10 Tips to keep you sane during Barcelona Lockdown
So whilst bars and restaurants and our usual indulgent spots may be closed for the foreseeable future, here’s some survival tips from some fellow locked down Barcelona strugglers to the next.
Hike Up To The Bunkers For Sunset
Need to clear your head and move your body? The answer is probably yes (even if you don’t feel like it), and the solution is a walk to the Bunquers de Carmel. For whoever doesn’t already know this local gem it’s the perfect sunset spot with panoramic views all over the city. It’s a fair hike – even when you cheat and take the metro to one of the nearby stations and eliminate most of the incline – but the perfect excuse to tone your butt and drag yourself into shape for summer 2021, when we’re allowed out to play again.
Hit Up The Instagram Hotspots
Make the most of the city’s Insta spots being tourist free, as this has never happened in the history of hashtags. Barcelona right now is officially an Influencers dream. Some of the most photographed streets in the world are empty and free for posing the days away, so if you’re a travel blogger lusting mournfully over Skyskanner grab your camera and take to the local streets. Ultimate Insta destinations such as Casa Battlo, Casa Milo and the Arc de Triomphe are now deserted, now’s the time for the money shot.
Picnic – Anywhere, Everywhere
So whether you’ve been in Barcelona for a couple of days, weeks or years you’ll be fully aware that people here love to picnic. With restaurants forced into closing their doors again, we have to get more adventurous with our dining locations. Either make your own delicious snacks or keep supporting local businesses with their take-away options. Parc Ciutedella? Parc Guell? Barceloneta? Get adventurous and drag them up Montserrat? Wherever you choose to picnic, the possibilities are endless.
Street Art
Barcelona is home to some of the world’s hottest street artists and pandemic or no pandemic, it’s there and free for all to see. On every corner there’s a new abstract piece of art brightening up the street and ready to take your mind off the end of the world as we know it. Take the long walk home through the Gothic Quarter and see an iconic fusion of historical buildings and contemporary art. This is the heart of the street art scene but the chaos and colour is seen all over the city. Poblenou is another up and coming neighbourhood full of confronting street art to keep you inspired. The list goes on but If museums and galleries have to close their doors again, remember the streets have it all – plus it’s completely free.
Revel In The Online Dating World
Most of us awkward humans rely on a crammed bar and at least 7 drinks to attempt to seduce a beautiful local. This lockdown life is making it much harder to meet people authentically so dating apps it is. You know how this one works in a normal climate – a 5 minute chat and a meet up for a drink etc etc. REMEMBER We can still date without bars. Take a bottle of wine and head out for a romantic picnic in the park or sunset drinks at the beach, get creative with your dating. Plus if we get to the point we can’t leave the house again, indulge in some full blown virtual romance and set yourself up for disappointment when the world re-opens.
Pick up Ingredients at La Boqueria + Cook Up A Storm
We’re so used to grabbing food out in true city lifestyle in one of the thousands of delicious spots, we forget we can cook up a storm in the kitchen ourselves. Head to the famous La Boqueria Market for an authentic experience full of bright colours, delicious smells and the chaos of Catalan life. This is the best spot in the city to stock up on fresh ingredients before taking on the chefing world.
Winter Beach Hangouts
So it may not be the middle of summer, but remember we don’t live in the UK. There’s still plenty of sunny days to head down to the beach with a few beers and feel less sorry for ourselves. The water may be verging on a bit chilly now but Barcelona is still the perfect spot for a game of beachfront volleyball, a picnic and a people watch.
Plan your next trip
Rainy Day? Spend it relentlessly planning the sweet escape. If you’ve done everything else above repeatedly for the past six months and are now losing the will to live, why not put your time into thinking about the future? I think how much better thought out your 2021 travel plans are going to be – and how much more you’re going to appreciate them.
Get Out Of The City
So although it’s easy to resign ourselves to mournfully roaming the city streets wishing things would open we strongly advise leaving the city. We can’t travel abroad but remember we’re in the heart of Catalonia and it has so much more than just Barcelona to offer. There’s the mountains of Montesrrat just behind the city, Costa Brava up the coast and Sitges and beyond to the south. So during these blissful days of freedom whilst we are still allowed to leave the house, jump on a train or rent a car and experience life whilst the city sleeps.
