Uh, my internship is awesome. For the past 4 weeks, I have been photographing and writing my fanny off. Seriously, that is what I do! I get to be creative with my camera and learn about photo editing and publication design and attend cool events and concerts for free and write about music and art!

Streets of Barcelona

My job has me constantly in a photographic state of mind, and I really enjoy just wandering around with my camera hoping to come upon something worth snapping.

One of the places where I find I am the most snap-happy (and one of my favorite Barcelona neighborhoods in general) is Gràcia. I’ve been spending a lot more time there than usual as I was given the Gràcia distribution route, and to me it feels like an escape from Barcelona without having to leave Barcelona. Maybe it’s because of its location – outside the ciutat vella, cornered cozily between two of Antoni Gaudí’s most celebrated and wondrous architectural feats: the Park Güell to the north and the Sagrada Familia to the east, and within perfect proximity to the enormous and commercial Avinguda Diagonal, so you can be close to the action without feeling like you have to get right up in it.

Maybe it’s because Gràcia’s streets are mostly pedestrian, with touches of urban gardening and a general sense of harmony. The buildings are not terribly tall, most of them painted in vibrant pastels, and it seems on every other block there are squares with benches and young elm trees and café tables – fantastic spots to socialize, or to go to on sunny, breezy days with the intention of doing absolutely nada. There are so many miniature galleries, bars and concert rooms, some of them so small and hidden that you have to know someone to know how to find them. There are WiFi cafés, book shops and antique shops, and delicious, authentic eateries – Lebanese, Nepalese, Japanese, and of course Spanish and Catalan.

In August, there is a spectacularly  unique neighborhood festival, the festa major de Gràcia, that is not to be missed if you happen to be around during that time. Gràcia is all about individualism and cool. Everything around you makes you wish you were an artist, and if you are an artist, it makes you want to stop what you’re doing and paint your surroundings.

It’s but one of the many neighborhoods in Barcelona where you can go to awaken all of your senses, but I particularly enjoy it because of its cool.

Kelly Doyle-Mace was a runner-up for the 2009 World Traveler Internship and chronicled her prize for the STA Travel Blog – a spot as a University of Dreams Intern at BCN Week in Barcelona, Spain.