This week's postcard was mailed to my grandmother in 1953 from friends happily visiting Barcelona. They wrote that their hotel was "on this street."
Thanks to my desire to find out more about Barcelona due to this postcard, I discovered a really wonderful blog. Carlos Lorenzo at Barcelona Photoblog has, without a doubt, the coolest avatar in his profile that I've ever seen, and Carlos' passion for his city is evident in his stupendous photos and commentary. His post for July 1 is a haunting view of a poverty-stricken woman begging on the Paseo de Gracia. It's in sharp contrast to the goings-on along this avenue, home to upscale hotels and one of Barcelona's most important shopping and business areas. Wikipedia's description refers to the avenue as Passeig de Gracia noting: "In terms of the cost of renting or buying property anywhere in this avenue, Passeig de Gràcia is nowadays regarded as the most expensive street in Barcelona and also in Spain . . . "
Perhaps a reader will explain why the avenue is referred to as both Paseo and Passeig, as I've been unlucky in research on this. A map of Barcelona confirms they are one and the same. In any case it is called Barcelona's most elegant avenue and one of the best architectural walks in the city, containing several of the city’s most celebrated pieces of architecture. Here's one I fell in love with as I learned more about Paseo de Gracia,
La Pedrera by architect Antoni Gaudi:
