The Barcelonians

Christmas time

2011-12-28T13:47:00.001+01:00

These days, in Barcelona is possible to feel the charming feeling of Christmas. As in other occidental cities, Barcelona adorns itself in order to be warm and shimmering. Filled with shiny colorful little lights, the streets are decorated and invite everybody to buy and celebrate Christmas days by shopping and walking around.

Old Town becomes a nest of people from different parts of Barcelona and adventurous tourists, all together filling shops, squares, narrow streets and cafes. It is very common to drink hot chocolate with whipped cream accompanied by “xurros”, “melindros” or “croissant”, three different delightful pastries, in the traditional cafes located in the centenary and lovely street of Petrixol.

In the square in front of the Cathedral is situated the Market of “Santa Llúcia” where one can buy all the necessary stuff to create a beautiful and authentic Christmas crib. Catalan families used to make the crib in the early December, for which they need some dry moss and cork cortex for the mountains and the fields, some foil for the fake river and a starry sky printed in an ample paper. All these elements are indispensable to create the scenery where main actors will be located. In Santa Llúcia’s Market is possible to buy all the delicate ceramics or lead figures representing shepherds, fishers, farmers, carpenters and of course the holy family, the angel, the mule and the ox. One can buy cortex and moss as well.

A part of the traditional figures in the crib, there is one main character only in Catalonia, essential in any Catalan house that you can find for sure in Santa Llúcia’s Market: “el caganer” or the man who shits. This figure is the most important character in Catalan crib and represents a man that is shitting in the middle of the mountain. Traditionally it was another shepherd but nowadays it is trendy to buy famous characters represented as “caganer”.

Another important figure that you can buy in Old Town is the “Tió”, a tree trunk with a face drawn and wearing the typical Catalan red hat “barretina” which in Christmas Eve “shits” presents and sweets. Children have to beat the Tió with a stick at the same time that they sing a traditional song, asking the tree trunk to give them presents for Christmas.

In order to finish our visit in Old Town, we cannot miss the real size crib located in “Sant Jaume” Square which change every year designed by different artists. This year is possible to admire a Romanic style one. Why not just walk around and let the Christmas feeling to catch us?

"De TAPES per BARCELONA" Competition

2011-12-14T01:08:00.000+01:00

Thetitle means something like "Eating Tapas around Barcelona". It's atapas competition that has taken place in many of the restaurants and bars ofthe city during the last week. Almost 40 restaurants were offering a signaturetapa and a beer for just 2.4€. Before you went to the bar or restaurant youcould look at the tapas prepared on the website and choose the onesyou'd rather taste.

"Gremi de la Restauració"'s Prize

Egarri Txapeldun's Tapa

We wanted to go to three restaurants but we were too lateand we only managed to try two different ones. We, the public, were the jury,since for each tapa tasted we were supposed to give a score from 1 to 3depending if we liked it or not. Among all the participants big prizes wereraffled. We weren't lucky enough to try the winning tapas which were the ones in the top photo.

Thefirst Tapa we ate, at "La Pepita", a newish restaurant in the edgebetween the Gracia and l'Eixample quarters, was the "Anchovy with dulce deleche" which is an Argentinian sweet that surprisingly adjusted very wellto the salty taste of the anchovy. It was delicious, thanks also to the toastedbread which was almost spotless but at the same time gave consistency to the “dish”.So now you are thinking “oh, but I missed this gorgeous tapa… What am I goingto do?” Well, it’s easy since they serve this tapa in their day-to-day menu.We, for sure, are going to go back and try other dishes in the menu.

Thenext one we went to is called “Mulet”. This restaurant has a really good lunchmenu for just 10€ and it is also becoming very popular. They have recentlyadded a bar in the entrance and the competition tapa was served at this bar.The restaurant is nice. The bar, too kitsch. The tapa they served was alow-temperature cooked egg with truffled potato and foie that looks reallyappetizing in the picture, not so much in real life but tasted really good. Thetruffled potato left a very intense flavor in our palates that is hard toforget.

Barnabier's Tapa

So, weenjoyed this initiative a lot and we hope that there can be more like this inthe future. We just regret that we weren’t able to try more tapas. We commit totry them all (as many as we can at least) next year!

Classical music in the city

2011-11-26T13:27:00.001+01:00

L’Auditori is the place where many Barcelonians go to enjoy classical music. Designed by the famous Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, the building is a modern construction built in 1999 that seems a huge music box with only some square windows that radiate warm light to the surroundings.

Whereas that the exterior image of L’Auditori is expressionless combining materials like concrete and metal panels, the interior is rich and warm with light-brown wood panels coating the walls. From the enormous hall there are many entrances to the principal scenery, the place where the OBC or Orchestra from Barcelona and Catalonia, plays every weekend a marvelous and always surprising repertory. There is a principal orchestra director but it is common to encounter guest directors invited every year from different parts in the World.

Three smaller auditoriums set the building a part from the main auditorium. Called with musician names as Tete Montoliu, Oriol Martorell or Alicia Larrocha, these auditoriums host other musical proposals such as chamber music, indie pop music, jazz or flamenco.

