What's the best thing you bought in Barcelona?
 

I am stealing this question from the France Forum. I am going to Barcelona in January and want to know what not to miss.

A sweater from H&M, but that's probably not the kind of answer you were looking for :-)

Otherwise I'd say food, and as much cava as you can take :-) And they've got great shoes too !

topping and bookmarking

I purchased a bottle of wine and had it finished three hours later on the beach. Seeing that you are going in January, you may want to switch to coffee.

Still, a walk through El Corte Ingles, or whatever the name of that department store is, is something to remember. You can always have lunch on the top floor and they should have a few after Christmas sales.

We always like to purchase artwork from a local street artist (in Barcelona we found one we liked behind the Gothic Cathedral) We purchased a wonderful painting of the Sagrada Familia for about 15E....it's a great reminder of our trip.

Several years ago I bought a pair of shoes and matching purse from a store called Muxart. They were sooo unique looking and I still wear them today. They were not inexpensive, but bottom line, I would go for shoes or other leather goods.

Angela_m, yes, I love Muxart as well!

Cheribob, their main store in Barcelona is on Rambla de Catalunya 47, and if you're there in January there will be winter sales ! You can check the collection online on www.muxart.com

2 paris of the cutest espadrilles. From that famous espadrilles place, you know, that really famous place that I can't remember. We were hoping for custom-made espadrilles (which they're known for) but they said it would take months.

El Corte Ingles is absolutely great. Last time, we walked through there and enjoyed looking around. I bought fresh flowers for a bouquet but the main thing was the pale green glass in their housewares department. Such a selction! I bought several small pieces to use at home for olive oil, snacks, etc. I wish I had bought more. They package it beautifully using buble wrap if you request it.

Have fun!

fishee,
Could that espadrilles place be "La Manual Alpargatería" in the Barri Gotic on Avinyó 7?

Nice espadrilles (alpargatas) at
Cristina Castañer too, on Mestre Nicolau, 23
www.castaner.com

The most wonderful red purse with black accents at a shop called Paramita. After the other people in our group saw it three others went and bought the same purse. Oh well, so much for my unique purse. But I still love it and use it. I also bought a lovely silver bracelet from a jewelry store. I wear all the time, it brings back very special memories.

thanks, Maribel.

La Manual Alpargatería -- a place of magical wedge heel wonder, packed with women clutching onto their "numbers" waiting to try on shoes with gleeful grins of anticiption. I will have to check out this Cristina Castañer place next time too. I get so many compliments and questions when I wear them, it's always nice to say, "oh, I picked these up in Barcelona..."

Sorry, my other best purchase in Barcelona was the tripe stew for breakfast at Pinotxo at the Boqueria.

fishee,
LO! Anything at Pinotxo for breakfast is a great purchase, even if you can't show it to friends!

My favorite purchase was a neat ring I bought at the gift shop in one of the Gaudi buildings. It has a mosaic pattern and every time I wear it it reminds me of the benches at the Parc Guell. Easy to pack too.

Thanks, everyone. Please keep the posts coming!!

Bookmarking...I'm getting so excited about shopping in Barcelona! Maybe we should have reserved a less expensive flat, in order to have more shopping money.

But before I get excited about shoes, tell me, do they sell anything resembling a wide shoe there? I have very wide feet and don't want to face heart ache if they won't have any shoes to fit me.

On the corner of Aribau and Mallorca (in the Eixample), there is a glove store where you can walk in, design your gloves (outer stitching, lined, colored piping, long, short, open fingers. . . whatever) and choose the color of leather you want them to be made of. The woman takes your hand measurements, and can have them in less than a week. I bought some the other day and it was a true pleasure buying something that is exactly what I wanted. I am gettting my mom some for her birthday.

Missypie,

I don't know if you will like their style, but the worldwide famous Camper shoes (www.camper.com) are usually very wide! I have wide feed myself and they always fit perfectly !

Laclaire, I wished I had known about this glove shop before... oh well, maybe next time !

missypie- I second stardust on the Camper thing, and their boutique store just off of the Plaça del MACBA is awesome.

stardust- I had not yet discovered it when you were here! You'll just have to come back. . .

missypie,
Camper shoes are a great idea, and I've found they do run wide too.

And keeping to the shoe theme...
Another shoe designer from Menorca that I really like is Jaime Mascaró who designs ballet slippers that may fit you. He has shops in France too and just opened a store In NYC;s SoHo.
His Barcelona shop is on Córsega 307 in the Eixample.
www.jaimemascaro.com

I want some of those gloves, laclaire!

Chocolate from Cacao Sampaka. I LOVE good chocolate and the stuff they make is great. For a fellow chocoholic friend, I bought an assortment of different pure chocolates from around the world, and for me and my hubby, I bought one with spices. There's even a cafe at the back of the shop where you can have a bite to eat.

http://www.cacaosampaka.com/

On the chocolate theme...

