Barcelona - Tarragona - Sitges -- thanks!

As for Rick's recommendations on food and shopping, and our own research, here was our experience:
1. Sabater Hermanos (soap shop) -- fantastic little shop with very friendly people!
2. Bilbao Berria -- (near the cathedral) -- the best pinxtos we had in Barcelona, and great friendly staff
3. Restaurant La Morera (in the Plca de Sant Agusti) - some of the best food we had, and for sure, the best lasagna!
4. Central burgers -- oh man, this place was fantastic! It's not far from Placa Catalyuna and worth the walk. I love checking out what other cultures think are good American style cheeseburgers, and every single offering (we had about 12 people there that night all ordering different burgers) was good -- but their version of patata bravas was my favorite, hands-down
5. La Colmena Patisseria - supposedly the oldest patisseria in Barca and it was fun to visit. Good snacks.
6. Amapola bakery -- on the Las Ramblas, just a few blocks from the Hotel -- fantastic little bakery with amazing croissants and coffee
7. Darvaza -- high end Spanish / Argentian steakhouse in the Eixample, with great chops from all over the world. This was a celebratory dinner with family, and it was worth it. Amazing service too.

Happy to answer any questions if you have any. Thanks again to everyone who posts about Europe. I'm not much of a poster or questioner, but I read a lot of forum posts!

BJ

Forgot to add -- we only ate at one restaurant in the town of Tarragona (and none in Sitges, unfortunately, but we did get a cool haircut) but it was a doozy. We wandered around until we found a tapas place called (I think) Tarraco Taverna -- but there were three little tapas places all next to each other and all of the food was good. The middle one (the one we ate at) was absolutely fantastic. Great food and great wine.

We had the best Argentinian empanadas in Sitges!

Thanks for the report. We also liked the Hotel Continental when we visited years ago. Then, our room was furnished with pink plastic nightstands. Mucho funky. Friendly staff as well.

Glad you had a good time.

LA BOQUERIA

It has been quite a few years since it is slowly ceasing to be a market (or farmers' market) in the traditional sense — a place to go buy fresh food, like the other 38 markets scattered around the city’s neighbourhoods. For centuries, long before shops and supermarkets appeared, Barcelonians have been going to markets to stock up on fresh produce. Records of La Boqueria date back to the 12th century.

Unfortunately, the ever increasing massive influx of visitors these past decades has completely changed the place. For at least the past twenty years, it has been steadily losing its traditional stalls and turning into a kind of theme park full of juice bars, sandwich stands, desserts, chocolates, and candy — nothing to do with what a market is supposed to be.

Sure, there are still some traditional stalls where you can buy fresh fish, meat, or fruit, but with all the tourist crowds and the loss of authenticity, many locals from the area just don’t shop there anymore.

There are rumours that, to cut down on the crowds of people who only come to look around and snap pictures, the city’s thinking about charging an entry fee — one that would then be deducted from whatever you spend inside the market. Locals are outraged by the idea, because a market is a public building and isn’t just a place to shop — it’s a social hub, where neighbours run into each other, chat, and pick up their groceries. For them, it’s always been a public space, and therefore free to access, just like parks, which are already “paid for” through taxes.

GETTING THE NAME RIGHT :)

There is no "Barca" to refer to the city of Barcelona, please!... that's completely incorrect.

"Barça" is the nickname of the football team (Futbol Club Barcelona), and "barca" means small boat in Catalan, the local language. Posh locals sometimes use "Barna" (BAR-celo-NA), and that's the closest to shortening the name you'll get; otherwise, normal Barcelonans always say "Barcelona". And it's pronounced "bar-sah-loh-nah", note the 'c' should sound as an 's', not a 'th' -as in thank you.

GETTING THE NAME RIGHT :)

Perfectly explained Enric! You have no idea the amount of times living in the US when people heard I was from Barcelona, they would either do the fake lisp or call the city Barça to be more "authentic". I would just smile politely and not say anything, but definitely I got a subconscious feeling of cringe each time lol!

GETTING THE NAME RIGHT :)

Thank you Enric for the correction and the update on La Boqueria. Good info for the next trip.

@Carlos... me too, it really p*** me off, LOL!.

@rozasbj... my pleasure. Next time, let us know in advance, and we can check together if there's any "activity" that you can add that will really make your day (f.e. a "festa major" -google for it!)

If you Spanish fellas get that bent out of shape over the pronunciation errors of ig'nant Americans (and for the record that's pretty much all of us), you probably ought to avoid us altogether. I understand you might need to leave Barcelona to accomplish that.

If you Spanish fellas get that bent out of shape over the pronunciation errors of ig'nant Americans (and for the record that's pretty much all of us), you probably ought to avoid us altogether. I understand you might need to leave Barcelona to accomplish that.