The Music Museum and the School of Music of Catalonia (SMUC) are in the same building, becoming l’Auditori a focus of the musical life of the city in different areas like teaching or research.

The prizes are very variable, depending where you sit in the ample main auditorium, called Pau Casals as the great Catalan cellist, with a capacity of two thousand two hundred spectators. It can range from twenty euros to fifty five euros per person to assist to a philharmonic concert of the OBC. Despite paying the cheapest option it is guaranteed the prefect vision and sonority from any corner of the imposing space. If you live in Barcelona during a year, it is possible to buy season tickets to get a cheaper deal.

L’Auditori is not only an architectural landmark placed next to the growing and changing 22@ district but also the best place in Barcelona to listen the best music of all time. Music lovers, L’Auditori is waiting for you!

L'Auditori

Adress: C/Lepant, 150

Metro: L1 Glòries stop or Marina stop

Miró

2011-11-17T13:55:00.001+01:00

Joan Miró was a Catalan artist that painted and sculpted his works during the twentieth century. Described by many as surrealist, though also having influences of cubism, fauvism and expressionism, he was one of the most acclaimed artists of his generation. His artworks span from paintings, to sculptures and ceramics and what makes them recognizable is the primary colors and the simple and symbolic forms. Symbolism is Miró’s main theme throughout his career, especially how he used to simplify complex objects or concepts into very knit lines and colorful spots full of meaning inside his very own universe.

The Fundació Joan Miró, designed by Josep Lluís Sert, an architect friend of Miró, opened in 1975 and its aim was to experiment with contemporary art and at the same time show Miró’s work. The building is situated in Montjuic Hill having great views over the city. To observe the views there are some patios and terraces some of which have many interesting sculptures. The building has an orthogonal shape except for the skylights in the ceiling that give or take light depending on the needs. There is a permanent exhibition with an array of Miró’s paintings and sculptures and also they organize temporary exhibitions of excellent quality for instance a retrospective on Frantisek Kupka or another one displaying Collages from artists such as Picasso.

Until March of 2012 there is an outstanding exhibition. For the first time, most of Miró’s paintings are collected in a single exhibition that will also visit the Tate Modern in London. Private collectors and museums from around the world have lent their pieces and now it is possible to admire Miró’s itinerary in art from the Civil War paintings to the expressionism ones.

To get to the Fundació Miró you have to take the Funicular in Paral•lel Metro Station and walk 5 minutes. It is a very popular museum and there are usually long queues but it is worth the wait. It is open every day but Monday and the ticket costs 10€.

Just bring me to Marsella

2011-11-10T20:39:00.001+01:00

Down “La Rambla del Raval” at the end and turning left on Sant Pau Street, you will arrive, where the road meets Sant Ramón Street, at the mythical bar “Marsella”. The bar in the corner shows their decrepit label, where one can read, with difficulty, the name Marsella, a name that evokes, for many Barcelonians, the past and the nostalgia of the 19th and 20th centuries.

It is said that Marsella bar is the oldest bar in the city. We cannot prove this, but it is for sure that the establishment dates from the nineteenth century; some people claim from 1820. Punished by the passage of time, the bar shows the signs of age in the faded and peeling walls. The decoration makes one think more of an antique sailor bar, full of statues of the Virgin hanging from the walls, offering protection from the sea’s peril to the drunken sailors. Dangling from the high ceiling, prehistoric chandeliers covered with one centimeter of dust softly illuminate the bar, where marble tables occupy half the space. Stuck in the timeworn mirrors, the antique posters contain warning phrases, such as “Singing is forbidden” or “Reserves the right to admission”.

In the 19th century, Marsella was frequented by bohemian people, artists, vagabonds, foreign people, sailors and prostitutes, a classic in “El Barri Chino” (Chinese quarter) or the Raval quarter as it is known nowadays. Even today, the area is full of prostitutes, a tradition in the Raval quarter, some of whom are around the Marsella. The bar is a symbol of the decadence and illegal pleasures of the night that the old Chinese quarter or Raval offered.

During the dictatorship, the place was the typical neighborhood bar, where old men played chess and drank coffee, wine or beer. But now, since the 90s, Marsella Bar only opens at night, from 23.00 to 3.00. It is very popular, apart from its history, for offering absinthe, the controversial alcoholic drink, forbidden in many countries in Europe. Absinthe, which has 90% degree of alcohol, is served with a tiny fork, a sugar cube and a perforated plastic bottle of water. Ritual dictates that the sugar cube, moistened with absinth, be ignited and then mixed and the rest of absinth diluted with as much water as the drinker desires. Do not let the sweet aroma of anise deceive you. With only one glass of absinth you can feel dizzy and much too happy.

Marsella has become a reference bar in the city’s night scene. People arriving after one a.m. cannot find places to sit, because youngish people utterly fill the place every weekend - Erasmus students, tourists, great drinkers, bohemians...There is no music but it doesn’t matter. The ambience is so powerful that there is no need for any extra soundtrack.

Marsella is a magic place where time has been suspended; it is an essential spot to understand the past and the present of Barcelona. Let’s go back in time!

