by Hildy Snow, blogger at www.bcninternet.com

Three questions always spring to mind when planning a trip. How do I get there? Where do I stay? What should I do once I’m there?

Luckily, the first two questions are easy when it comes to Barcelona. Flights from all over the world take off and land at El Prat International airport on a daily basis. As for accommodation, there is an abundance of hotels for every budget and lots of stylish holiday apartments in Barcelona. That leaves the third question: what to do once I get there?

Barcelona has a lot of different faces. Every neighbourhood has its own special flavour, from the bohemian chic of Gracia, the vibrant diversity of the Raval and the upscale sophistication of the Eixample Esquerra to the unpretentious local vibe of the Poble Sec. The one neighbourhood that many long-time residents like to write off as being a mere tourist trap is the Gothic Quarter. Well, they’re missing out. I’ve lived in Barcelona for ten years, and I still find hidden gems in this small slice of medieval geography.

One thing is true: discovering what makes the Gothic Quarter special takes some navigating skill, timing and imagination. First of all, to really absorb the historical atmosphere of a neighbourhood that’s been around since the Roman Empire, it helps to see it at specific times of day. Getting a true sense of the neighbourhood’s medieval atmosphere requires darkness and the warm glow of old streetlamps. And uncrowded streets, no small feat in this popular neighbourhood. Stick to the tiny streets behind the cathedral where gargoyles peer down from the high turrets or to the meandering alleys in the Call, the old Jewish Quarter, where the streets are so narrow, the buildings seem to touch above your head.

On my strolls through these labyrinthine streets, I’ve come across special places and curious sights. One of the strangest is the little altar in honour of Santa Eulalia at the top of the slope that bears her name (Baixada de Santa Eulalia). The teenage martyr and original patron saint of Barcelona has a wild and gruesome story. Legend has it, the Romans rolled her down this slope in a barrel full of broken glass before crucifying her. When she died, snow began to fall, her hair grew and a white dove flew out of her mouth. In the 19^th century, she was demoted to secondary patron saint status in favour of La Virgen de la Mercé when the latter got credited with saving the city from a locust plague. Santa Eulalia’s relics now reside in the cathedral, in a crypt named after her.

Speaking of Romans, the ancient wall around the cathedral complex isn’t the only vestige of their presence (the little Plaça dels Traginers offers the best view of the wall as well as having lots of wonderful café terraces for a meal or aperitif). On Carrer del Paradis, a tiny street behind the cathedral, is a small sign – so small it’s easy to miss – for the “Centro Excursionista de Catalunya” (number 10). And inside this building, encapsulated in a glass-ceilinged atrium, are the remnants of an ancient Roman temple. And with remnants, I don’t mean a few scattered rock piles. Four enormous columns reach for the sky and give us an inkling as to how different this area looked when it was the Roman city of Barcino.

During the Middle Ages, the area between the cathedral and Las Ramblas was the Jewish Quarter, but years of persecution and neglect destroyed most traces of this cultural legacy. In fact, it wasn’t until well into the 20^th century that renovations at an old dry cleaners revealed an astonishing and invaluable find: the remnants of an ancient synagogue, perhaps the oldest on the Iberian Peninsula (Carrer Marlet, 5). Since then efforts have been underway to recover the city’s Jewish history, and the Barcelona History Museum has a special branch dedicated to the subject, the MUHBA El Call.

Occasionally, the remnants of the past pop up in the most unexpected places. Caelum (Carrer Palla, 8) is an exquisite café and shop that sells cakes, biscuits, sweets and liquors made at monasteries and nunneries. The place has a charming, 19^th century, tea-time-at-grannys feel to it, but the downstairs cellar with its fragments of ancient Jewish baths takes you even further back in time.  While soaking in the ancient atmosphere, I recommend ordering a cup of tea or coffee and selecting a treat from the pretty crystal cake dishes…there really isn’t another place quite like Caelum in this city.

Food and history also happily coincide at Els Quatre Gats (Carrer Montsió, 3 bis). Founded in 1897 by Pere Romeu and inspired by the Parisian Le Chat Noir, the restaurant was a popular artists’ hangout at the turn of the last century. Painters like Ramon Casas and Santiago Rusiñol helped fund what became the epicentre of Barcelona’s cultural life. As a teenager, Picasso became a regular and held his first exhibition at the restaurant. When Romeu died, Rusiñol said the following about his old friend, “we will miss you, and in missing you, we will miss an era when our lives were fuelled by imagination.” Having a meal at Els Quatre Gats, in the company of its joyous, illustrious ghosts, gives you a taste of this richly creative period.

What makes the Gothic Quarter special is that it is home to so many different eras, layered one upon the other, all fuelled by incredible imagination. The ghosts of countless centuries mark every corner, every stone, of this complex and fascinating neighbourhood. And even an old-timer like myself is surprised time and again by the stories they tell.