Downtown Barcelona is great. Sometimes, though, you get tired of the slick, international atmosphere and the neatly designed but overpriced restaurants.

Café-life in Poble Nou                                                                                       Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

Sometimes you feel like some genuine, Spanish neighbourhood-life; like a strong café solo at a shabby Manolo-bar while you listen to loud discussions about FC Barcelona’s latest match, labourers shouting obscenities at bypassing ‘señoritas’ and old women quarrelling with their dogs.

It’s quite easy to find. You just have to get away from the centre and head for ‘barrios’ like Poble Sec, Sants, Gracia or Clot.

Café-life in Poble Nou                                                                                      Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

For me the nearest choice is Poble Nou. Once known as ‘Catalan Manchester’ because of its many textile factories and as a stronghold for Barcelona’s anarchist movement this old working class neighbourhood is changing fast but still conserves its industrial charm.

The most interesting part is the one near the market and in particular the Rambla de Poble Nou, a semi-pedestrian street that gives you an idea of what the famous Rambla at the centre must have been like before it became permanently flooded with tourists.

There are several good bars around and a couple of brilliant restaurants. My favourite is called Barlovento, a small and economic tapasbar with a nice terrace facing the Rambla. Apart from the seafood you should also try the snails in spicy sauce and the blood sausage.
             
Barlovento, Rambla del Poble Nou, 21. Metro: Poble Nou.

Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 8.00 to 24.00 (kitchen closes at 23.00). Mondays closed. Metro: Poble Nou. 
 

La Central in the MacBa museum                                                Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

Pepe, an old friend from my Erasmus days in Granada, is one of the most devoted book readers I know. And when I a few months ago came across a Spanish translation of my favourite Danish novel – ‘The Fall of the King’ by Johannes V. Jensen – I bought it straight away and sent it to him.

A week later I received a long mail with a detailed analysis followed by Pepes final judgement: ‘Literatura de primera, macho! (First-class literature, mate!). Nothing like pushing a good book to a friend and see it appreciated.

Where did I find it? At ‘La Central’, off course, the best bookshop in town when it comes to fiction – Spanish, translated from just about any language or in English, French and Italian – and solid on non-fiction as well.

La Central in Raval                                                                 Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

There are three ‘Centrals’ in Barcelona – one of them specialized in artbooks and situated in the MacBa museum of contemporary arts – but I prefer the one in Raval. The contrast with this chaotic and multicultural neighbourhood near Ramblas is perfect when you step into the solemn quietness of the shop underlined by the fact that it is situated in a former church. It also has a nice bar where to have a first look at your new acquisitions having a beer or two.

One complaint. The section with Spanish literature translated into English is limited. In this case Come In at C/ Balmes 129 bis is a better choice.

La Central del Raval, c/ Elisabets, 6. Metro: Plaça Catalunya.

Go further: Read Francis' guide to his favourite book stores in Stockholm here.

It was movie director Isabel Coixet who first introduced me to Hotel Omm. During an interview I asked for her top 10 of things to do in Barcelona.

Eating a beef tatar with mustard ice cream at the then new hotel’s Restaurant Moo came in second on the list. A later visit proved the restaurant – one star in the Michelin guide – to be only part of the attractions.

Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

Omm is a five star luxury hotel but far from intimidating its lobby seems to drag you in from the street. Lounge area, bar and restaurant are all part of one enormous space that ends up in a large glass wall and views of bamboos and sculptures in the inner patio.

Upstairs the aisles are dark as in a cinema in order to make the contrast with the brightness of the rooms so much bigger. And it works. It may sound as a cliché but you actually feel almost at home.

The street side rooms have views of Barcelona’s shopping-Mecca, Passeig de Gracia. The ones facing the patio overlook a garden on top of the ground level space and a ‘plantation’ of Buddhist flags brought back from a staff excursion to Tibet.

The owners interest in eastern culture also shows in the large variety of Asian massage techniques offered at the wellness centre. But maybe you come even closer to Nirvana sitting in the pool at the rooftop-terrace with a drink beside you and interesting backside-views of Antoni Gaudí’s neighbouring La Pedrera-building.

Hotel Omm, C/ Roselló 265, Barcelona. Metro: Diagonal.         
 

The Catalan chef Ferrán Adrià is a genius no doubt. His revolutionary techniques and dishes have turned Barcelona into one of the world’s hotspots for haute cuisine. Only problem is that without a special invitation it may take years to get a table at his famous El Bulli-restaurant a good hours drive north of the city.

Photo by Thomas Wilhelm

While you wait along with the rest of us a good and quite a lot cheaper alternative is Santa María. Situated in the centric and flashy El Borne-neighbourhood this small restaurant offers creative but still recognizable tapas and, almost as important for me, an easygoing atmosphere without pretentious waiters babbling on for ages about every dish they serve.

Photo by Thomas Wilhelm

The chef ‘Crazy’ Paco Guzman has been through his ‘molecular kitchen’ period inventing tapas such as blue-mussels filled with sweet potato-cream and garneted with blood orange-foam. Nowadays most of his new ideas are simply imaginative combinations of products and flavours. An octopus and red beat salad, for example, or salmon-sushi stuffed with goat-cheese.

Photo by Thomas Wilhelm

You can have a go at eight tapas and three deserts for 33,5 euros including ‘las putas ancas de rana’ (the fucking old frog legs) as the menu card spells it out: An all time Santa María-classic that is served deep fried the Spanish way, crispy and delicious.

Santa María, C/Comerç, 17. Metro: Jaume I.

Open Monday to Saturdays from 13 to 16.00 and 20.00 to 24.00. Sundays closed.
 

Photo by Thomas Vilhelm 

I used to live in a small flat at La Barceloneta. During the recurrent heat waves of the Spanish summer it often got so hot that I had to sleep with my head out on the balcony to be able to breath. On nights like that the best idea was to get out of ‘bed’ and walk down to the nearby beach.

A smooth sea breeze would embrace me and I would sit down in the sand with a beer watching the anglers with their long poles or reading a book in the light from the lampposts until it got cold enough to sleep.

Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

Some people still mourn the traditional stall restaurants that covered the Barceloneta beach before the Olympic Games of 1992. I’m sure they were great but so are the four kilometres of playas left by the reforms and unmatched by any other European city.

Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

Also because beach life in Barcelona includes a lot more than the obvious swimming, sunbathing and ‘girlspotting’. You’ll see old men play domino, cards or a local variety of tennis hitting the ball directly with their hands. Others work out, fly kites, surf or play volleyball. And yet others prefer to watch it all from one of the many beach bars.

If you like swimming but hate sand try the sea baths at the northern end of the beaches.

Metro: Any station on the yellow line from Barceloneta to Selva de Mar.