Three hours at the wheel at La Torratxa, a ceramics school in Gràcia

You sit down at the wheel without ever having touched clay, and in three hours you learn the basics: how to position yourself, centre the lump and raise it to make small pieces, bowls or cylinders. There are six of you at most. The pieces stay at the school, which glazes them with a glossy finish. It is a way to find out whether you like the wheel before signing up for a course.

A neighbourhood school that opens its tables to people who just turn up

La Torratxa is a ceramics school in Gràcia where most students come every week for a two-hour session, for €85 a month. It also organises one-day workshops, and this three hours at the wheel, from 10:00 to 13:00 for €65, is the shortest way to start. The dates are not fixed: they appear in the course calendar on its website, and that is where you book your place.

If you prefer to work at the table, without a wheel, look at the Make a cup at the table workshop: two hours, from 17:00 to 19:00, using the slab technique, for €50 and with 8 places. At the end you choose the handle, paint it and decide whether the glaze is glossy or matt. To go further, the Introduction to the wheel takes up a weekend and costs €150.

From Joanic to Carrer de la Providència

The workshop is at Carrer de la Providència, 64, in a ground-floor space in the Gràcia neighbourhood. Get off at Joanic, line 4, or at Fontana, line 3, and walk about ten minutes. At weekends the school only opens for these workshops, so do not turn up without a booking.