Sleeping
Posted May 20th, 2008 by jbaljkoHotel Constanza
So, you want to chill out and curl up on a comfy bed after a day at the beach or hours of jumping on and off the Bus Turístic? Hotel Constanza, located a few blocks from Plaça Catalunya off Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, may have what you're looking for. Its spacious lobby area is an ideal place to catch your breath, and elegant touches of sangria red accents and dark wood tones create a soothing, relaxing vibe in its rooms.
Hotel Constanza opened in 2004 with 14 rooms on two floors of a charming modernist building in L'Eixample Dreta. Following the trend-setters in the Barcelona hotel scene who are frequently converting old turn-of-the-20th-Century edifices into choice accommodations, the hotel went through a significant renovation and expansion in early 2008. It updated the look of its common areas, added a restaurant and expanded to 44 rooms on five floors. The rooms are equipped with full bathrooms, air conditioning and heating, telephone, TV., mini-bar, Internet connection, and even optional background music.
Eating
Posted April 11th, 2008 by jbaljkoCafe Laie
Need some down time after criss-crossing the city? Take a breather at Cafe Laie, and pick up a book while you're at it.
The café-bookstore combo is the perfect place to kick back, sip a cafe con leche (coffee with milk), have a hearty lunch, read the local papers or grab that novel you'll need for the plane ride home. Downstairs is a book shop, stocked mostly with Spanish and Catalan titles, but you'll find a small, decent selection of English tomes on the front shelves. Upstairs, you can hang out in the café section or chat with the bartender at the bar. In the back, there are more tables and a outside terrace for a longer sit-down affair. If you're staying for lunch, check out the better-value Menu of the Day, which often includes a first and second course with dessert. In the evenings, you may stumble on some local music performances or "Jazz with Dinner" events. The Web site should have some more information, although it's currently only Spanish or Catalan.
Eating
Posted April 11th, 2008 by jbaljko4Gats
There are places in Barcelona where the city's vibrant history oozes from nearly every wall, window and cup of coffee. One of those places is 4Gats in the old part of town. Tucked in a Barri Gòtic alley off Avinguda del Portal de l'Angel, the 4Gats (also written as Els Quatre Gats) was the place where artists, architects, musicians, poets and Bohemians ate, drank and exchanged ideas about the day's news, politics and the modernist art movement that swept through Barcelona in the early 20th Century.
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