Hands join in a wide circle outside the Cathedral on weekend mornings, and anyone curious about the counted steps of the sardana is welcome to join the ring. Friends meet in the small squares of Gràcia, and on Sundays half the city seems to meet again over a vermouth before a long lunch.
Away from the famous facades, Poblenou fills old textile mills with design studios, and behind the city the hills climb to Tibidabo. Winters are mild, summers are warm to hot, and most rain falls in spring and autumn. A Local Friend walks right beside you, turning when you turn and stopping where you stop, so the plaza you wander into becomes part of the plan.
