March 30, 2011

Arenas - new opening

Saturday I visited the new shopping centre Arenas, along with what seemed liked the rest of Barcelona. It seemed like everybody wanted to visit this special new shopping opportunity inside a former bull fighter areana. Therefore, it was very difficult to actually be able to move inside the centre and visit the shops there. Further more, it was a bit confusing to get around; I visited the first and second floor, then I found out that I couldn't reach the 3rd floor from the second floor, but I had to go down again to the first floor to take some stairs. But at in the first floor I found a huge line and a security guard letting people in little by little to the 3rd floor. Since I at that point did not have any more patience, I decided to drop the 3rd floor.



Nevertheless, I was able to get an overview of the stores in side of the centre and honestly I was not very impressed. There are no Inditex shops in the centre nor any H&M - stores I normally would visit. Here are some of the shops you can find: Mango, Blanco, Punt Romà, Miss Sixty, Casas, Trucco, +D Conti, Calzedonia, Swarovski, Base, Desigual, Piquadro, Tous o Calvin Klein - none of which I would go specially to this centre to shop in.


What I did like about the centre was the view from the top. Since it was impossible to get around inside the centre, I climbed an outdoor staircase to the roof. From there you have a beautiful view to Parc Miró and Plaza Espanya. I came at night when all the lights were on and while they were doing the Magic fountains - which meant I had a spectacular view to see the show.
Currently there is only one restaurant open on the roof but it seems like more (including Mussol) will be opening soon. I can imagine that it could be very nice having dinner on the terrace roof top during summers..
On the floor just under the roof, they have opened a Metropolitan fitness centre with a running slope around the building - that must be a funny jogging round to do..

All in all, the building is very impressive as are the views from the top, nevertheless, I am not impressed with the selection of shops in centre.

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