architecture spreading around the cathedral.  Don't expect an architectural gem frozen in one time period like Bruges, or Venice.  The 18th and 19th century buildings have spread even here, and there are as many modern boutiques as historic tourist spots.  Overall, the area isn't as picturesque as you'd expect from the tourist guides.  Many walls are covered with graffiti, most of the stores were shuttered when we were there (Saturday morning) and the "street performers" have the unwashed, drug-wasted look of the homeless.  It's certainly a place to hold your belongings tight.  But you'll have plenty of photo opportunities as you spot an ornate bridge spanning a cobbled street, a tiny street chapel tucked between houses, a carved St. George on his dragon above the studded wooden door of a crenellated gateway or ornate tile murals framing ancient stone fountain basins.

Geese in the cathedral's tropical cloister

The star sight is the cathedral.  It's a classic, early gothic, cruciform-shaped building, most notable for its ornate side chapels.  Several, as with most Spanish cathedrals, show off the towering gilt altars that were the fashionable destination for so much pillaged American gold.  Beneath the raised main altar is the Romanesque crypt of the city's patron saint, Eulalia.  In the centre of the nave, standing almost like a building-within-a-building, is the early 16th-century choir.  It was home to the Order of the Golden Fleece, a club for the Habsburg elite; the rich wood carving and painted stalls boast of the glory of long-dead members.  A glass door shuts this off from the main body of the church, but don't let that discourage you.  If a guard is sitting there, she'll take a couple of euros off you and let you wander around.  We were seemingly the only tourists to figure this out, thus had a private viewing.  You can also pay a bit extra to go up on the roof, where the view isn't as dramatic as from the Sagrada Familia, but the vision of the Gothic Quarter's roofs framed by the ornate filagree of the cathedral's roofline is picturesque.

The most distinctive feature of the cathedral, however, is its cloister, where the typical square of pointed-arched, covered walkways looks over a most a-typical tropical garden housing a flock of 13 geese.  There are multiple theories as to the origin of this tradition.  Whatever the truth, today they're as much a tourist attraction as the ravens at the Tower of London or the ducks at Memphis' Peabody Hotel.

Shoe shopping in El Born

Wandering southeast, the Gothic Quarter runs into El Born, where the streets wind with equal charm, the architecture is just as interesting (if less flamboyantly Medieval), but natives outnumber tourists and we're back to a cool and fashionable vibe.  This is where we found our pick of the tapas bars (entry to come) and the most interesting shops.  You'll discover boutiques of quirky housewares and unusual gifts, workshops of local designers and craftspeople, the Picasso museum (we were out of time, but it looked fabulous), vintage shops and mini-markets of craft tents in small squares.  Given another day, we would have been back here.

Two other shopping experiences worthy of note are back on the more beaten tourist track.

Vincon is, without doubt, the coolest home decorating store I've ever browsed.  It fuses practicality (magnificent kitchen section, a whole candle department with stuff to buy and supplies to make your own, great storage solutions) with high design (swirling bookshelves to maximise space while turning books into art, leather chairs as sculpture, chandeliers as art installations) and quirky touches (tapas menu placemats or a porcelain rhino head for your wall?).  It's in a late-19th century mansion on the Gracia, and worth going just to ogle the interiors that have been preserved on the first floor.

The other is the Boqueria Market, which is absolutely the finest food market I've ever wandered through.  If you love food as much as I do, this should probably be your first stop.  Before Gaudi, before the Middle Ages.  If you want to know why this town is such a culinary capital, start here.  Which is a great place to start my next entry, as it's time to dig into the restaurant scene.