Adress: C/ Sant Pau 65
Metro: L3 Drassanes or Liceu

Anti-aircraft Battery with a panoramic view of the city

2011-10-31T10:01:00.002+01:00

Hidden spots is what we call a place in the city that seems very interesting to us but receives little credit or notoriety. The Anti-aircraft Battery is one of our hidden spots. Located on the top of the "Turó de la Rovira" Mount in the northern part of the city, it was built in 1937 during the Civil War in order to protect the city from air strikes. When the war was lost, and the fascists where about to enter the city, the Battery was intentionally destroyed in order to make it inoperable.

The ruins remained untouched until the 50’s when immigrants from everywhere in Spain came and, due to the lack of space and opportunities, began to build their shacks in the slopes of the hill. They even occupied the remains of the battery and used them as foundations for their new houses.In 1984, the city council provided the families that lived in “Los Cañones” quarter, as it was called, with new apartments and the hill was emptied of people but left full of debris.

This abandonment is what followed for the next twenty years or so until it was decided to restore the site and protect it for tis historical value. The restoration was carried out the last three years and the site finally “opened” this past march with the buildings in better shape, paths and some signs with explanations about its history.It is a unique place in Barcelona since it is very difficult to get at the same time history and views (because the views are indeed splendid, the best of the city in 360º) without the hassle of the top tourist spots in the city.

We highly recommend a visit that will surely amuse you.To get there, you can take the 28 bus and hop off at the last stop. Then walk up the hill 500 meters and you are there. (Our photos were taken BEFORE the restoration).

Subtravelling, a different film festival

2011-10-27T18:03:00.004+02:00

Every year, in different parts of the world cinema festivals are celebrated. Usually, people have to pay an entrance fee and the projections of the movies are inside a theater or an auditorium. Not in Barcelona. The International Subtravelling Festival is held inside the metro, on the screens placed in each wagon, and the price is just the price of the Metro ticket. Surprised? How can such a film be projected in a place like the Metro? Very easily. All the films are shorts – maximum five minutes, though most last only three, the same time that it takes the Metro to get from one station to another.

Throughout the day, the films of the Official section are projected and more than two hundred thousand users have the opportunity to enjoy the original shorts from many countries, such as Germany, Holland, France, Spain, The Czech Republic or Canada, all subtitled in Catalan or Spanish. Besides that, anyone can enjoy the shorts on the website and rate each one after seeing it. A trip to Los Angeles will be raffled for all those who have rated the movies on Internet.

There are two categories in the Official Section of these "microshorts" - Fiction and Animation. Both categories have examples of funny and sometimes sarcastic shorts.

If you want to feel like a cinema director, you have your chance in the category of “Film in TMB” where you can record your own 3-minute short with your mobile phone in the bus and metro installations and then upload on the website. Appetizing prizes are available for the winners.

More activities are taking place during these days in Barcelona. It is possible to enjoy workshops, conferences, projections of the new younger directors’ shorts, watch the winning shorts of other film festivals... Remember, Barcelona in October is a movie city. Lights, camera, action!

Subtravelling Festival is held from 20th to 30th of October

Which are Barcelona's best “bravas”?

2011-10-22T13:34:00.000+02:00

Photo from "Conceptfoodie"

As many cities in Spain, Barcelona has a great offer of “tapas”; or small portions of tasty traditional dishes. It is very common to meet some friends, after work or after a hard day, in a bar and enjoy, usually with a beer, a portion of “tapas”, the queen of which is “patatas bravas”.

There are many ways to prepare this delicious and tasty dish. The original one is composed of fried diced potatoes accompanied by a spicy sauce. The size and the shape of the potatoes can vary, depending on each restaurant. Likewise the sauce, the most important part of the meal, is changeable and ranges from the typical Brava hot sauce to a garlicky mayonnaise sauce. And let’s not forget the newer unconventional hybrid sauces, such as ketchup with mayonnaise, chili sauce with rosemary … always depending on the imagination and bravado of the chef.

Following the most popular rankings and according to general opinion, the best “Bravas” in the city are the ones served in “El Bar Tomás”. This small and homely bar is situated in the quarter of Sarrià, in the upper part of Barcelona. Sarrià is a quiet, well-off neighborhood far from the city center. In the nineteen century, it was a village, which is why that, even nowadays, it maintains its village attitude on its narrow, irregular streets, thus making it a nice, peaceful place to walk. Should you venture there, you will find “El Bar Tomás” on one of these picturesque streets. It is neither trendy nor cool, but it is a very typical bar of “tapas”, to which lovers of “bravas “come from all parts of the city to enjoy the ample, delectable portions.

If you want to consider yourself an authentic Barcelonian, you should try the “bravas” in "El Bar Tomás". You won’t regret it.

Photo from "Barestop"

Bar Tomás

Address: C/ Major de Sarrià, 49

Metro: L6 Sarrià

Caixaforum

2011-10-14T11:31:00.004+02:00

One of our favorite cultural venues in Barcelona is Caixaforum (free entrance) where we go often to see exhibits or concerts. Founded in 2002 by “La Caixa”, a bank that uses its benefits in a foundation that seeks to improve society, from third world aid to cultural displays such as Caixaforum.

