Sonar 1

One Wednesday I left the town and traveled to Barcelona to visit a dear friend and attend the Sonar festival. While we spent the majority of our time hearing much new and old music at the festival, we also enjoyed much that the city had to offer. I stayed at my friend's apartment, on the third floor overlooking the Sant Antoni Market in Sant Antoni, and opposite a popular cafe I had dined at on previous visits to the city. We ate at this cafe on the night of my arrival.

On the first morning I walked around the Raval area which was as fascinating as I had remembered it and not (yet?) destroyed by gentrification.

The Bocqueria too had not really changed.

The MACBA where Sonar (by day) used to be held.

The layout and architecture of the Sant Antoni area comprised neat blocks of tall apartment buildings, the ground floor of which were generally retail stores, cafes and food shops opening onto the pavement. Many intersections were public squares of sorts, in an octagonal shape, with public waste bins and outdoor eateries. Many streets were pedestrianised, also with numerous bars and eateries. The casualness of Barcelona and the amount of outdoor public activity was in stark contrast to the English town where  I had been residing.

In the image below, my window is one of those on the top level.

For an account of our time at Sonar read my friend's review here. For self indulgence, my - now ancient - review of Sonar 2006 can be found here.

After Sonar by day we traveled across town to see Terry Riley's In C, and I was interested by some of the surrounding architecture.