CONVENTIONAL thinking holds that Barcelona is Spain's gateway to European culture. Insofar as culture means innovative architecture and modern art, smart urban planning that prizes pedestrian-friendly boulevards and an arm's-length attitude toward deep Spanish traditions like bullfighting, such thinking is right on the money. It was in Barcelona in the 1890s that Picasso found the artistic vanguard that propelled him to Paris and world renown. And this is where Gaudí spun Art Nouveau into his own quirky architectural idiom. Today the term avant-garde still applies: to Barcelona's fusion cuisine, design-accented boutique hotels, fun-loving fashion houses and even a delicious assortment of innovative chocolatiers, all of whom cut their teeth in the Catalan capital before taking on the rest of Spain.

Friday

4:30 p.m.
1) PICTURING PICASSO

Spain's greatest 20th-century export is the subject at the Picasso Museum (Carrer de Montcada, 15-23; 34-93-256-3000; www.museupicasso.bcn.es; 6 euros, or about $8, at $1.34 to the euro), which has a rich collection of the artist's early works — Blue Period, Rose Period, Cubism — before he permanently settled in Paris. Set in a complex of 12th- and 13th-century Catalan palaces, the museum manages to show how the young Picasso arrived in Barcelona as a teenager in 1896 and literally found the world. One can almost hear the buildings' giant stone blocks bending to his artistic will. Later in life, he cheekily donated his brilliant riffs on perhaps the country's most cherished painting — “Las Meninas” by Velázques — proving that even after years of self-imposed exile, Picasso couldn't get Spain out of his system.

6 p.m.
2) RETAIL THERAPY

Take a leisurely stroll from the upscale Passeig de Gràcia toward the downtown Born district, where trendy boutiques line up with the last of the old mom-and-pop shops. Despite Madrid's efforts to catch up, Barcelona arguably remains the design capital of Spain, and Vinçon (Passeig de Gràcia, 96; 34-93-215-6050; www.vincon.com) is among its most revered shrines for smart and stylish house wares. You'll find everything from a flexible rubber ice tray (8.45 euros) to a sleek sleeper sofa (1,495 euros), both available in a warm shade of terracotta. As you approach sea level in el Born, look for one of the six Barcelona outposts of Xocoa (www.xocoa-bcn.com), the in chocolatier that sells ginseng energy bars with an uplifting 52 percent cacao. Wash away the guilt with a glass of crisp albariño at the cavernous wine bar Vinya del Senyor (Plaça de Santa Maria, 5; 34-93-310-3379) just opposite one of Barcelona's favorite churches and gathering spots, Santa Maria del Mar.