The building is located in the Montjuic Mountain near Fira Barcelona where most professional fairs in the city take place and also near the famous Barcelona Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe. And what a building! It used to be a cotton factory called Casaramona designed by modernist architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch in the year 1912. After a short time as a factory it became the police’s horses stable and with time it began degrading. La Caixa bought the building, renovated it and asked for a new entrance and an ampliation to Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. Nowadays, when you approach the building you see the red brick façade with the two water-deposit towers that give splendor to the site. A glass and steel tree structure welcomes you to the building. One takes the automatic stairs down to the marble patio, a material with a texture and color that reminds of nearby Barcelona Pavilion, and then into the hall where there is a big mural painting by American artist Sol Lewitt. At this point you are below the modernist building and you have to take another set of stairs to get back to ground level. Now you are in the interior and the exhibitions begin. The old part was made with many “blocks” of factories that are connected through outdoor passages that separate the different buildings that nowadays form the exhibitions spaces.

Exhibitions are of outstanding quality. For instance, at the time of writing and with our last visit still fresh in our minds, now the displays showed are a retrospective of the figurative paintings by a catalan artist, Sagnier’s architecture and Diaghilev’s costumes and atrezos for the Russian Ballet. There are also some concerts scheduled periodically, conferences and other activities. And don’t forget to pay a visit to the roof which is constructed using the “volta catalana” style. As you leave the building, pay a visit to the gift shop that has plenty of art and architecture books and many fun design frivolities.

Caixaforum
Avinguda del Marquès de Comillas 13
Mon-Fri 10-20h - Sat-Sun 10-21h

The unexplored quarter of “La Mina”

2011-10-08T14:44:00.000+02:00

Even today, many citizens of Barcelona will doubtlessly answer the question about which quarter of the city is the most dangerous with, “La Mina”.

“La Mina” has the unpleasant reputation of being one of the poorest sites of the city and therefore one of the less recommended places to visit whether you are a tourist or are a Barcelonian. Is this an accurate representation?

The best way to answer this question is just by taking the metro and hopping off at the station “Besós” or “Besós Mar” and then walking around the neighborhood and judging for oneself how “La Mina” really is. However, let’s talk a little bit about its history, about why and when the negative image of the quarter started.

It was about in the fifties when Barcelona was full of illegal and improvised camps. Immigrants from all the corners of Spain were driven to give up their impoverished villages and move to a better and richer place to live, Barcelona. It was Franco’s Spain, and all the country was starving due to the postwar period. Many of these people arrived and settled in the suburbs, in the best cases in a new and poorly-constructed block of flats. In the worst cases, the poorest people were not so lucky and they had to build their own shacks in the worst places of the city, such as the floodplain close to the river “Besòs” called “El camp de la Bota”. Many gypsies from Andalusia and Murcia reached this location and occupied the area with their tents and animals. It was a hard time for gypsy people; they were systematically marginalized by Franco’s government, forcing them to live without any human rights.

After twenty years the settlement had grown, and the fascist mayor of Barcelona at the time decided to eradicate all the slums in the city. He and his unbanists designed a special plan for those gypsies that lived in the floodplain, on the border of the city. The project consisted of a few twelve-floor concrete blocks, constructed badly and quickly, where all the gypsies and other poor people were intended to be housed. This set of blocks was called “La Mina”, a place where there were no sewer, no public equipment, no paved streets … the end result was that they created a ghetto with its inhabitants stigmatized by the rest of society. Naturally, these citizens had no chance of finding a good job to improve their lives, so most of them had to commit thefts or had to start illegal businesses. Instead of offering them a helpful integration program, the fascist government was relentless and locked many in jail. It was a spiral of degradation because the young boys and girls who were incarcerated learned how to be more efficient outlaws and were almost impossible to rehabilitate.

In the seventies and eighties a young criminal from la Mina, “El Vaquilla” was very famous. He and his friends, most of them gypsies, robbed banks and were the object of police chases across Barcelona. Everybody knows “la Mina” and “El Vaquilla”. Society’s imagination conceived of the quarter as a very dangerous place to be caught in. In the eighties, drugs devastated these young (and somewhat popular) thieves, and drug dealers proliferated in the area. The drug business destroyed many families, and the quarter became even more degraded.

Luckily the story has a happy ending. With democracy all the suburbs in Barcelona were improved, including “La Mina”. Now, the place is full of neighborhood associations, the most important being the Gypsy one. These groups fought hard to make their quartier better. In the last two decades, they reached their objectives of having more infrastructure and public facilities. Debates involving urbanists and neighbors were held every Thursday to develop a new, agreed-upon urban plan, which was put into action five years ago. Thus, “La Mina” has changed. There are now beautiful parks and public spaces, a new library where all Gypsy families bring their kids, schools, public medical centers. All the buildings have been rehabilitated… The inhabitants may be the same, but now the whole city knows that they are as much citizens as anyone else, and “La Mina” is a decent place to visit, a place where most of the residents live their lives outside, and children invade the streets.

We strongly recommend this visit, as it is one of the last Gypsy quarters in Barcelona. Should you be lucky, you will see authentic Flamenco musicians performing in the lane. In the central road there is a statue of Camarón, a highly-esteemed Gypsy flamenco musician. “La Mina” is a young quarter full of vitality and authenticity. Give them a chance and judge for yourself.

