Up On the Roof

Something you can find in many cities and which are usually fun to check out are rooftop bars. The combination of the view and being out in the open just creates an atmosphere that makes it feel okay to pay twice what you normally would for a drink.

Recently I went to a rooftop bar in Barcelona, also called “terraza” bars, as in terrace. The one we visited is called Terraza Alaire, in the Hotel Condes de Barcelona. The hotel is located at 73-75 Passeig (or Paseo) de Gracia, and the bar is on the 8th floor.

The bar looks out over Passeig de Gracia, with a view of Guadi’s La Pedrera and the twinkle of lights from many of the surrounding buildings. We arrived early to make sure we would get a table and as it was pretty empty we thought we would have our pick. They must have eyeballed us and sized us up as low rollers who would only buy one or two drinks, though, and our group of three was seated on a love seat against the building. All three of us, in a row, on an all-weather fiberglass love seat. We had a great view of the posh (empty) high top tables against the railing looking out over the city, though, so there was that.

When it eventually became unbearably awkward to try to talk while all smushed together in a row, I snagged a little ottoman away from one of the empty “reserved” tables and sat across from my friends. We never did see any of those tables fill up while we were there.
We ordered our drinks, two €6 glasses of wine and a €12 mojito and enjoyed (maybe a little too enthusiastically) the complimentary mixed nuts. It’s a cool setting for one drink, but since everyone is seated at separate tables, you can’t really mingle. Or maybe it was just a more appropriate place for couples who wanted to hold hands and stare at each other across a table in a pretty setting. It was great to chat with friends, but then we started to fee like our cute outfits were going to waste.

We finished our drinks and got up to make our way out and that’s when we realized we’d been given the short end of the stick. While we were sitting in Siberia where the highlight was the odd corn chip mixed in with the nuts, there was another whole wing of the bar that was teeming with attractive people milling about. As we approached the elevator we started murmuring to each other about whether we should still leave. We had already pushed the button though so it would have been a little strange to turn back now. We grudgingly entered the elevator when the doors opened. After I stepped in and turned around, I saw a table of incredibly handsome men directly across from the elevator checking us out. I started to lunge for the door but it was too late, the doors were closing.

If you choose to visit a rooftop bar while in Barcelona, I hope you will learn from my experience and at least do a lap around the joint before you commit to leaving. It could make all the difference.