Barcelona beckons streets shows and surprises

A participant showcases her creative hat and vibrant attire during the annual Barcelona Hat Stroll along La Rambla, where bold fashion and personality take centre stage.

Karon Sinning

Paris Independent Travel Columnist

After marvelling at the towering beauty of the Sagrada Família and the imaginative landscapes of Park Güell, Karon Sinning’s Barcelona adventure shifts from bucket-list landmarks to the rhythm of the city itself — where wandering streets, sampling local flavours and embracing the unexpected take centre stage. Picking up where she left off, Sinning and her travel companions trade structured tours for a more relaxed pace, discovering that some of Barcelona’s most memorable moments happen in between the must-see stops.

Saturday, April 11, in Barcelona we had time on our hands before our Flamenco and Tapas event in the evening. We decided to go to our old standby…the hop-on-hop-off tourist bus. The front desk staff were happy to provide us with a map to the location where we could board the bus. 

As usual we enjoyed the bus tour but unfortunately only had time for one half of the city. The ticket was good for 24 hours so, Sunday morning  we were up early to do the second bus line and the other half of Barcelona. This tour, which we’ve been able to access just about anywhere, offers a good overview with added history of a new city. We’ve even done it in Toronto as part of our staycation last summer. 

Saturday evening, we decided to walk from our hotel to the Tapas/Flamenco dinner and show.  The walk took us down La Rambla, one of the most famous walks in Barcelona.  The Flamenco show was at the end of La Rambla and our hotel was basically around a corner from the middle of it.  We allowed ourselves plenty of time and Google's 23-minute walk turned into about a 45-minute walk for us, as we found the market!

The weather was great for our stay, with the evening temperatures about 22C. The rain forecast for the last couple days basically was either early morning or overnight. Perfect!

We arrived at the Tablao Flamenco de Cordobes a bit early, and as luck would have it, there was a cafe right outside. Time for a quick drink. 

Before the show, we had booked dinner as part of the evening. This consisted of a tapas buffet. Tapas are a very Catalonian (Spanish) dish. It consists of small portions of appetizers. Just about anything you can imagine comes as a tapas and I was determined to try them.  While Roy thoroughly enjoyed many of them, they were not my favourite.  Most restaurants are exclusively tapas here, at least along La Rambla, or so their outdoor menus indicate. This made me crave a good old fashioned Green’s meal from Malta!

Going in, I had a definite vision in my mind as to what Flamenco dancing was:  a flamboyantly dressed man and woman, dancing close, hands linked, arms outstretched with sharp turns and big dips for the woman. Nope. 

I would best describe what we witnessed as a kind of loud stomping, angry ballet - opera, where the dancing was violent and involved whipping around dresses for the women and jacket pulling for the man. The singing was coarse yelling and as I can’t carry a tune on a plate…there may be a career in Flamenco singing for me. There was also some very lovely guitar playing interspersed between the dances, so that was good. The costumes for the women were extravagant which I did expect. While it was something to experience, I would say that it is now done and dusted!

Sunday was a free day, no booked tours; so we finished up the red bus tour and then had a stroll down La Rambla.  Turns out that was an excellent idea. 

Sunday, April 12th, is the Barcelona Hat Stroll on La Rambla. Starting at noon, everyone shows up wearing their finest headgear.  It really seemed like anything goes for hat enthusiasts and it certainly was an opportunity to stand out in just about any style.

People watching on La Rambla is always fun, but the hat day folks made it extra special. 

Catch next week’s Paris Independent to see how Karon’s Barcelona tour ends!

About the columnist: Karon Sinning is a proud Paris resident who has a passion for travel and storytelling. Along with her partner Roy and friends, she enjoys exploring countries around the world and experiencing new cultures, food and everyday life beyond the tourist trail. Through her travel column, Karon shares those journeys with Paris Independent readers, offering practical insights, personal reflections and a sense of connection to the people and places she visits.