The Feast of Barcelona

2011-10-01T11:12:00.003+02:00

For any Barcelonian, one of the best moments of the year is undoubtedly the celebration of Saint Mercè, who is the patron saint of Barcelona and whose feast day we all celebrate every year on 24th of September.

Should you be in the city, you will surely enjoy of all sorts of activities, starting from traditional events and ending with the last call in music and theater. One of the most prominent features of “La Mercè”, as Barcelonians call the festival, is the fact that everybody can find their place; there are many different activities in order to provide varied alternatives to the citizens.

The festivity normally starts one week before the 24th and ends the following Sunday with a great pyrotechnic and musical spectacle - the Piromusical - at the Montjuïc Fountain. As in other feasts of villages and cities of Catalonia, the mayor and one other famous person make a rallying speech to all citizens to announce the beginning of “La Mercè”. From that day on, all the activities and events are free and located in the streets or in representative buildings such as museums or auditoriums.

With regard to traditions, “La Mercè” is one of the best opportunities to see typical Catalan performances such as “Castellers”, the human towers, “Correfoc”, a kind of wild street dance with fire, or “Gegants”, a parade of eight-meter-tall statues.

In the “Casteller” exhibition, one can admire the human towers of local teams, but to be really astonished, the best thing occurs on Sunday, when the most renowned teams of all Catalonia make human towers of up to nine or ten floors - for many Barcelonians an unforgettable event.

The “Correfoc” is another indispensable activity for lovers of adrenalin. All the teams of Barcelona join their efforts to convert Barcelona into an absolute hell. Devils and hellish beasts pursue the people along the Via Laietana Street throwing sparks and firecrackers. Should you want to participate, you must wear a long-sleeved shirt and cover your head and mouth with a scarf. Otherwise, you might get burned.

The activity ‘par excellence’ for all the family is “El Cercavila dels Gegants” - a delightful and colourful parade in which musicians, Catalan giants made to resemble real characters, and “capgrossos” (persons wearing disproportionately large heads made of paper mache) march and dance through the street. Children of all ages love this event.

During “La Mercè” there are also other activities related with culture. The institution of “Casa Asia” organizes a festival full of concerts and performances where Asiatic artists from all countries of Asia performer. This year it was possible to admire Mongol fighters or a famous singer from Pakistan. In other city spaces, like squares in the old Town, the beach or the big extension in “El Forum” there were concerts of all kinds of music - electronic, folk, pop, rock, fusion…

During this week Barcelona is utterly collapsed, so full of people that the city looks as if an invasion has taken place. Everyone wants to celebrate their feast day, the yearly festival of Barcelona. The best way to experience it is by just opening the front door, going out, meeting some friends and deciding where you want to go.

Let’s enjoy “La Mercè”!

Independent cinema in Barcelona

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000+02:00

Often, we go to the cinema to enjoy a good movie in OV. In Barcelona there are just ahandful of cinemas that play the films in OV (with subtitles inSpanish) and the one that we usually go to is “Cines Verdi”. Thiscinema, located in the heart of Gracia quarter has been showingindependent cinema for more than two decades. There you can enjoy newreleases that multiplex cinemas tend to skip or forget such as thosethat win The Palm d'Or at Cannes, successful ones that have theblessing of the critics from Sundance or unknown pearls from theMiddle East among others.

If you can'tafford the steep prices that cinema costs nowadays (5.5-8€depending on the day) there are also other options. For instance,Filmoteca de Catalunya which is like a public film library, showsdaily two or three movies for 2 or 3€. They usually show a mix ofold cult movies and little-known current ones. For example, thismonth's “film of the month” is Rebel Without a Cause by NicholasRay, in order to celebrate his centenary.

There arealso those days when you are tired and fancy watching a film. In thatcase, you can watch a good movie from the sofa just going to Filmin.This netflix-like online film club has more than a thousandindependent movies in stock and is very user friendly. You pay 1 to3€ for a film and then have 72 hours to watch it as many times asyou want.

Idle? Let'swatch a movie!

www.cines-verdi.com

www.filmin.es

Two different parks

2011-09-23T00:45:00.001+02:00

Barcelona is not a city of large green areas. The weather is mostly dry, except during the wet months in autumn and spring, and the vegetation in the city is typically Mediterranean. This prevents the parks from becoming as green as those in the cities of northern Europe. Therefore, the park or green area is not understood as an ample extension of grass as it is in Scandinavian countries. In Barcelona ‘green’ areas are normally paved open spaces with few trees and modern street furniture. There are also limited grass extensions, because it is very difficult to take care of the grass in Barcelona, especially during the droughts in summer. The most notable aspect of modern parks in the city is the design of the project. Here we present two different examples which can be found in the city. Both are located in the 22@ district and both were built in the 2000’s by two famous architects, the Catalan Enric Miralles and the French Jean Nouvel.

