Bar Marsella in Barcelona
Little round tables, faded mirrors, wooden walls yellowed by tobacco and decorated with ancient pictures, dusty bottles placed randomly in an old-fashioned bar, Victorian chandeliers and a lot of history under the flayed ceiling – this is Marsella, the oldest bar in Barcelona.
An Artist’s Absinthe Hangout
I don’t know how true a legend can be but I definitely loved this one, since I am a romantic.
Marsella Bar dates back in 1820 and it claims itself to be the place where famous people like Hemingway, Picasso, Dali, Gaudi and Miro have drunk at least once, a magical glass of Absinthe.
The bar’s reputation is due both to the artists who stepped into overtime and to the controversial Green Fairy which is Marsella’s regular drink.
I have reasons to believe that the legend might be true because Hemingway did spend some time in Barcelona between 1820 and 1830, he is known as a bar’s lover and he actually mentioned the magical Absinthe in some of his stories such as “Death in the Afternoon” or “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, but even if this is just a sweet trap for tourists, it still worth to raise a glass to great art and literature in Marsella Bar while you are in Barcelona.
Located in Barrio Chino (El Raval) – Barcelona’s most debated area but still an exciting spot,
Marsella it’s not easy to find if you are not a local because of its camouflaged exterior (metal shutters covered in graffiti) but once you’ll get in, you’ll recognize its bohemian feeling, you will be welcomed by students and artists like coming from the past in search of inspiration and surprisingly, you will like it.
The bar has also inspired contemporary artists like the director Woody Allan who chose to shot a scene here between Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem when they were in town for filming Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Meet Hemingway’s ghost?
If you’ll ask the bartender for an Absinthe, you will get a glass of magic potion (the bar has its own brand of Absinthe), a bottle of water, a fork and a little cub of sugar.
That happened to me and I woke up with these tools and no instructions. Since I am not a connoisseur, I had to pay attention to other people and follow their ritual, so I putted the sugar in the fork; I poured the water slowly over the cub until it has melted and it flowed over the Absinthe coloring it in a bright phosphorescent green.
Although it is said that today this herbal liqueur doesn’t contain anymore the prohibited hallucinogenic substance, I won’t recommend you to try more than one glass unless you came here to meet Hemingway’s ghost.
El Raval might not be the safest place in Barcelona if you consider the prostitutes and the pickpockets who are spread in the area after dark but it’s the most colored one. They say it is “Rambla of the poor”, I would say it’s diverse and exciting since I find its excesses extravagant and alive.
In such a contrasting place, Marsella Bar represents somehow what El Raval itself does – a bond between the glorious past of Barcelona and its persuasive present.
Photo by openprivacy
