THE WINTER LIST BARCELONA, SPAIN
around in costume as if someone’s shooting
a superhero movie. Further up the road,
the crowds filter into the narrow passageways
of the Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter), where the
ancient stonework seems to echo with the ghosts
of revellers from centuries past.
6PM Some of tonight’s merrymakers are
heading for relaxed spots such as the Antic
Teatre, with its secluded courtyard where
chattered conversation and clouds of cigarette
smoke mix under the big fig tree. Others are on
their way to upmarket cafés such as Els Quatre
Gats, where Picasso once held his debut solo
show. Still more are heading down towards
Barceloneta, the old harbour district, which
teems with local dive bars such as Bar Leo, with
its cheap plastic cups of beer, its noisy jukebox
and its walls covered with photographs and
newspaper clippings of the Sevillian singer
Miguel Vargas Jiménez. Between the Barri Gòtic
and Barceloneta stands one of Barcelona’s most
idiosyncratic haunts. La Xampanyeria is the
- The late night
crowd at Bar
Marsella - Bar Marsella
in all its dusty
glory - The streets of
the Barri Gòtic - Absinthe just
as Hemingway
would have
enjoyed it
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