The 22@ district is the latest, grandest urban investment that the Barcelona Council has done. The place was originally an industrial neighborhood, full of factories promoting the economic development of the city during the 19th and 20th century. Over time, the factories were moved out of the growing city, and most of the big warehouses were left unused and abandoned. The area degenerated quickly and this affected other nearby residential quarters. In an attempt to improve the area, the Council decided to restructure the function of the place, replacing the warehouses with office buildings, cultural facilities, shopping centers and housing. To fill the gaps between the buildings, two modern parks were designed.

The first was Diagonal Mar Park, designed by the late Enric Miralles. This park is very interesting and has become a symbol for the city. Water flows over the surface of a wide area between little mounds covered by grass. Along the border, tall buildings surround the space. The park is enclosed by a semitransparent fence, which affords visual connection from the green area to the sea. It is a very Mediterranean place. Marking the entrances and supporting colorful ceramic pots a meter and a half in diameter are original structures two-stories tall. These pots were made following the same technique as Gaudí’s, “trencadís”, which consists of cementing small fragments of tiling to a surface.

The second park was greeted with controversy. Jean Nouvel, designer of the famous Agbar Tower, was asked to project a park near the Diagonal Avenue. This park was conceived more as an artistic composition than a space for the people. The place is uninvitingly enclosed by a thick wall of concrete. Fortunately, there are some windows through which one can see the interior and a few doors should one wish to enter. The park is divided into different gardens with different kinds of flowers and trees. A lot of the vegetation is manipulated to produce artistic effect; i.e. sculpture has been formed from plants bent to human will. The park is more like a Mediterranean version of a French botanical garden. It is a beautiful place, but frequently empty. It is more a place for contemplation than one to experience.

Symbolizing the new Barcelona of the 22@ district, both parks are very interesting to visit. Once you do, you will be able to decide which one you prefer or indeed if you like them both the same.

Diagonal Mar Parc: Metro L4 "Selva de Mar"_TramBesós "Selva de Mar"
Parc del Centre del Poblenou: Metro L4 "Poblenou"_TramBesós "Pere IV"

The Gracia Festivities

2011-08-29T00:35:00.004+02:00

Gracia is on of the liveliest neighborhoods of Barcelona and its festivities, that take place every year in mid august, are the most famous of the city and they are almost 200 years old. What started being the small village's traditional dances parade has become a much more complete experience nowadays.

The Gracia festivities are famous because during the days of the feasts many of the neighborhood streets are decorated (with low budget) by the residents of each street. This is the main act since every year there is a voting to choose the best street. This year we saw many themes such as Mozart Street with a recreation of The Phantom of the Opera or Sant Miquel Square with recycling fittings. During the day there are some cultural or leisure activities organized on the streets while the citizens and visitors wander around watching the garments and having a good time. It is also possible to see traditional dances such as Sardanes in Diamant Square or even Castells, a local tradition, in Rius i Taulet Square (the main square of the quarter). Castells are human towers (up to ten levels, which means 10 persons on top of each other) traditional in Catalonia, protected by the UNESCO, that are successfully built and unloaded by a team of more than 50 people. It's very exciting to see and we recommend it to anyone visiting the city.

The day we visited Gracia we were also lucky enough to encounter a Correfoc. Another traditional Catalan festival. In this one, people disguise as devils and run the streets up and down with firecrackers and street fireworks. All this is accompanied by drums and gralla (a wind instrument).

At night the quarter changes to accommodate plentiful of concerts and music. Younger people wander the streets drinking beer or sipping mojitos sold by the bartenders in the provisional stalls. One can find salsa, reggae, rock, pop, electro or many other types of music in the concerts and also, mobile-discos with mainstream music most of the times. In the bigger squares the massive concerts take place but one can find more underground concerts (punk, ska...) in the Raspall Square where the Alternative Feast takes place. There is also a square with rumba where the Gracia gypsies gather every night. The music is loud until late in the night and everyone has fun. Just one warning: At 4AM when the concerts finish, try to exit the neighborhood diligently since police officers become mad and try to beat the crap out of anyone that is still in the streets.

Every year Barcelonians, other Catalans and every time more and more foreigners come to Gracia to have a great time during the festival. Are you going to miss it?

www.festamajordegracia.cat

Every year 15th-21st of August

Open air cinema in Sala Montjuïc

2011-08-10T11:31:00.000+02:00

During the summer one of the funniest activities in Barcelona is undoubtedly open air cinema, “cinema a la fresca” in Catalan, in the Sala Montjuïc. From July to early August there is a space enabled in the Castle of Montjuïc designed to accommodate about two thousand people who can attend a concert and watch a film.

The castle that dates from the XVIIth century was a military fortress and after the Civil War became a military museum. It is currently a municipal facility where it will be installed an international centre for peace. The castle is located at the top of the mountain of Montjuïc in Barcelona, located over 170 meters high on a rocky terrace.

On its walls stretches a large area of grass and in the walls is installed a large screen for projections. The activity program includes a concert that starts at 21.00, followed by the screening of a short film at 22.00 and then the film that starts at 22.15h. Projections are made on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and tickets cost € 5.

At the same grounds there is a bar and toilets; it is very common to buy a beer or two to drink during the film. What makes the event more interesting is that all films are in original version with subtitles in Spanish and the films are normally very good movies acclaimed by critics. You can see previous releases of the year on different continents: Asia, Europe or America.

