Barcelona is divided into 10 districts. The ones worth seeing in your spare time are easily walkable. Three to focus in on are, (1) Ciutat Vella (Old City), lying between the port and Placa de Catalunya, includes the Rambla promenade, Barri Gothic and the ever-trendy El Born area, (2) The Eixample, a grid-happy, modern-designed district where you'll find beautiful Casas and an Asian-heavy neighborhood, and (3) Gracia, north of which one finds Park Guell, a giant architectural/gardened mash-up. This is not to say the other 7 should be ignored, just bide your time accordingly.

In Old City, first and foremost, give at least a precursory nod to the bustling La Rambla. Filled both with flimflammers and slightly more legit flower-, pet- and newspaper-peddlers, street performers, seedy cafes, the acrobatic waiters they employ able to weave through the crowds balancing 8 coffees on a tray and tchotchke merchants of all shapes and sizes, this 1-kilometer (like a mile, but shorter) stretch of beautiful chaos running through the heart of Ciutat Vella is where you'll find most of the visitors to the city.

Afterward, chill out (ironically) in the medieval part of Old City, the Barri Gothic. Here you'll find Gothic cathedrals, Roman ruins and the Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat, which focuses on how the city grew through, and survived, Visigothic and Roman times (Palau Padellas, Carrer del Veguer 2).

Moving on from goth to Art Nouveau (and, neo-goth, whatever that is), you'll find Eixample a Catholic schoolgirl's plaid skirt of so many rigid grids it makes midtown look like the village - complete with its own diagonal Broadway, curiously enough called Avenue Diagonal.

Antonio Gaudi was a septuagenarian on his way to mass, just minding his own, when he was struck and killed by a trolley car back in 1926. A skilled jay walker, he wasn't -- but as an architect, he is considered a genius. You can find his work all over Barcelona, especially in Eixample. His most famous design isn't even finished, some 126 years after it was first begun - still, Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia, with its spires, bell towers and jumbo crosses, all glowing yellow at night, is one of the most beautiful and surreal Christian monuments in the world. Look for the last piece of scaffolding to leave around 2026 (Pl. de la Sagrada Familia). Casa Mila, a.k.a. La Pedrera (Stone Quarry), is Gaudi's other famous brainchild. Absolutely hated by locals and critics alike when it was first unveiled in 1910, La Pedrera is definitely an acquired taste: eerie chimneys thought to scare away even witches, balcony "caves" (its rocky look gave the place its nickname), metal-sculpted seaweed running up its walls, all fronted by a curvy stone exterior completely lacking in straight lines. But the place eventually grew on everyone who gazed upon it (Passeig de Gracia 92).

LA TAXIDERMISTA

A "taxidermista" is what it sounds like - and yes, we could make a "eat until you're stuffed" joke. But we won't. Instead, we'll play it straight and tell you that this erstwhile taxidermist shop/museum in La Rambla, where Dali once shopped ("200,000 ants and a stuffed rhino…to go"), now serves real food - artichoke ravs, octopus, carpaccio, white tuna - er, with no preservatives (doh, we tried). (Pl. Reial 8).

SUQUET DE L'ALMIRALL

In the states, we're trained to run for zee hills from any restaurant with "admiral" in the name for fear of sitting though some cheesy, nautically-themed nightmare of a meal that usually ends in a fish-stick food fight between warring toddlers across the room from one another. And that's a very healthy instinct, grasshopper. But this al fresco-friendly, terraced seafood joint in Barceloneta serves the real deal: lobster, a hearty fish stew and various rice dishes. It is, however, closed on Sundays (Passeig Joan de Borbo 65).

TRAGALUZ

Come for the sliding glass roof that invites the celestial bodies in to dinner, stay for - er - the same thing. But on the off chance you look down at your plate at this 3-story restaurant in Eixample, you'll discover Mediterranean food deserving of such attention from the heavens - mostly light dishes made from only fresh market ingredients (Passatge de la Concepcio 5).

