Europe

[Visited: October 2001 and before]

Seen and be seen is an important ingredient in Meditterranean cultures. As a logical consequence of the pleasant climate, many villages and cities have areas where people go to have a walk, but also to just parade, to show off their newest fashionable clothes. For Barcelona, this area is the Rambla (which, in Catalonia, means nothing more or less than broad boulevard).
Inevitably, with the advent of tourism to Barcelona, the Rambla has changed from an area for locals to walk, to a boulevard where tourists mingle with Catalonians, where the inevitable international foodchains have their outlets, where you can buy lottery tickets after every fifty metres, or choose from one of the many newsstands for your latest international news. Bordering the Rambla is also a market where you can buy some of the hard to resist Spanish fruits, cheeses or meats.
Showing off apparently is not reserved for Meditterraneans. At least most European languages can be heard walking up or down the Rambla, and consequently the area is attractive for fortune tellers, people posing as statues, and selling all sorts of things. As soon as you walk off the Ramba the crowd dilutes into the Gothic quarter, the Plaza Catalunya and other areas of the city.

Around the World in 80 Clicks

Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Rambla (Spain). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Rambla.
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