"Xocoa" at Petritxol 11 near the Cathedral. Like Cacao Sampaka, this is a new chocolate shop cum café.
Other stores selling their very famous chocolate bars at Princesa 10, Vidriera 4, Roger de Lluria 87 and in the L'lla shopping complex on the Diagonal.

Xocoa has also opened a store in the Salamanca district of Madrid on General Díaz Porlier 15 and one in Valencia.
www.xocoa-bcn.com

Great. Now y'all have got me craving really good chocolate; I doubt that CVS downstairs has anything that will satisfy.

Gloves -- laclaire's post reminded me of this classic passage from *The Innocents Abroad" -- though it's set in Gibralter, not Barcelona . . .

Every now and then my glove purchase in Gibraltar last night intrudes itself upon me. Dan and the ship's surgeon and I had been up to the great square . . . when we met the General, the Judge, the Commodore, the Colonel, and the Commissioner . . . they told us to go over to the little variety store near the Hall of Justice and buy some kid gloves. They said they were elegant and very moderate in price. It seemed a stylish thing to go to the theater in kid gloves, and we acted upon the hint. A very handsome young lady in the store offered me a pair of blue gloves. I did not want blue, but she said they would look very pretty on a hand like mine. The remark touched me tenderly. I glanced furtively at my hand, and somehow it did seem rather a comely member. I tried a glove on my left and blushed a little. Manifestly the size was too small for me. But I felt gratified when she said:

"Oh, it is just right!" Yet I knew it was no such thing.

I tugged at it diligently, but it was discouraging work. She said:

"Ah! I see you are accustomed to wearing kid gloves--but some gentlemen are so awkward about putting them on."

It was the last compliment I had expected. I only understand putting on the buckskin article perfectly. I made another effort and tore the glove from the base of the thumb into the palm of the hand--and tried to hide the rent. She kept up her compliments, and I kept up my determination to deserve them or die:

"Ah, you have had experience! [A rip down the back of the hand.] They are just right for you--your hand is very small--if they tear you need not pay for them. [A rent across the middle.] I can always tell when a gentleman understands putting on kid gloves. There is a grace about it that only comes with long practice." The whole after-guard of the glove "fetched away," as the sailors say, the fabric parted across the knuckles, and nothing was left but a melancholy ruin.

I was too much flattered to make an exposure and throw the merchandise on the angel's hands. I was hot, vexed, confused, but still happy; but I hated the other boys for taking such an absorbing interest in the proceedings. I wished they were in Jericho. I felt exquisitely mean when I said cheerfully:

"This one does very well; it fits elegantly. I like a glove that fits. No, never mind, ma'am, never mind; I'll put the other on in the street. It is warm here."

It was warm. It was the warmest place I ever was in. I paid the bill, and as I passed out with a fascinating bow I thought I detected a light in the woman's eye that was gently ironical; and when I looked back from the street, and she was laughing all to herself about something or other, I said to myself with withering sarcasm, "Oh, certainly; you know how to put on kid gloves, don't you? A self-complacent ass, ready to be flattered out of your senses by every petticoat that chooses to take the trouble to do it!"

The silence of the boys annoyed me. Finally Dan said musingly:

"Some gentlemen don't know how to put on kid gloves at all, but some do."

And the doctor said (to the moon, I thought):

"But it is always easy to tell when a gentleman is used to putting on kid gloves."

Dan soliloquized after a pause:

"Ah, yes; there is a grace about it that only comes with long, very long practice."

"Yes, indeed, I've noticed that when a man hauls on a kid glove like he was dragging a cat out of an ash hole by the tail, he understands putting on kid gloves; he's had ex--"

"Boys, enough of a thing's enough! You think you are very smart, I suppose, but I don't. And if you go and tell any of those old gossips in the ship about this thing, I'll never forgive you for it; that's all."

They let me alone then for the time being. We always let each other alone in time to prevent ill feeling from spoiling a joke. But they had bought gloves, too, as I did. We threw all the purchases away together this morning. They were coarse, unsubstantial, freckled all over with broad yellow splotches, and could neither stand wear nor public exhibition. We had entertained an angel unawares, but we did not take her in. She did that for us.

missypie,
More chocolates!

Oriol Balaguer, the pastry chef, chocolate confectioner extraordinaire was voted best dessert chef in Catalunya.
He has a fancy boutique on Plaça Sant Gregori Taumaturg 2 in the high-rent district, the "zona alta".

If you find yourself in the upper Diagonal (past Plaça Francesc Macià), take a right on Ganduxer and walk up two blocks. Very tony neighborhood. His shop is on the same street as "Semon" (Ganduxer 31), the ultra fashionable gourmet deli that catered the King's daughter's wedding.

www.oriolbalaguer.com

A car rental for touring the Coasta Brava and the Pyrenees.

A thinner, fall leather jacket and a suede jacket. I forgot the name of the store, it was on the Ramblas, but the saleswoman gave me a great deal - 250 euro total - for buying both of them.