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Barcelona is the nearest town to the touristic Recuca coffee plantation in the UNESCO World Heritage listed Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia. There’s no real reason to visit but we decided to stop and check it out while passing through on our way to the towns of Buenavista and Pijao.
Barcelona was founded in 1914 and belongs to the municipality of Calarcá. It’s quite a large town and I’m surprised it’s not a municipality itself.
Plaza de Bolívar
The small town has a decent plaza, Plaza de Bolívar, that has a few nice buildings, an ugly church, and not much more.
Alfredo Café
Looking to grab a cup of coffee, we had two choices. Located on the plaza was a quirky looking place called Baracoa, and Alfredo Café across the street. Baracoa was completely empty while Alfredo Café had a good crowd. The choice was easy.
Alfredo Café was nicely decorated inside, service was friendly and fast, but the coffee was so-so. Good thing we were on our way to Café San Alberto in Buenavista!
El Mirador La Mona
On a trip passing through the area, we stopped for lunch at El Mirador La Mona. It’s located just a few minutes drive past Barcelona at the turn to Pijao and Córdoba.
This little hole-in-the-wall serves the best bandeja paisa I’ve ever had in Colombia as well as a delicious sancocho. I think it will be a must to stop there on every trip through the area.
