We just spent four days in Barcelona. At every opportunity, we asked residents how they like their city. All of them enthusiastically said, “I love it!” And it was easy for us to appreciate why.

Barcelona is vibrant, eclectic, culturally rich, architecturally beautiful. It has that easy, inviting, comfortable ambience so characteristic of Spain. And, like most European cities, Barcelona is entirely walkable. For urban hikers like us, it’s an ideal destination in winter. At the Calgary airport, the ground crew spent 30 minutes de-icing the wings of our jet during a blizzard. When we arrived in Barcelona, we left our hotel wearing short sleeves.

Go to the Photos/Videos page of our website (http://www.hikingcamping.com/photos-spain.php) to see far more shots of Barcelona than we could possibly include with this blog post.

You’re a traveler, and Barcelona is on your “gotta see” list? Here are a few notes from our recent stay that will further encourage you to visit this great city, might help you plan your trip, and could be useful once you arrive.

Make reservations at Aparthotel Silver (www.hotelsilver.com). This 40-room hotel is everything a traveler could ask for: modern, clean, comfortable, efficient, friendly, and an excellent value.  We chose what they call a “comfort” room. It even had a kitchenette and a safe. We were entirely pleased. The hotel is in the Gracia neighbourhood, which is authentic, low key, neither commercial nor touristic. Yet there’s a subway stop within 100 meters of the Hotel Silver’s front door. (In Spanish, the subway or metro is called “el meteo.”) And its an easy walk from the Hotel Silver to Parc Güell—the huge, gorgeous, unique, urban park designed by Antoni Gaudí, Barcelona’s most celebrated architect. From the park’s highpoint, you can survey the entire city. It’s dazzling at night.

Upon arriving at the Barcelona airport, we caught the Aerobus (runs every 15 minutes, 4 euros per person) to Plaza Catalunya. From there, we rode the meteo to the Fontana station, then walked five minutes to the Hotel Silver. Utterly easy. Even enjoyable. Suggestion: In all the public transport facilities, look for the elevators (ascensors) so you don’t have to portage your luggage up and down lengthy staircases and end up in need of a chiropractor.

We enjoyed wandering the Gracia neighbourhood. Flow east along Carrer d’Asturias, then north along Verdi. You’ll pass a superb bakery that offers organic, alternative-grain, gluten-free bread. You’ll also see silver-jewelry shops, a couple exotic tea shops, and of course numerous boutiques selling those utterly impractical, extremely sexy, nearly knee-high leather boots that fashion-conscious women everywhere from Montreal to Moscow are tucking their tight jeans into these days.

Eat at La Lola. It’s on the corner of Carrer de l’Escoria and Carrer de Saint Lluis, near the Joanic metro station, about a 20-minute walk from Hotel Silver. This is by no means haute cuisine. It’s fresh, hearty, local fare at a reasonable price served in the Spanish equivalent of an American diner. The collegial staff rightfully takes pride in their excellent work. They hustle, but they’ll also stop to chat with and kindly touch the cheek of a long-time local patron. Watching them in action was gratifying and entertaining. When we came back a second time, they all beamed, then proceeded to treat us like friends. This is “community” in action. For about 10 euros, the lunch special (approximately 1 to 3 p.m.) is an enormous meal that includes a cerveza and dessert. La Lola is a convenient place to stop while walking from Parc Güell to the most famous Gaudí creation of all: the wildly whimsical cathedral known as Sagrada Família.

From Barcelona’s iconic cathedral, we entered the city’s medieval center. The Barri Gotic and Ciutat Vella are intriguing warrens where you can wander (we call it “urban floating”) for hours through narrow, serpentine alleys and streets, admiring an encyclopedic variety of unique shops and distinctive restaurants. Like hot, colourful, liquid jello poured into an antique mold, people have oozed back into this ancient setting and exuberantly revived it. Contemporary creativity and sophistication ambushes you around every archaic corner. Locals obviously find everything they need here—including stimulation. Independent entrepreneurs such as these artfully demonstrate how soul-less the world-dominating superstores really are.

Be sure to see Eglesia de Santa Maria del Mar. It’s a marvelous, Gothic cathedral that will inspire you regardless of your spiritual leanings. The Placa del Rei should also be on your agenda. If possible, see it at night, when golden lighting romantically softens the harsh stone of this stalwart plaza.

