After spending two weeks in arty, alternative Gràcia it’s now my favourite Barcelona barrio. Predominantly a working class area, its residents are largely university students, artists, musicians, and designers, which explains the abundance of art galleries, boutiques, ateliers, and music stores that line the narrow lanes. It’s a living breathing neighbourhood with plenty to do if you like eating, drinking, shopping, and hanging out in cafés, bars, and sunny squares. It’s a good fifteen-minute walk to Plaça de Catalunya, although you can catch the underground train and it’s faster, but this means you’ll rarely see a tourist in Gràcia, which is what I like most about it. It’s not far from posh L’Eixample, where there are chic shops and some of Barcelona’s best restaurants, and it’s close to Park Güell, which is a short hike (or bus ride) up the hill.

Google map: bit.ly/jjAPGY

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The long, skinny street of Calle Verdi in Gràcia is dotted with cheap eateries and interesting bars. The restaurants are mainly Arabic (Egyptian, Syrian and Lebanese) although there’s also a smattering of Japanese and the odd other ethnic eatery, from Mexican to Chinese. There are a handful of squares and each one seems to be lined with small bars that hum with the chatter of friends late at night. Locals head here around 9pm to eat although the bars don’t start happening until after midnight.

Calle Verdi, Gràcia
Google map: bit.ly/lTCrbU

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Barcelona is a terrific city for shopping, but I find the elegant old exteriors of the stores with their marble façades with gold lettering easily as interesting as what’s inside. You’ll find the highest concentration of historic shopfronts in the Barrio Gótico (Gothic Quarter) and El Born, with a smattering in Eixample and Gràcia. My favourites are the pastry shop La Colmena, dating to 1928; the nougat shop La Campana, which opened in 1890; the pastry and chocolate shop Pastisseria Escriba, renovated in 1902; the knife store Ganiveteria Roca, dating to 1911; the hat store Sombrereria Obach, which opened in 1924; and the candle shop Subira Cereria, founded in 1761. And of course they all have beautiful things inside to look at too.

Wander around the Barrio Gótico (Gothic Quarter), El Born, Eixample and Gràcia.

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Most guidebooks will tell you to avoid certain parts of Barcelona during afternoon siesta when everything is closed, but for me this is the best time to wander around the neighbourhoods of Ribera-El Born, Barrio Gótico (Gothic Quarter), Raval, and Gràcia, when the shops and bars are closed and their shutters have been pulled down, because many are decorated with striking street art. While some view street art as graffiti, it’s actually not at all in this case – the owners of the stores actually commission Barcelona’s street artists to paint their shutters and garage doors. If you like what you see, head to the Montana Gallery and shop to learn more about the scene.

Carrer Comerç, 6 08003 Barcelona
(+34) 932 680 191
www.montanagallerybarcelona.com/
Google map: bit.ly/msG2DH

A good site on Barcelona's street art: www.bcngraffiti.com/

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The creative Catalan cuisine that you find in Barcelona makes the city one of the world’s best dining destinations. Not only is the food inventive, it’s also terrific value for the fine quality. You just don’t find food this innovative and affordable in New York, Paris or London. The most experimental and most affordable food can be found in the tiny ‘bistronomic’ restaurants where you can get superb tasting menus that you’ll want to savour. The most representative of this genre and my favourite is Cinc Sentits by talented chef Jordi Artal; his sommelier and maître d' sister Amelia is also a star. The dishes and menu change constantly so I can't recommend specific dishes, but if you’re only going to have one meal in Barcelona, have it here.

