I have just finished figuring out your puzzle, Barcelona . I have known about your ten districts and, more or less, where they are. But how many neighbourhoods are there: sixty-four? Seventy-one? Seventy-three? Well, the media was giving me some news stories about how big you have become and how big you are continuing to grow, so we decided to explore the whole of you. There were many of us students who were interested in your different areas. The ten districts were easy to differentiate but the neighbourhoods have given us some trouble. You have to understand that we are quite young. We usually move about only within our own area, and we often think that a location like Plaza Catalunya is really far from another like Plaza Espanya. Anyway, many of us did now know where some of these neighbourhoods were, or had rarely heard of them, or did not even know that they existed.

I must say that some students were afraid of going into some of your areas, but their families helped with this project and went with the students there. This was a good thing because the parents had never explored many of these places either, and they were adults!

Is Barcelona getting too big for the average citizen to know her? Are we afraid of getting on the number 47 bus, for example, and taking it to the end? Are we too busy to do this? Why are we not using the Bus del Barri? They are so cute! Why don't we try taking the number 112 bus and going up the Carmel. How beautiful the views are from the top! Nothing can compare to them.

Everybody knows about the Eixample; everybody has heard about Pedralbes, but what about Nou Barris? Sant Marti? Torre Baro? Are they also a part of Barcelona ? Of course they are! They, too, are Barcelona . We could not believe it. So, we started getting information and visiting the chosen neighbourhoods. We have walked their streets and spoken to the people living there. How happy and how proud these people are to be living where they do! It is incredible.

We have also been reading books about you and your history. We now know how hard it is for a city to overcome a war, a plague, poverty, misery and a Somorrostro, for example. Life must have been very hard for many, many anonymous people, but from our small piece of work, we want to thank all of them for all they have done for me. Barcelona must feel very proud of all the citizens who have participated in her long, long history.

A bunch of young citizens