Where's a good place just to walk around and enjoy the scenery?
Parc Güell is definitely one of my favorites. There is an indoor arboretum in the large park, which is a lovely place to sit, and there is a café/restaurant there to grab a bite to eat. You walk through basically what you imagine is a crazy kind of vision of a Hansel and Gretel gingerbread house [designed by Gaudí]. It's just amazing - these tiles and mosaics, so colorful. That's what's so beautiful about the stuff: Everything is really colorful and very childlike. When you walk up, there's this salamander or lizard that is also in the mosaic, but it's in the fountain, in the center of it. There are usually beautiful musicians that are playing, and it's a wonderful way to experience it.

I hear the city's Gothic Quarter is one of the oldest areas in Europe.
That's such a beautiful area - very walkable from where I was staying. It's just a gorgeous, very old area with beautiful shops. A lot of great little design shops, shoe shops, clothing shops, a lot of ice cream stands, cute little pizzerias. It's very alive at night. Very narrow cobblestone streets; everything is stone; all the doorways are tiny. You will have this very, very old structure, but a lot of the shops and restaurants and all that stuff are very, very new and chic and well designed. That kind of juxtaposition. It's just a good area to get lost in.

Okay, dinner. I know you loved to get lost, but give us some addresses.
For breakfast, lunch, and dinner there is Bar Leo on San Carles in Barceloneta. They offer home-cooked Andalusian food - ­patas de pork, paella, migas, and tapas - in a totally authentic atmosphere. You also get to meet Leo. The location is great. It kind of opens out into a square, but it's right by the beach with the boardwalk. L'Aguilera in Borne-Ribera is great. It's right next to the Plaça St. Augusti Vell. Cal Pinxo on Carrer Baluard is a great place to have paella of all sorts, and it's right on the beach.