The Government eliminates the restrictions, so, except going to a club, you can finally do everything again. In theory, of course, because there are so many covid positives in your little group that the only plan on your horizon is to stay embedded on the couch Jabba the Hutt. While you wait for the double line to stop showing up on your tests, don’t stay home. sign up to activities to do by yourself in Barcelona.
Bars with board games
entertainment in vein
Here, if they yell “a loner!” They don’t just talk about you, they also talk about the card game. Welcome to board game bars, places where your beer doesn’t come with a tapa, but with a deck of cards. The bar Queimada Levell Q (Independence, 323) or the cotxera (Costa i Cuxart, 31) are among the best known, although not the only ones. With a collection of hundreds of board games, they have options for everyone, even those of you who come alone. If your friends cancel your beers, you no longer have an excuse not to leave home.
If analog is not your thing and you prefer digital entertainment, the NÜA (Gran de Gràcia, 167) is a restaurant that would fascinate Elon Musk. Is the ‘first smart restaurant’ in Europe, here “the tables are like a giant iPad, with ‘apps’ of all kinds: from the restaurant’s menu and the daily press to dozens of games for after-dinner,” explains Víctor, the person in charge. A perfect place to come alone. While you wait for the food, you can challenge another table to a game, taking advantage of the fact that they are all connected. Entertainment and, on top of that, with social distance.
cat plans
Bring out your Bridget Jones
All your friends say the same thing: “Lucky my partner when I confined myself, otherwise I would have gone crazy.” And you, the bachelor of the group, in your eternal role as Bridget Jones, can only smile uncomfortably. Are you one of those who uploaded a photo of their cat on International Kissing Day? Or one of those that when they buy for two includes a package of feed? Or one of those who use the hashtag the most? cat what friends? Well, as Hollywood teaches us, as soon as loneliness knocks at the door, those who answer are the cats.
Therefore, nothing like feline plans when they cancel a meeting by omicron. Take the next coffee surrounded by meows like piped music in the Space of Gats (Terol, 29) or the gatuari (Sant Lluís, 14), two cat cafes where, if you don’t spit furballs, you’re not the protagonist. They also function as animal education and adoption center. For example, they do courses so that owners can understand their pets. That way, if your feline meows ‘Memory’ at you in the middle of the night, you’ll know she doesn’t want her belly scratched, she’s having a midlife crisis.
read in the sun
Bookstores and banks
There is always the option of combating loneliness like the cloistered monks: with reading. Stop by some of the historical bookstores in Barcelona, such as Selvaggio (Freneria, 12), Palau (Sant Pere Més Alt, 6), Fabre (Aribau, 84) or Castro (Josep Estivill, 40-42), among many others. Or, if you prefer more modern, there are those that hit it on Instagram: Ona Llibres, the Gràcia classic (Gran de Gràcia, 217) which opened a branch in the center last year (Pau Claris, 94), Byron (Casanova, 32) or The Raval Central (Elisabets, 6), which also has a terrace where you can have a coffee while you debut your purchase.
Obviously, the best complement to an afternoon of book-loving ‘shopping’ is the back bench or patch of grass where you can lie down and read while the sun warms you up. If you haven’t opened it yet, the new Parc de les Glòries, baptized as the Clariana de las Glòries, has a ‘chill’ area full of hammocks, perfect for the occasion. Or the more typical option: Montjuic (such as, for example, the Plaza de Carlos Ibáñez), or the Turo of Putxet, the one of the Peira or the one of the Creueta del Coll, to do it with views of the city. The options where to do photosynthesis with a book are endless.
observation of the cosmos
Be the star of the night
What do you feel alone? Well, lose yourself in the immensity of the night sky in a astronomical Observatory. As the ‘meme’ says: the universe doesn’t care about your problems. Thus, perhaps, seeing that for the great macrocosm you are smaller than your atoms, you relativize the downfall of the omicron. And, if not, then at least you can relax for a while watching the space, which is already more than Jennifer Lawrence’s character can say in ‘don’t look up‘.
In Barcelona you have night visits to the Fabra Observatory, organized by fever, which, for less than 15 euros, includes a guided tour, sky observation and a glass of cava. Or the out of town option, the Sierra de Castelltallat observatory, in the Bages. In addition, you can sleep in one of the hotels in the mountains and enjoy its clear skies, which will allow you to see the stars without the need for a telescope.
Go to the movies alone
Tiktoker trend
Look at the billboard, buy the tickets, grab your popcorn and enjoy the movie. Yes, you alone. That your friends are all confined? Nothing happens: according to TikTok, It is becoming more and more fashionable to go to the cinema without company. A trend that gives you independence and a long etcetera that translates into improving your mental health. No more saying no to a plan just because you can’t find your +1.
Of course, Barcelona is full of cinemas: from the largest to the most indie chains that only show the original version. But beyond the ‘mainstream’ billboard, you have cinemas like the film library (Plaza de Salvador Seguí, 1), with its thematic cycles, or the phenomenon (Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 168), which, as its name says, its 4k films are a unique cinematographic experience.
Relax a little
Peculiar massages
Dodging covid like bullets in ‘The Matrix’ is exhausting. So, to relax a bit, get a massage. But not just any one, but one of those unique in Barcelona. It’s time to ‘treat yourself’, the English expression that is used so much in networks just before indulging in a good treat.
To begin with, the massages with avocado or coconut from Wellness Balmes (València, 238), which take advantage of the multiple nutrients in fruits to take care of the skin while releasing tension. Or, in the same vein, chocolate massage from La Creme (Comandant Benitez, 35), whose sweet ingredients serve to stimulate circulation. Lastly, the AquaBliss Fish Spa (Comtal, 33), where you will end up screwing up: specifically, in a small pool. They are the main promoters of the ‘fish spa’ in the city, those massages where fish tickle your feet and devour your dead skin with the same impetus as in the movie ‘Piranha’.
snack donuts
have a round day
To have a round day, a plan without figures (although with a big hole): snack in a grocery store donuts. Are the sweet fashion, a classic that always comes back, reinventing itself and that, for a year, it’s been impossible not to cross paths in your friends’ stories. The coolest place is Side (Parlament, 20) which, with more than 16,000 followers, is sweeping Instagram thanks to its letter, which promises a different experience every time you go to change with almost daily frequency. OR Lukumas, whose offices in Raval (Valldonzella, 36) and Gràcia (Torrent de l’Olla, 169) bring together the modern Barcelona at lunchtime. And, as a bonus track, the Boldú donut men (with a dozen outlets throughout the city), which are sure to sweeten your afternoon as well.
Looking for a partner
Flirting without ‘apps’
And, if all else fails, fight loneliness by looking for a partner. There is always the option of Tinder, of course, but, in order not to waste time between ‘swipes’ and bream conversations, there is an express alternative: the speed dating. “In just an hour and a half, you meet an average of 12 people in 7 minute speed dating», explains Jordi, of BeDazzling, a company that organizes the most massive speed dating in Barcelona. They are organized every weekend at Market Bar (Mallorca 202), “a large space that allows you to maintain a safe distance,” he says.
Related news
One last recommendation. If you get to the end of the night and your dates have noticed less chemistry than in an organic food store, go for brunch at Lilo Coffee (Diputació, 443). Here, you will not feel or sit alone: there are giant teddy bears that you can hug without having to go to a pharmacy for an antigen test afterwards.