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Princesa 23
Click here to view map Click here to launch website In Barcelona you never forget your first bar… Or at least I haven’t. That magical first night when I arrived in this great city, wide eyed and innocent, and was immediately dragged out to Born to go drinking till five in the morning with my new flatmate and three beautiful French girls. So it’s not surprising that the bar I was taken to that night holds a special place in my heart. Princessa 23 is a great place for meeting new people. It’s very open without losing too much of the atmosphere, has plenty of seating and is large and noisy without being barn-like. Somehow it’s big enough for both a night out with a group and intimate enough to go with just a few friends or as a couple. The music has always annoyed me a bit but it’s innocuous enough to be ignored. Princessa was my regular for my first few months in Barca before it had to close due to noise issues. Many a day did I walk past and cast a mournful eye over it’s shuttered up façade until suddenly one day last November, there it was again shining brightly in the night time. The only problem is that the drinks are a little bit pricier now, though they do have a €4 cocktail of the day. One of the major attractions in the past was a nightly €3.50 mojito which has thankfully returned, from 11pm onwards. I’m not quite so great a fan of the bar as I was last summer - I swear the mojitos aren’t as good somehow for one thing - and I was never that into the rather repetitive world-electro music they play but it’s still a great space with a really excellent, friendly atmosphere and chic, attractive décor.