This summer were projected very interesting films as “Inglorius Bastards”, the Japanese “Still Walking” or the French “A prophete”. Also we could enjoy with classic movies like "Nosferatu" or "Charade."

To get there, take a shuttle bus that leaves from Plaça Espanya and then, when the film is over, the buses run down the mountain of Montjuïc again. Sala Montjuïc is a wonderful option to enjoy such a special place. The views are spectacular from the castle; you can see the city from the sea to the mountains. The atmosphere is so cool and relaxed; Barcelonians often have dinner and bring a bottle of champagne or wine to enjoy the show. It is very common to see dishes with potatoes or croquettes and people eating sandwiches. Anyone can bring their own picnic. If you want to be more comfortable, you can rent sunbeds but it is common to bring the chairs, pillows and blankets from home to recreate an even better atmosphere.

It is a popular place where you can feel the way of live of Barcelonians. The friends meet, families come together and there are many couples, the cool nights allow these little luxuries of the Mediterranean summer. However, when the film starts there is total silence to watch the movie. Enjoy the show.

Tickets, la vida tapa

2011-08-06T17:58:00.000+02:00

We are back to Barcelona after one year studying in Romania and we decided to celebrate it having dinner in the new but already famous Tickets. This restaurant is the joint venture of the Adrià and the Iglesias brothers. Ferran Adrià is said to be the best cook in the world and his restaurant, elBulli, won the St Pellegrino World's Best Restaurant award five times in the last ten years. His brother Albert, also worked at elBulli and is an acclaimed pastry chef. He is the one in charge of Tickets. The Iglesias brothers are the owners of the best sea food restaurant in Barcelona, Rías de Galícia, and provide Tickets with the best product in town. Tickets is a creative tapas restaurant. Tapas is a typical spanish way of eating, usually in a friendly and casual place where one meets with friends to share a variety of delicious small dishes and portions of any kind.

Tuesday we were heading to the restaurant very anxiously after a three month wait (you have to make your reservation online almost three months in advance because it's fully booked). It is located in the Paral·lel, which until the 70's was the theater street of Barcelona. Since then the street has lost most of its glamour until now that seems to be slowly recovering. From the outside, and at night, the restaurant is a bright spot in the area, full of light and an eclectic decoration and a lively atmosphere behind the windows.

The name of the restaurant, Tickets, means that when you come here you are buying a ticket for the spectacle, to eat good food in a funny way and to spend a great night in good company. At the door, velvet ribbons, a red carpet and a carnivale doorman welcome you to the "magnifique" inside. We were carried to our seats while we took a look at the interior. It is obvious from the beginning that this is a place to have fun. There are five working stations around which the spectators are seated. Each of the spaces has a different decoration and also prepare different types of foods.

We were seated at “la presumida” where the ham is cut and the oysters are prepared. It represents the mediterranean side of Barcelona with blue and white being the predominant colors. We were served, before we decided what we were going to eat, a draft beer by Damm (2€). Also to eat our meal we had a set of cutlery compose by tweezers, small fork, small knife and two spoons. Our waiter came and we ordered a long list of dishes. The menu consists of eight sections being snacks, el picoteo, joselito's iberians, the oysters, xuxis, tapas from the sea, tapas from the land and desserts.

Less than a minut after ordering, our courteous waiter is back to us with the first tapa of the night. It was a jar of spheric Olives, six of them (7,8€), that come marinated in pepper, garlic, grated orange peel and other intensifying flavors. A spheric is a round semisolid one-bite piece that is liquid in the inside. You put it in your mouth and make it explode. The sense at first (it was the first time for us) is surprising since you get a mouthful of olive, but this one it's like a sip of olive, and what an olive. This olives have an intense flavor, more than any other olive that we had ever tasted before.

After the olives came a snack of Miniairbags stuffed with Manchego cheese and Iberian bacon (7,6€). Again six of them. Crunchy bread clouds or airbaigs that come filled with tasty liquid manchego cheese and Iberian bacon, topped with a thin layer of cheese and hazelnut pearls. These fragile bites fills your mouth with creamy and solid cheese at the same time with the hazelnut giving it the perfect touch.

From the “Picoteo” menu we chose the Spiced tomato steak tartare with bread crisps (11,8€). This one was a bit of a letdown. After two tapas with intense flavors this one was more subtile and too soft in taste for us. It was good but not impressive. Also, the bread crisps didn't match perfectly with the tomato.

No time for deception though because immediately after we had with us the Tomato seeds and anchovies xuxi (3,8€). A xuxi is a small bite to eat with your hand in one to three bites. This are smaller than proper tapas and are a new invention of Adrià. The anchovy fillet comes on top of a toast with some tomato seeds. The seeds are quite big and the anchovy had a very powerful taste that remained in our mouths for quite a while. The best product for this simple bite.

Then the oysters. It was the first time that we were trying oysters and we chose two different ones. One each. I had the Oyster with iberian ham consommé and Manzanilla foam (5,1€) while Laia had the Oyster of the week (4,8€) that had a pickled cucumber pearl. Both were delicious and had a proper sea flavor. Sea flavor is definitely what oysters taste like. And these ones were also enormous. I had to eat mine in three bites!

