| The city centre is the area comprising Plaça Catalunya, Portal de l'Àngel, Passeig de Gràcia and Plaça Universitat and adjacent streets. It has become the biggest shopping district in the city: full of shops, bars, street music and theatre, and lots of people strolling around. The main two meeting points in the area are: Café Zurich, located next to one of the South ends of Plaça Catalunya, and the Canaletes Fountain, right where the Ramblas avenue starts. Another meeting point, but just to relax, stroll and participate in outdoor social events is the Ciutadella park. A wide green area which hosts a great variety of species, both plants and birds, as well as the city Zoo. Formerly, the main gate of the park, an ancient fortress built by Philip the 5th, was the Arch of Triumph.
The Ramblas is a wide 3-pavement avenue, the one in the middle is boulevard-like full of trees. It starts at Plaça Catalunya and finishes at the Columbus monument. There we find the Canaletes Fountain, one of the city symbols and the celebration point of the FC Barcelona supporters whenever they do celebrate the teams' victories. Strolling around the Ramblas we can stop at the Boqueria Market. Your challenge: the market floor was designed by Joan Miró, can you find the tile signed by the famous painter? If we keep walking down the Ramblas, we will see the Gran Teatre del Liceu (the opera house). Its discreet façade does not correspond to the magnificence and sumptuousness of the inside. Gaudí also left his trace in this city area with the Palau Güell and the streetlamps of Plaça Reial, a square with arcades and uniform buildings as well as a meeting point, Sundays, for stamps and coins collectors. Before arriving to the Columbus monunment, we can visit the Wax Museum, located in a National Heritage building of historic and artistic interest, which includes 300 statures representing popular and historic celebrities. |
