The City Homage To BARCELONA

"You can fall in love, or at least into some kind of infatuation, with Barcelona. But not everyone finds the course of the affair smooth, for as the Spanish historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto recently wrote in his short history ; of the city, "like one of those tryingly beautiful and energetic women whom all men are able to identify among their acquaintances, she can excite passion only for short periods." It can be a confusing place for those who expect the stereotype of tourist Spain -- flamenco, bullfights, serenades under the moonlit balcony. It is a gritty city, crowded, with brusque street...