Aribau, 58, 08011
+34 93 323 9490
www.cincsentits.com/
Google map: bit.ly/kWwGq2

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One of my favourite restaurants in Venice, Antiche Carampane, is one of the city’s most authentic – as the sign says outside the restaurant, you’ll find "No pizza, no lasagne, no menù turistico” here. Instead, expect stunning Venetian cuisine based on the freshest of seasonal produce. Owner Francesco and his chefs Lele and Adriano, who have worked at the restaurant for 20 years and 15 years respectively, head to the Rialto’s pescheria (fish market) every morning to seek out the finest seafood that local fishmongers have bought from Tronchetto’s wholesale market earlier that morning. Secreted away down a difficult-to-find lane in the San Polo sestiere, Antiche Carampane’s location is such that there’s little chance of anyone accidentally stumbling upon it and yet tables inside the atmospheric restaurant and on the terrace outside are generally always taken. Phone ahead to make a reservation. Service is warm, relaxed, and informed – order whatever they suggest – and the food is simply fantastic. My favourite dish is the crunchy fritto misto or frittura mista (fried seafood), served in a brown paper cone to absorb the cooking oil - washed down with a wine from the Veneto of course!

Rio Tera de la Carampane, off Ramo del Tamossi, San Polo
+39 (0) 41 524 0165 antichecarampane.com/
Google map: bit.ly/hxQ3sB

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Tucked under the arcades behind the souvenir stalls at the Rialto, on the market side of the bridge, Pied à Terre sells handsome, handmade, brocade, silk and velvet slippers in bright colours. Inspired by 18th century Venetian styles – my favourites are the Venetian and Sabot designs – along with the famous Furlane slippers, these unique take-homes originated in the early 20th century in the Friuli Venezia Giulia countryside. There, the peasant-farmers couldn’t afford leather footwear, so they recycled rags, jute bags and old bicycle tyres to make their shoes. Following World War Two, the women, desperate to earn some income to feed their families, travelled to Venice to sell their shoes. The story goes that the gondoliers were the first to adopt the shoes after realizing their soft sole wouldn’t scratch their boats, and soon after everyone had a pair. Pied à Terre makes their soles from old tyres and uses rich (often recycled) fabrics for the uppers. You can also take your own material to the shop and order a bespoke pair.

www.piedaterre-venice.com/
60, S. Polo, Rialto, Venice, Italy
+39 041 5285513
Google map: bit.ly/dSAjE0

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Bookbinder Paolo Olbi is one of Venice’s last great artisans. He has two lovely shops on Campo Santa Maria Nova and Calle della Mandola where he sells his beautiful handmade note pads, address books, photo albums, stationery, and business cards. If you don’t find Paolo at work in the backroom, embossing patterns into the leather covers of notebooks, he’s probably at his atmospheric workshop in the Castello, with his typesetter Beppi, where he welcomes interested visitors. We visited one Saturday morning, and he spent a couple of hours taking us through the fascinating process, from how they create the wood plates for the book-covers, inspired by old Venetian designs, to binding the books by hand. I already purchased half a dozen notebooks to give to friends, but he gave us a money-holder as a gift and took us for a glass of wine at the local bar to thank us for our interest. That’s Venetians for you!

Calle della Mandola, San Marco 3653, Venice: +39(0)41 528 5025
olbi.atspace.com/index_eng.htm

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In Venice, Countess Enrica Rocca, known as ‘the cooking countess', runs cooking courses unlike any others.
Enrica meets her students (five of us in total) at the Rialto Bridge and after quick introductions at a local café takes us to the nearby markets to teach us about the ingredients, where and how to buy them, and how to treat the produce. Next, in true Venetian style, we take our shopping bags full of fresh seafood to a local bacari (Venetian bar) for a post shopping spritz (Aperol, prosecco, orange slice) and a lesson in Veneto wine from Lorenzo of the wine shop MilleVini.
Spirits buoyed, we stroll to Enrica’s light-filled home in the Dorsoduro for a full day of cooking, eating, drinking, and conversation. It's casual and relaxed, like spending a day hanging out in the kitchen with friends, yet still we come away having learned a tremendous amount. Enrica thinks that most cooking courses are too serious and that they should be fun. They are and this was!

Enrica Rocca Cooking School
www.enricarocca.com

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