Your rudeness reveals little about you, and your ignorance of my life or that of other members leads you to say nonsense. Some of us haven’t just travelled widely, we’ve also lived in plenty of places abroad – and we made the effort to learn basic pronunciations, out of respect as much as curiosity. Many of your fellow Americans do the same, and when errors are pointed out, they view it as an opportunity to improve, not to mock.

Don’t worry, nobody’s bent out of shape. But names matter, and in Barcelona, it’s not only Spanish, it’s also Catalan. Most visitors find that part of the experience enriching, not something to avoid. Try the same argument, say in France, and you’ll quickly see the kind of response you get, LOL!

Hear hear Enric well said! Just so you don't think we're only picking on the Americans, I've had plenty of British also incorrectly call my hometown Barça and do the fake lisp when living in London.

You have no idea the amount of times living in the US when people heard I was from Barcelona, they would either do the fake lisp or call the city Barça to be more "authentic".

Carlos, just remember that painting all visitors with that broad of a brush is almost as bad, right? We see "Barça" everywhere in the city (associated with the club, of course); and so, we think that's the nickname. It's not always someone being fake or trying to be pretentious or authentic. It just looks like it makes sense, even if it is not correct.

I researched some of the complaints that Barcelonians have, just for my own edification, and with very humble respect, some of them actually sound more like apocryphal re-writes than actual complaints. For instance, here are some common ones I read about:

1. "Barça sounds too much like "boat" in Spanish, so it wouldn't make sense."
   -- But that would apply to the football team, too, right? Do Barcelonians really cheer on their beloved Boats? .

2. "Barça is like calling New York 'the Knickers'."
   -- That one is even weirder. It's not like the Knicks at all. It's more like calling San Francisco "Frisco" or Las Vegas "Vegas" or Columbus "C-Bus" or Chicago "Chi-town". I think the term is a "diminutive" (as in smaller, not less in stature.)

But I completely understand, and I promise, it was just an honest error. You'll notice that I used the full word Barcelona four separate times in the trip report. I just forgot.

This whole discussion reminds me of something funny to us Louisianians. New Orleans residents love to correct the pronunciation of the city -- saying "It ain't 'New Or-Leens". YET they will ALWAYS say "Or-Leens Parish". And they'll say both in the same conversation without even noticing.

Anyway, thanks again for the tip! We have found the people of Barcelona (and the surrounding areas) to be some of the most-friendly people in Europe. (Although the French are almost as friendly if you know the magic words.)

Your rudeness reveals little about you

I am sorry my joke struck you as rude. My intent was to highlight the fact that Americans are not generally knowledgeable about the ins and outs of pronunciation and language usage of other nations, and also that it's human nature to think oneself to be ""in the know" when one is really not. It's just the way human animals are built, kind of like how we find apologies to be difficult. But you have mine right here.

I will say that pronunciation in Spain, especially of the consonants c, s and z, can be pretty hard to figure out for those who speak little of the language, as it varies so much by region (or at least that's how it has seemed to me). I've heard "gracias" pronounced at least 3 different ways by people I've spoken with here, and the name of the city "Murcia" was likewise different sounding to my ears at least 4 different ways when we visited. I'm sure I'm missing some subtleties, though, as I listen.

This is exactly why I love this forum. Potential confrontations and/or misunderstandings almost always tend to be sorted out within our differences. Huge thanks from the heart to @jphbucks and @rozasbj.

This is exactly why I love this forum. Potential confrontations and/or
misunderstandings almost always tend to be sorted out within our
differences. Huge thanks from the heart to @jphbucks and @rozasbj.

Ha! Anyone that peruses these forums for Enric and Carlos' posts about Spain would have seen how much both of you have contributed to the knowledge of the area for visitors, and it is hard to match your love and enthusiasm for the region. Thanks to both of you for helping out so many people!

Precisely, what we were talking about the other day regarding La Boqueria, when I explained to you that in recent decades it has been losing its traditional essence as a fresh produce market, this just came out today…

"Barcelona’s Boqueria market will adopt a new specific regulation that mandates at least 50 % of the stalls must sell traditional products, as a way to preserve its identity while accommodating tourism. The rule, already approved by 90 % of merchants, distinguishes between “traditional” goods (meat, fish, bakery) and “prepared/fast-consumption” ones. Flexibility is allowed because some traditional stalls also offer processed goods. The market will undergo phased renovations starting in 2026, modernising the fish section, improving access, and remodelling toilets, aiming to finish the central works by the end of 2027."

Source: https://www.elnacional.cat/ca/barcelona/nou-reglament-mercat-boqueria-garantira-minim-50-producte-tradicional_1490249_102.html