We also enjoyed the relatively new district of Eixample, which has many, impressive Modernisme apartment buildings. On Passeig de Gracia you can admire Gaudi’s famous Casa Milà, better known as La Pedrera. It’s more sensuous sculpture than monolithic structure.

As for tapas, you’re spoiled for choice in Barcelona. We saw dozens of tapas restaurants we yearned to sample. Tapas, by the way, are a sophisticated, Spanish cuisine—a slow meal in which you continue choosing from a vast array of appetizers. They can be cold (such as mixed olives and cheese) or warm (such as puntillitas—battered, fried, baby squid). Tapas are conducive to conversation because a single, large meal never distracts you from your companions, and because you all share, plucking the toothpick-speared delicacies from numerous, small plates. In some restaurants, diners stand and move about while eating tapas, which further stimulates social interaction. Caveat emptor: the bill can quickly swell to three figures well before you’re sated.

After much deliberation, we finally chose Longja de Tapas. We’re glad we did. Superb food, gracious service, congenial atmosphere, reasonable prices. Here, the chefs respond to each order as it arrives in the kitchen, so every tapas dish arrives at your table fresh. (Some restaurants have counters laden with trays of pre-prepared tapas.) You’ll find Longja de Tapas at Pia del Palua 7, in Ciutat Vella, across the alley from an exotic tea shop that seductively offers free samples.

People who’ve visited Barcelona tend to launch their description of the city by telling you about Las Ramblas—one of Europe’s most famous pedestrian arteries. It’s true that walking Las Ramblas is an engaging experience. We enjoyed it. But everything else we’ve described here outranks it in our memory. Most of the commercial establishments lining Las Ramblas are not particularly interesting. And a large percentage of the people strolling Las Ramblas are tourists, much like yourself. What’s of interest here is the ambience. Tidal surges of humanity aimlessly sauntering up and down a grand boulevard and eyeing each other with curiosity is… well, a curiosity. By all means, join the promenade. But only once, for a short while. Don’t fixate on it the way most visitors do.

More impressive than Las Ramblas is Monestir de Montserrat—an ancient monastery perched on a spectacular massif just beyond the edge of the city. After exploring Barcelona for a day or two, it’s refreshing to switch from urban hiker to mountain hiker and stride among pinnacles and along ridges to Montserrat’s 1,236-m (4,055-ft) summit. A mere 16 euros buys you a 3-hour round-trip train ticket from the city center to the monastery, where marked, maintained trails begin.

Infinitely more impressive than Las Ramblas is a performance, any performance, at Barcelona’s gorgeous Palau de la Musica Catalana. Immediately after you settle in at the Hotel Silver, find out what’s on at the Palau and reserve seats. For us, the planets aligned: we discovered Cecilia Bartoli, the world’s most famous mezzo-soprano, was performing the night we arrived. She was perfection. And the venue itself beats many of the world’s great art galleries.

After the performance, we walked across the city, back to Hotel Silver. It was late. The Spanish are creatures of the night, but by now the streets were quiet. Barcelona was ours. And we felt absolutely safe. Guidebooks had warned us about thieves, pickpockets and such, but we detected no threat whatsoever.

We could have ridden the meteo. Barcelona’s public transport system is extensive, swift, and comfortable. Ten meteo passes cost just 8 euros. But we rode the meteo only when we were burdened with our luggage.* The rest of the time we walked. We  urge you to do the same. Barcelona is a brilliant city for urban hikers.

*Wish we could say we travel in svelte, ultralight style, but we don’t. Between destinations, we’re beasts of burden: humans imitating mules.

We just spent three days in Manhattan, where we walked everywhere and were constantly in a state of wonder. Total on-foot distance: 20 miles, more than half of which was at night. Our basecamp was the apartment of friends who live uptown, in Washington Heights.

We’d previously urban hiked in London, Paris, Rome, and San Francisco. All were exhilarating. But New York? It never appealed to us because, we now realize, our preconceptions were laughably distant from reality.

Driving into the city we were slightly on edge. Intending to walk extensively, we wondered how best to avoid getting mugged. That’s ridiculous. Common sense and basic street smarts were all we needed to feel and remain absolutely safe. On day two, our friends were pleased to hear us announce that “Affection has evicted trepidation.”

Aggressive, abrasive New Yorkers? We met none. They didn’t ride their car horns in traffic. Never did they bulldoze us off the sidewalk. None of our fellow subway passengers was pushy or intimidating. Whenever we engaged anyone, they were kind and helpful. Most were bright, open, willing to interact with us longer than courtesy dictated. Often we were touched by their warmth. Civility and civic pride are pervasive in NYC.

