Categories
Architecture

Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau

Yes, it is a hospital, but one that will make you rethink what hospitals should actually look like. Built in the early 1900s, Hospital de la Sant Pau is architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner’s most important work (though we love the Palau de la Música Catalana as well), and functioned as a hospital until as recently as 2009.

What is now the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site is home to a number of workspaces for entities focused on social impact, as well as being a showcase for Montaner’s modernista vision. It’s well worth the visit, and pleasantly uncrowded compared to La Sagrada Familia, which you can see from its entrance.

It is one of my top five alternatives in Barcelona for people wanting to avoid the tourist crowds.

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Categories
Art & Museums

CaixaForum

Housed in a fascinating modernista factory across the road from the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, CaixaForum is now a gallery owned by La Caixa bank. CaixaForum offers touring exhibitions (some better curated than others), and entrance prices that are hard to resist – the better ones will set you back around €5. It’s an excellent almost-off-the-tourist-map choice.

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Categories
Casual/tapas

Eldiset

Interior of El Diset wine bar in El Born

In an area brimming with wine bars, Eldiset is always busy, which should tell you something. The focus is on Catalan wines, and the staff will help you find something to suit your tastes – it helps that there are four choices each of whites and reds by the glass as well as a couple of cavas. The food arguably plays second-fiddle to the wines, though the cheese platter is pretty good.

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