Streets of Barceloneta at First Glance

After walking along the waterfront, I briefly ventured into the streets of Barceloneta. The coastal areas of the district are full of cafes and restaurants specializing in seafood dishes. The food here is good and the prices are reasonable, with the exception of some world-famous restaurants. I went to the embankments of Barceloneta, had lunch in one of the cafes in Antono Lopez Square. While waiting for the order, I read the guidebook and found that I was too hasty with the choice of a place for lunch. Moral - read the guide TO!.

Barceloneta is an area with a regular rectangular layout and very dense buildings with tall houses and narrow streets. The architecture is quite bleak and these streets look rather gloomy, reminiscent of the slums of the Bronx and Harlem from crime noir films.

And the huge number of clothes hung out for drying makes you remember the neighborhoods of Naples, where tourists are not recommended to go. Before the Olympics, Barceloneta was a crime-ridden sewer, but now it is a relatively safe area, popular with multinational bohemians.

Everything here looks somehow homey, the area gives the impression of a large communal apartment. Yes, in fact, it is true - the inhabitants of Barceloneta have long lived as one community, with their own traditions and way of life, the main feature of which was cohesion and simplicity of relations.

The density of buildings and lack of greenery is compensated by the fact that all the streets abut on beaches, and clean sea air blows through the quarter.

The narrowness of the streets is partially compensated by balconies that are used for storing bicycles.

On Christmas Eve, many doors are decorated with traditional wreaths with Christmas paraphernalia.

There are also sovemennaya houses with large windows and loggias.

Such development prevails in the northern part of the quarter, where previously there were many semi-rusty factories serving the needs of the port. In the process of preparing for the Olympics, these enterprises were closed and demolished.

But the most interesting buildings were those of the Art Nouveau era. There are not many hotels in Quaratla, but they are real masterpieces of architecture. In the future, this will be discussed in more detail.

A Chinese shop that sells all sorts of souvenirs and electronic junk at a reasonable price. Looking ahead, I will say that this shop was very useful to me the next day...In the evening, my phone charger exploded, and it was on Christmas Eve and there was no hope of buying a new one, the shops were closed. So I came here this morning, knowing that the Chinese have their own ideas about holidays. And I wasn't wrong. However, when I returned to the center in the evening, when the Gothic streets were filled with idle people, I found almost all the shops there open.

In the heart of the quarter is a huge square, a large open space that contrasts sharply with the surrounding cramped buildings and streets.

The reason for this is simple: there were the most terrible slums here, which were demolished, and the site was turned into a public space. There is a shopping complex of original architecture, a parking lot and a small park.

It was almost dusk and a light rain was beginning to fall, so here I finished my first walk in Barceloneta. For tomorrow I have planned a detailed acquaintance with this colorful quarter.