A mugging in the morning - the other side to sunny Barcelona..

The risque Barri Gotic, narrow lanes inhabited by ne'r do wells..
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The attempted mugging happened at 10.00am on a sunny Barcelona morning..

I had just come up from the post office on Via Laeitana. It thought I'd catch the sights of the Barri Gotic (gothic quarter) on my last day. As I was passing through the narrow square of Carrer Jaume when two tiny gypsy women accosted me. Thrusting begging signs they edged closer and their posture disturbed me. While one tried to distract me the other lunged for my moneybelt. I panicked and shouted at them while trying to fend them off and keep one hand on my belt. Only when a nearby shopkeeper came to my aid did they scamper off. A passerby muttered "mejones" (gypsies) with distaste.

Tourists amble along the medieval lanes while old gnarled long-term inhabitants go about their business - the two inhabit in an uneasy truce.

The semana being danced outside Le Seu
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The whole incident unnerved me and the Barri Gotic does have a bad reputation for crime. You must take caution at night as plenty of drugdealers and ne'r do wells inhabit the Praca Real. The Barri Gotic is the centre of tourist Barcelona though and houses the greatest concentration of gothic buildigs in all Europe. Its still inhabited. Tourists amble along the medieval lanes while old gnarled long-term inhabitants go about their business - the two inhabit in an uneasy truce.

The epicentre of the Barri Gotic is Le Seu Cathedral. Only finished in the 19th Century the Cathedral is squeezed between narrow alleys covered in the grime of age. Beggars ask for money at the entrance to the 14th Century cloister, but once you are through their outstretched arms you enter an arcaded cloister with palm trees and a pond of honking geese.

The interior is gorgeous and the altar bedecked in gold and ivory. Great soaring columns dotted the nave and statues of the virgin lit up when money was deposited in. Once outside, I heard music start up. The semana, a dance once banned under Franco, has been rejeuvenated for the sake of tourism. Old ladies would take tourists by the hand and join them in a dancing ring, they would duck and bob to the music.

I was making my way across the square when a forceful shove hit my legs and knocked me over. I looked up and a small boy on a bicycle had barrelled into me. As I struggled up his father said "he is only small, you should have looked out for him". He HIT ME from behind. How was I meant to see him.

I decided at that moment that the Barri Gotic wasnt going to let me have an easy time. Time to find a nice bordega to have a sherry in. Ease my wounded ego and pride. Surely the Barcelona toddlers cant reach me in there?