HOTEL OMM

Would you believe this is Barcelona's most historic hotel? Good, 'cause obviously it's not, more like a 2004 born-on date. Design, boutique, sleek -- whatever you want to call it, Omm has that light/dark W-vibe in spades, with hot chicks sprawled out on the lobby's sofas reading magazines they're maybe on the cover of, and an award-winning Sommelier behind the onsite scenstaurant, Moo. The staff might be a little snobby, by Barcelona standards anyway, but a little isn't so bad, is it? (Would you still come if they weren't?) All rooms and suites have broadband jacks and WiFi (from $377, hotelomm.es).

HOTEL GRANADOS 83

Actually, this place, set below the Diagonal in Eixample, would be more deserving of the name "Omm" as it's fashioned like a Zen Buddhist temple. Well, it has Buddhist and Hindu artwork, anyway. But it's named after a famous pianist, Enric Granados, who drowned while trying to save his wifey (a heroic dude -- he was aquaphobic, to boot). The place claims to be "the most urban and avant-garde hotel designed for gourmet bohemians and the most adventurous." Hmm, that sounds frightening - but we're confident you're up to it. Beyond all that, Granados has in-room and biz center ADSL/WiFi, plus a rooftop pool - now that's adventurous bohemianism (from $212, derbyhotels.es).

HOSTAL GAT XINO

That's gat, as in gato, as in cat - the totem beast behind this slick, youth-targeted, few-frills option just two minutes from La Rambla. But that's not hostal, as in hostel, as in dump. A modern binary aesthetic of black and green walls provide the back drop, but in each of its 34 rooms (and 1 terrace suite), you'll find the bare necessities and then some: bathroom, A/C, TV and free WiFi. There's also a sister Gat property in Raval (from $104; gataccommodation.com).

Flights:

Barcelona International Airport (BCN), a sly mix of steel, glass and marble over 3 terminals, has the best street name in the biz - "El Prat" -- in virtue of its location in El Prat de Llobregat, a small town 6 miles outside Barcelona (the airport occupies 25+% of it - blue-legged chickens mostly occupy the rest). BCN is Spain's second largest airport after Madrid's Barajas, used by 32.8 million passengers in 2007 (Iberia's Barcelona-Madrid shuttle service runs 971 times a week, making it the world's busiest route).

NYC is one of the few cities blessed enough to have 7-hour, nonstop service to BCN (besides Chicago and Philly, most everyone else has to fly through Madrid). Delta (delta.com) started last year, American Airlines (aa.com) and Iberia (iberia.com) have followed suit -- all make that trip from JFK; Continental (continental.com) has been making the trip out of Newark since 2006.

To get from the airport to your hotel, you have your pick of bus, train or taxi. Aerobus is the easiest way to go; it's about a 15-minute ride to Placa de Catalunya and costs $6. Taxis, meanwhile, are anything but charitable -- think between $28 and $40 (hits a little close to home, ja?) to make that same 15 minute drive, and another $2 per unit of luggage on top of that. Then there's the train. A bit of a pain in the culo (getting to the station requires a 15 minute hike over the bridge), it's the cheapest option: about $3.90/ow. Leaving every half-hour, it stops at the Estacio de Sants, Placa de Catalunya, the Arc de Triomf and at Clot.

Ground transportation:

We know we say this a lot, but we mean it this time: this is a pedestrian's town - that is, when used in conjunction with the metro. The 5-line subway is very cheap and very easy to use - single rides are $2, a 10-ride ticket's a steal at only $11.

Taxis are those yellow and black things whizzing by; their rooftop green light is on when available. The meter starts at $2.90 ($3.05 at night), and the per meter rate increases 20% if you're using them outside of the 6 a.m.-10 p.m. window (must be the same union there as here).

Local Lingo:

In Barcelona, you're in Catalonia first, Spain second (like, constitutionally speaking) - likewise, Catalan is spoken first, Spanish second. And often, the two languages couldn't be more dissimilar (Catalan sometimes resembles French more). Here's a few phrases that'll help keep your head above water: "Bon dia" = good day, "Em dic..." = My name is, "Cuan val?" = How much is this? "Parada d'autobus" = bus stop, "Si us plau" = please.