My Neighborhood

I thought I was going to be staying in L'Eixample, in a very luxurious two-bedroom apartment at a very reasonable price. What was I thinking?

Okay, so I am in an area called El Raval. I thought I was maybe in Poble Sec, which Lonely Planet says nice things about, but it turns out Poble Sec, while it is the nearest subway stop, as a neighborhood, is on the other side of Avenida Paral.lel. El Raval is the old tenement, slum area of Barcelona where sickness and squalor reigned during the industrial revolution and until recently, prostitution, drugs, and crime were its most well-know characteristics.

Now I understand why this very nice two-bedroom apartment is 1/3 of what I paid in Amsterdam.

But to be honest, the neighborhood has been the one thing about Barcelona that I liked almost immediately. My street is a quiet, tree-lined residential street. There are people from all over around here - Indians and Pakistanis, Arabs, Africans Philipinos, Chinese, Latinos (from Latin America) and of course Spaniards (I've seen some Americans too). It wasn't until today that I got the true flavor of the neighborhood. When I arrived on Saturday it was siesta, so everything was closed, maybe for the weekend. Of course yesterday it was very quiet as most stores are closed on Sunday, but today it came to life.

I discovered a great market nearby and also a really nice little Moroccan restaurant next to the Chinese Restaurant I went to the other day.

I love walking around and seeing people dressed in colorful traditional clothing, whether it's women in saaris (or the pajama type things that I can't think of the name of right now), wearing veils, speaking different languages and even Spanish as a Second Language. I find it more comfortable to communicate with people who are speaking Spanish not as their native language. They are more patient, easier to understand, they speak more slowly and they are kinder.

I found a link with some information about El Raval. It seems there is a lot to explore. I have a few days to get to know this part of Barcelona that is off the beaten path. And maybe that is the thing I love the most about it - there are so few other tourists. I feel like I have this little gem all to myself!