Ten Unexpected Things That Happened to Me in Barcelona

Barcelona was the first city in Spain I visited, and it refused to behave the way I had imagined. I arrived with a list of sights and left with a set of stories I could not have invented. Here are ten of them, in roughly the order they happened.

1. I was pickpocketed on the metro, on arrival day

My first hour in the city involved the metro, a crowded carriage and a hand in my bag. Welcome to Barcelona. It is a beautiful city with a professional pickpocketing problem, and arrival day — tired, loaded with luggage, distracted — is exactly when you are most vulnerable. Keep your bag in front of you, zip it, and do not keep everything in one place.

2. That was after my first scuba dive, in Costa Brava

The morning had been extraordinary. I went scuba diving for the first time just outside Barcelona, off the Costa Brava, and spent an hour underwater grinning at fish. It was surreal in the best way, and it made the loss of my wallet a few hours later feel like a strange joke rather than a disaster. If you have never dived, do it somewhere with this much coastline.

3. Vegetarian paella was hard to find — but not impossible

Spanish food has a reputation for ham, and in Barcelona that reputation is not entirely unfair. Still, I found vegetarian paella, and it was excellent. The comedy came at the end of the meal, when the only debit card left in my possession after the metro incident refused to work. I paid, eventually, with help. Lesson: carry a second card somewhere separate from the first.

4. I could not get into the Sagrada Família

I had not booked, and the queue and timed-entry system defeated me. I saw the outside, which is extraordinary enough, but the interior remained closed to me. Book ahead, even out of season, and especially if you only have a few days.

5. But I did get to sail a yacht

A sunset sailing trip more than made up for it. I have written about the evening I sailed a yacht in Barcelona separately, because it deserves its own post. Watching the city shrink behind the sails is one of my favourite travel memories.

6. I ate a great deal of vegetarian food that was not paella

Barcelona turned out to be far friendlier to non-meat eaters than I expected. There were vegetable plates, grilled things, cheese, tomato bread and enough variety that I never went hungry. The city rewards wandering and trying small places rather than committing to one restaurant.

7. I fell in love with romesco sauce

Romesco — peppers, almonds, tomatoes, garlic — arrived alongside something else and quietly stole the meal. I spent the rest of the trip ordering it wherever it appeared, and I still think about it. If anyone is sending a care package to Europe Diaries headquarters, a carton would be appreciated.

8. Vermouth at one in the afternoon is a very good idea

Pre-lunch vermouth, around 1 pm, is a Catalan habit worth adopting. It is a small glass, usually with an olive and a piece of orange, and it marks the transition from morning to afternoon better than coffee does. Sit outside, order one, and watch the street.

9. I couchsurfed with a couple who later turned up in Basel

I stayed one night with a generous couple in the city. We got talking about art, I introduced them to an artsy friend in Basel, and six months later we all met again at a Swiss exhibition. That is the particular magic of couchsurfing: it turns accommodation into a relationship that outlasts the trip.

10. I met a cat who loved the shower

The cat belonged to my hosts. He liked the bathtub — not just sitting in it, but the water itself — and I spent a memorable ten minutes negotiating with him to leave the tub so I could shower. It was my first conversation with a cat about bathroom etiquette, and I like to think we both learned something.

What else I learned about the city

• Barcelona's most famous beach is over-hyped. At times it felt artificial rather than relaxing; the city has better ways to spend a hot afternoon.
• Locals call the city Barna, not Barça. Barça is the football club. And despite the tourist image, Catalans are not especially attached to flamenco dancing or bullfighting.
• Catalonia has its own history, heritage and language. Catalan is not Spanish, and treating the two as interchangeable misses the point of the place.

I left glad that I had gone, and glad that I had not bought any bullfight or flamenco souvenirs. They would have been presents for a version of Spain that the people who live there do not recognise.

If you are heading that way, read my myths and folklore of Spain, and this useful breakdown of what a weekend in Barcelona costs. I stayed in a beach hostel I would happily return to; if hostels are not your thing, Hotel Silken Diagonal near the Agbar towers had excellent rooms and service.