When you stop to think about, every major European city has its Champs Elysees: a grand avenue, generally boasting beautiful historic architecture that has somehow played a major part in the city’s biography. I thought it would be fun to take a virtual stroll down a few of these.
In Barcelona it’s the Passeig de Gràcia (and not, as is commonly thought, the more downbeat Las Ramblas), the Passeig de Gràcia is an elegant avenue that acts as main artery in the Eixample district, or the 19th century ‘New Town’. Florid, grey blue tiles line the pavements. They are reproductions of a design by the great modernista architect Antoni Gaudí and two of his mo
st famous works, the Casa Milá and Casa Batlló are also on the Passeig de Grácia. In between are some more glorious buildings and big name boutiques such as Chanel and Loewe, the luxury Spanish leather goods manufacturers.
In Rome the dog legged-shaped Via Veneto is legendary, largely thanks to Frederico Fellini’s classic 1960 film ‘La Dolce Vita’, which was largely shot on the Via Veneto. The street is home to the (in) famous Café de Paris, the American Embassy and some of the city’s most exclusive hotels.
In Amsterdam the PC Hooftstraat is THE shopping street, with stores and boutiques from Gucci, Cartier, Bulgari et al. The street is named after Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian and poet and naturally, it contains the most expensive real estate in the city. Locals often jokingly refer to SUVs as PC-Hoofttractors, as these large vehicles proliferate in the immediate area.
In Barcelona it’s the Passeig de Gràcia (and not, as is commonly thought, the more downbeat Las Ramblas), the Passeig de Gràcia is an elegant avenue that acts as main artery in the Eixample district, or the 19th century ‘New Town’. Florid, grey blue tiles line the pavements. They are reproductions of a design by the great modernista architect Antoni Gaudí and two of his mo
st famous works, the Casa Milá and Casa Batlló are also on the Passeig de Grácia. In between are some more glorious buildings and big name boutiques such as Chanel and Loewe, the luxury Spanish leather goods manufacturers.In Rome the dog legged-shaped Via Veneto is legendary, largely thanks to Frederico Fellini’s classic 1960 film ‘La Dolce Vita’, which was largely shot on the Via Veneto. The street is home to the (in) famous Café de Paris, the American Embassy and some of the city’s most exclusive hotels.
In Amsterdam the PC Hooftstraat is THE shopping street, with stores and boutiques from Gucci, Cartier, Bulgari et al. The street is named after Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian and poet and naturally, it contains the most expensive real estate in the city. Locals often jokingly refer to SUVs as PC-Hoofttractors, as these large vehicles proliferate in the immediate area.
