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In this post for the LMG Book Club I have found a small selection of books to inspire you to visit Barcelona.
Books to Inspire You to Visit Barcelona
Lonely Planet Pocket Barcelona
Lonely Planet Pocket Barcelona is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Swing in a cable car over the city; marvel at the detail of La Sagrada Familia or the kaleidoscopic fruit stands of the Mercat de la Boqueria; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of the best of Barcelona and begin your journey now!
This book is a colourful, easy-to-use, and handy guide that literally fits in your pocket, provides on-the-go assistance for those seeking only the can’t-miss experiences to maximize a quick trip experience.
The 500 Hidden Secrets of Barcelona
The 500 Hidden Secrets of Barcelona reveals hundreds of good-to-know addresses (where to go for tapas, or vegetarian food, or cocktails?), avoiding the touristy places and pointing out the urban details you are likely to miss. Barcelona is an incredibly rich city. Just the amount of restaurants is overwhelming: this is the home of the universally praised ‘Mediterranean’ diet, after all. It would be a shame to just hang around Plaza Catalunya, where the airport bus drops off the visitors.
Mark Cloostermans, a Belgian journalist living in Barcelona, unlocks the various districts, pointing out historical details in the sinewy streets of the old town, taking you from green Montjuïc hill to the beach and back up. The best bars in Paris-like Gracia neighbourhood, all Barça-related places and the various festivals you can plan your visit around The 500 Hidden Secrets of Barcelona has it all.
Catalonia: Recipes from Barcelona and Beyond
Located in the northeast of Spain, Catalonia borders France’s Pyrenees mountains and has a heritage and scenery like no other place in the world. In Catalonia, Jose Pizarro travels from the impressive Gaudi architecture in buzzy Barcelona, to the Roman and Greek ruins in Girona and secluded beaches in Costa Brava to create some of the best-loved dishes from the Catalonian region at home. Starting in the markets, Jose revels in the fresh meat, fish and vegetables, with dishes including classic Patatas Bravas, a delicious Duck Egg and Mushroom Stew, and a Rabbit Rice, typical of the region.
Set to the backdrop of stunning location photography, Catalonia will make you feel truly transported to this special region.
Barcelona Tales
Barcelona is one of the most visited cities in Europe, a multilingual capital of an autonomous region that longs to be independent of Spain. The city is famous for its painters, modernist architecture, style of football, and its history, but as Peter Bush reveals it has always been a major centre of literary talent and creativity. Barcelona Tales presents a selection of newly translated short stories by 14 writers, many of them Catalan.
The stories explore the themes of migration and class conflict in a city renowned in world literature from the day rural innocents Don Quixote and Sancho Panza visited its streets at the beginning of the seventeenth-century, and witnessed the wonders of the printing press and the cruelties of slavery. Together, they open up the city in ironic, tragic, and lyrical ways, inviting readers to explore fictional lives and literary styles that reflect the dynamic, conflict-ridden character and history of this great European city.
The Shadow of the Wind
Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the ‘cemetery of lost books’, a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out ‘La Sombra del Viento’ by Julian Carax.
But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from La Sombra del Viento, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax’s work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind. A page-turning exploration of obsession in literature and love, and the places that obsession can lead.
Have you read any books that have inspired you to visit Barcelona?
Let me know in the comments.
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