The Cerdà Grid
Cerdà's 1859 Eixample plan was radical in ways that only became apparent over a century of use. The octagonal blocks were intended to have gardens in their interior courtyards; this was never widely implemented, but the chamfered corners at every junction created a system of small diagonal plazas that give the Eixample its distinctive airy feeling at intersections. Walking the grid is an experience of unusual visual rhythm: the repetition of the blocks contains enough variation — each building competing with its neighbours in height, ornament, and material — to prevent the monotony that a strict grid usually produces.
Casa Batlló and Casa Milà
The Passeig de Gràcia contains, on a single block known as the Manzana de la Discordia, three of the greatest Modernista buildings in Barcelona: Domènech i Montaner's Casa Lleó Morera, Puig i Cadafalch's Casa Amatller, and Gaudí's Casa Batlló — its façade of blue and green ceramic tiles and skulls and bones representing Saint George's dragon. A block north, Gaudí's Casa Milà (La Pedrera) is his most completely realised residential building, its undulating stone façade looking like something geological rather than constructed. Both require advance booking; the rooftop of La Pedrera at night is the recommended visit.
Vermouth and Tapas
The Eixample's bar culture is centred on the vermut — the pre-lunch vermouth ritual that Catalans observe on Sundays and increasingly on Saturdays with a seriousness bordering on the constitutional. The vermouth bars of the Esquerra de l'Eixample (the left Eixample, colloquially the Gayxample) are the best in the city: Morro Fi on Carrer del Consell de Cent, Bar Calders on Carrer del Parlament, and a dozen others nearby. Vermouth comes with anchovies, olives, and potato chips; it is consumed before noon and sets the tone for the rest of the day.
Staying in the Eixample
The Eixample is the most practical area in Barcelona to be based — central, well- connected by metro on every line, and filled with hotels at a range of price points. The blocks between the Passeig de Gràcia and the Diagonal are the quietest and most architecturally rewarding for walking. The grid makes navigation trivially easy: street numbers run in the same direction across the entire district, and the sea-mountain orientation (mar-muntanya) tells you which way is which at any intersection. Everything in central Barcelona is within walking distance or two metro stops.
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