Barcelona, a place called home

Before moving to Barcelona, my husband Arthur and I were living in Geneva. We had both quit our corporate jobs, we were eager to changing lives and new meaningful opportunities. We were looking for a dynamic city, a warm place, close to the sea, with a sense of community and friendly people. Little did we know about Barcelona and its marvellous wonders. After going to a meditation retreat, I went to Arthur and we both decided to give this city a try and have a physical experience before making any decision.

Landing in Barcelona

Mosaic walls in el Born

Our plane landed on Monday 11th February 2019 at 6pm. That same day, at 8.30pm, having dinner in a random cafeteria, Arthur looks at me with his big blue eyes and says “This is where I want to live, I’ll just wait for you to be ready.” This was it. Literally. We started flat hunting the next day and felt in love with a flat in Gràcia. Our offer was accepted, we were moving in a month.

The neighborhoods

From the coloured walls of Gràcia to the charming alleys of el Raval, from the stunning views of Parc Güell to the endless plant discovery of Parc Montjuic, we have found our happy place in Barcelona. It’s only been 15 months, but it feels so good, like a warm bath. The city is energetic and invigorating at the same time. You can have drinks all night long at a terrasse, go for a silent walk in the forest, take a nap by the sea, go out at different bars if you feel like it or simply do people and dog watching on a square.

“The city is energetic and invigorating at the same time.”

Enjoying life

Barcelona, coastal city

I’ve also discovered the culture of benches. This was completely new. Imagine, just sitting down, 5-10 minutes, for the simple pleasure of taking the time. Everyone does it, old people wanting to rest, people walking their dogs, youngsters coming back from a night out… In our street, there’s a bench under a palm tree that we’ve named Raymond (we live Carrer de Domenech and wanted to give tribute to the french coach Raymond Domenech).

Creative Gràcia

Casa Mila created by Gaudi on Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona

Learning Spanish has been so pleasant. People appreciate you making the effort. So when we can’t find the exact words, we smile and speak with our hands. It sometimes happen that I wake up in the middle of the night speaking Spanish. I’m not entirely sure when we’ll start learning catalan, and think castellan would do for now.

If you’re interesting in knowing more about how we’ve changed life, you will love the article “Changing job, changing life”.