Leisure Activity: Barcelona Nightlife

     One of my favorite leisure activities in Barcelona, and one of the many reasons why I chose the city as the location for my study abroad experience. Barcelona's nightlife is so different from the nightlife I am used to at school in America in a number of ways. The main difference is that most people who choose to go to clubs in Barcelona do not start getting ready for the night until around midnight, heading to the clubs around 2:00 AM. When I go out at my school in College Park, Maryland, I usually start getting ready around 8:00 PM and get to the bar by 11:30 PM. In College Park, I usually return home around 2:00 AM, which is when most bars close, whereas the Barcelona clubs are open until five or six in the morning and are very crowded until closing time. I love the schedule in Barcelona because I am always the last one of my friends to be ready to go out at school. I love going out late because it gives me a lot of time to relax and unwind after a long day of classes. I can take a nap and still have plenty of time to eat a leisurely dinner and get ready. Another difference in the nightlife is that in College Park, I usually go to small bars where people sit at tables and relax with friends. While Barcelona does have bars, I usually attend large clubs with strobe lights and loud music where everyone dances all night. In the small town where I go to school, all of the bars I frequent are located across the street from my apartment. In Barcelona, I always need to take cabs to and from the clubs. Another disparity that was hard for me to get used to is that Barcelona does not have restaurants that are open late at night after the clubs close. A big thing to do in America is to go out to get food after a night at the bars; when I go to a local pizza place  in College Park after a night out, I always see many of my classmates there and it is always fun to grab a snack, relax, and socialize before heading home for the night. A final difference is the way people dress when going out. At school, I usually wear jeans, boots, and a casual shirt to the bars. In Barcelona, girls go to the clubs decked out in dresses, tights, and high heels, while boys wear dressy pants, nice shoes, and button-down shirts. I enjoy this aspect of the nightlife and I love getting dressed up to go to the clubs.
     Since Barcelona has hundreds of clubs and bars to offer to people looking to go out and have fun, it is hard to choose which one to go to. I usually frequent the same clubs each week because they are the ones that many American students attend. However, I have also been to many clubs where there is a good mix of American students and local Barcelona citizens, as well as other tourists. Almost every Monday, I go to Otto Zutz, which is the club pictured in my photograph above. This club is always fun because it is full of American students. There is good music and a great dance floor. On Wednesdays, I usually go to Broadbar, a trendy club that usually has a nice mix of locals and American students. My favorite club is Opium, which is big on Thursday nights. I like Opium because it has a big dance floor and it is located right on the beach. There is an outdoor area where people can take a break from dancing to sit down, relax, chat, and take in the beautiful ocean view. A club that I enjoy going to on Friday is Oshum. It is a farther from the city center than other clubs, but it has the best DJ's. Other clubs that I like include a club on the beach called Shoko, a small club near the port called Mondo that has beautiful ocean views, and a bar called Elephant that has beachy wooden decor. I also enjoy a very large club called Razzmatazz that has multiple floors and always has great concerts.
     When I get tired of clubbing, there are some Barcelona bars that I like to go to for a more relaxing evening out. George Payne's is an Irish pub near my school's main campus that is a perfect place to watch FCBarcelona games and other sporting events on television. The pub always gets crowded during big games, making it a fun atmosphere to watch and celebrate victories with other fans. I also enjoy George Payne's because it very Americanized and it reminds me of home. Chupito's is a fun bar that offers crazy shots, such as one called the Boy Scout that is served with a toasted marshmallow. Pipperment's is a great bar at which to meet up with friends; it serves giant oversized drinks with dozens of long straws to share with a group of people. My favorite bar in Barcelona is Oveja Negra, a bar off Ramblas that serves some of the best Sangria I have had while abroad. Oveja is always packed with friendly locals and sitting the tables, which are very close together, can be a great way to meet Barcelona citizens in my age group and practice my Spanish skills.
    I have absolutely loved experiencing all that Barcelona nightlife has to offer, but I am exhausted after spending four months dancing all night at clubs! I am excited to make the change back to the low-key bars of College Park.