I lived in Madrid for a little while and came to love its laid-back charm (can you say siesta!) and Latin
sophistication. And there is nothing quite like the city’s late, late nightlife. But the city that most intrigued me in
Spain was Barcelona. It is in my opinion much hipper, modern, happening than Madrid.
The Star Tribune has got a feature on Barcelona that
might tempt you to visit the city on your next European jaunt. It covers the basics: La Rambla, the cathedrals, Gaudi,
Miro and Picasso, but it also features a
nice reading list to prep your brain, something I
think travel articles ought to do more often. There is also a decent (but not great) photo gallery of what you can
expect to see in the city.