By the time we left, we agreed we wouldn’t have lived fully had we not explored this magnificent city. And that’s coming from a couple of wilderness zealots. It seems we’ll be feeling the impact of our visit for a long time. Having just left, here’s what we see when we close our eyes:

The Chrysler Building, whose celestial spire is utterly distinct among NYC’s dozens of astounding towers. From a distance, this sublime skyscraper looks like it links earth and heaven, as if it might be the conduit through which virtuous souls ascend to the pearly gates. It’s 319-m (1047-ft) high — a statistic that’s especially meaningful if you’re a hiker. And the lobby? Wow. An art-deco temple. Marble, onyx, amber, and gold leaf. Egyptian pharaohs adorn the elevator doors. Many contemporary architects think this is NYC’s most impressive tower. We agree, but we think the world’s most impressive building is…

The New York Public Library, at 5th Avenue at 42nd Street. It’s a shrine to books, to reading, to learning. When it opened in 1911, it housed more than a million volumes on 121 km (75 mi) of shelves. The Beaux-Arts structure is stunning inside and out. We find it more rousing than the monumental buildings of Europe, in part because it’s not merely a monument. It’s a functioning, public building. You can actually check out a book. Or settle into a magnificent chair at a grand table in the main reading room (the size of a football field) and concentrate in an inspiring atmosphere where literature is sacred. Among the library’s many startling features are the ceiling murals. Tilt your
head back, and you’re not assaulted by ridiculous cherubs or guilt-inducing biblical characters. Instead you gaze into a blue sky adorned with billowing white clouds, suggesting the unlimited possibilities available to an open, inquisitive mind.

Whatever your appetite, NYC will satisfy it. After several hours of walking, we were ravenous. But we continued passing alluring restaurants until arriving at the 2nd Avenue Deli, at 162 East 33rd Street, between Lexington and 3rd avenues. It was worth the hike. Our kosher pastrami-on-rye sandwiches were so thick, the top slices of bread were nearly vertical. Though utterly unadorned, they were delectable. Still, every couple bites we varied the taste by adding a spoonful of fresh, tangy mustard. Everything about the experience — the collegial staff, historic atmosphere, pickled green tomatoes — felt like we were participating in a venerable tradition. If we lived in NYC, you’d find us seated at the 2nd Avenue Deli’s marble counter at least once a week.

We were awed by Central Park, of course, but NYC is rife with parks: islands of nature punctuating the manmade environment. Some are tiny yet gorgeous, like the one sequestered near the U.N. building. Others are unique, for example High Line Park (www.thehighline.org). Built on an elevated 1930s railway, it was completed this summer. Tall, native grasses now sway in the breeze where trains once whooshed across Manhattan. Views are constant: over the Hudson River, toward Jersey City, and into an industrial district of historic, brick buildings. Most people enjoy the park as a promenade, but it also has wooden chaise lounges where you can relax.

From High Line Park, we began a long, rambling, evening stroll into West Greenwich Village. We were entranced by charming cafes, intriguing boutiques, and our fellow strollers. After staring up at skyscrapers all day, we were soothed by the human-scale village. The streets are narrow, leafy, and the brick buildings rarely exceed four stories. It reminded us of Amsterdam. We later learned this was indeed where the Dutch originally settled.

The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), the Metropolitan Museum, the International Center for Photography, Times Square — each was engaging. For us, however, one experience surpassed them all: walking the Brooklyn Bridge.

Our first morning in the city, we began our tour by riding the subway to Brooklyn Heights and admiring the city across the East River while sauntering along the Esplanade (yes, we do occasionally, briefly slow down), then picking up the pace and entering the melee on foot via the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge has a broad, pedestrian walkway above the vehicle lanes, allowing you to enjoy the wondrous view in relative peace and security. The Statue of Liberty is far left. Wall Street is left. Ahead is the Woolworth Building. Right is the Empire State Building. And that’s but a fraction of what’s in view.

Our last night in the city, we walked from Central Park back to the Brooklyn Bridge and crossed it again, this time in the opposite direction, turning frequently to admire the illuminated cityscape. It was wondrous. We felt like time-travelling savages who’d wandered into the 21st century’s most vital metropolis. We were awed, reluctant to leave, yet compelled to return to our distant home in the wilderness.