Decameron: the oasis among books of Raval

Walking through the center of Barcelona is tiring. That's a fact. And there are times when you need to stop, rest, have a coffee, and continue your route. Today, we're talking about an oasis within another oasis: the La Central bookstore in the Raval district. Bookstores are inherently places of calm where (unless it's Sant Jordi) the pace slows down and you feel more relaxed. This one also has a café inside, although we could say outside, because most of its tables are outside. The café is called Decameron, and it has three spaces. A small patio, the tables inside, where the counter for ordering is, and then the larger space, where most of the tables are.

It's in this larger space that we find a very pleasant garden surrounded by greenery and peace, which doesn't seem like it's in the center of the city. The cafeteria, run by the same people who own Baldomero (in the Mercader Passage), has everything you need for a vermouth, breakfast, or a snack. Everything you need to fit in with bookstore hours.

Aside from being a great place to take a break, it's also ideal for a classic coffee date downtown. A business meeting for the start of the school year. A casual date. Or just sitting down for a while to browse through your new acquisitions as back-to-the-routine reading. When the holidays are over, you want to find other worlds to travel to, even if it's just inside a fiction book.