Whenever you visit Madrid and Barcelona, everyone asks you which one you liked better.  To this day, I’m still not entirely sure.  I had more time in Barcelona, which meant more time to just wonder.  The first day I was there, I wondered through the streets of the Gothic quarters, completely mesmerised.  Around each corner was something new to discover.  And when you emerge, it’s as if you have just stumbled out of a completely different world and into a modern city.  But that’s how I found most of Barcelona to be.  This modern coastal city, with high-end restaurants and shiny skyscrapers, had pockets of history hidden just slightly beneath its surface.  Each time I venture off the main streets, I would be walking further and further into history, and would find myself in the presence of a hidden gem-Els Quatre Gats, Picasso’s favourite hangout, la Casa de l’Ardiaca, the Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi.  A city so full of mystery.