At this point we were almost having hallucinations with all the food that was coming and going and we were truly unprepared for what was to come, the best dish of the night. It was the Tickets' half roast bonito (11,8€). As its name indicates it was half roast bonito medallions. The bonito was slightly roasted on the edges and when we put it in our mouths the tuna was of such a quality that it immediately melted deliciously on our tongues. Atop of that, the dish came with a good tomato puree, a soft lemon jelly, crispy garlic chips and a perfect broth that was so good that we couldn't resist to ask the waiter what it was made of. The Best dish!

We had finished our beer and we wanted some more. In this case we ordered a bottle of Inedit (6€). The champagne of the beers they call it. This beer was created by Ferran Adrià and elBulli sommeliers. This malted barley and wheat beer has also scents of hops, coriander, orange peel and licorice. The best beer to accompany a good meal.

Our dinner continued with a dish of very large Razor clams with ginger oil, cayenne pepper and lemon air (12,5€). There were four of them and they were cut in three pieces. We were supposed to eat first the part without lemon air to taste the difference. This one was almost as delicious as the other one, just not as complex. The ginger and the pepper gave the Razor clams, which were as tender as they could be, a tasteful touch and when we ate the parts with lemon air a sprinkle of acidity was added to the bite.

After the sea food came the meat dishes of which we hadn't ordered many. First, two Xuxis of Air baguette with iberian ham (4,3€). The ham was Joselito's which means that was one of the best hams in the world. The grease melted in our mouths and gave a push to the flavor of the ham itself. The air baguette was the perfect complement because you didn't get to taste your ham with a mouthful of bread. Instead, the crispy breaking of the baguette made the xuxi even better.

Then came the “Mollete” with dewlap (3,8€). This one was really good and tasty. We didn't know that dewlap was so tasty. More or less like bacon but simply better. To that we add a bit of melted cheese and a drop of mustard and this mini sandwich was luscious.The mollete is a type of bread, in this case quite small, fluffy and very suitable for this sandwich. Of all the different breads and toasts that we tasted in the dinned this one was the best.

At this point, we only had one dish left before the desserts, and our waiter asked us if we wished to order anything else. We ordered two more molletes and one of Quail eggs 1'40” with almogrote's migas (5,4€). This one was another disappointment. The second and the last disappointment in 19 dishes that we ate. Not bad. And disappointment doesn't mean that it wasn't good. This one was served cold and the quail eggs were different from what we were used to because they were liquid inside thanks to being only boiled for one minute and forty seconds. Surrounding the eggs there was migas, fried bread crumbs normally with animal fat and sausages bits but in this case the sausages were changed for almogrote cheese which is made in the Canary Islands.

The last of the dishes before the desserts was the Liquid ravioli with Payoyo cheese from Cádiz (3,1€). We started and finished with a spheric. What they both had in common was the tastefulness and intensity of their liquids. In this case was due to the liquidized Payoyo cheese. In its solid state this cheese is made of mountain goats' milk and it is one of the finest in Spain. We love cheese and this one was awesome.

And, off with the desserts. Cherries!! (6,4€) This one was on the suggestions of the week menu and we made a push for it since it was the only dish on the menu with exclamation marks. We had to try it!! So, the waiter brought six cherries, three apiece, and gave instructions to eat them in a specific order. The first one was a regular cherry according to him. However, it was more than that since it was softly soaked in a bath of anise which combined perfectly with the cherry. The second one had a pistachio core and again, the two elements matched each other perfectly. And the third one, was an interpretation of the typical cherry liquorice bonbon. The chocolate coating had the real shape of a cherry and it was different from the other two in the outside only because it was brownish. On the inside, some type of semi-liquid cherry jelly that only had a hint of alcohol and if.

The next dessert was one that it will take us time to forget. Almonds tepid cake (9,5€). We are sure that this dessert will become famous. It is like a coulant but the filling is made of warm almonds sauce. The cake that holds this precious topping is very soft and tasty. To match the warmness of the cake it comes with an apricot sorbet that refreshes the palate. When mixed the taste is surprising. When are we going to eat it again?

To finish we ordered two pieces of White chocolate volcanic rock with black sesame (3,2€). The waiter insisted that we tried this because he said that it was the only place in the world that we could eat it. The appearance of the rocks was funny since it looked a bit like fake coal. It wasn't hard though, it was very soft, like a harder mousse. Very tasty, and perfectly combined in two bites with the yogurt and berries on the first and the walnuts cream on the second.

Here ended our memorable meal. Nineteen tapas between the two of us, two different kinds of beer, a nice and lively restaurant that is trying to define a style that defines what and where are tapas right now. If you fancy tasting elaborate and creative food, with the best product available this is the place for you. Since we went four days ago we keep having those delicious dishes on our minds. Tickets is one of the best sites to discover Barcelona and the Adrià brothers' cuisine.

Price: 64,5€ pp

Address: Avinguda Paral·lel 164, 08015 Barcelona

www.ticketsbar.es

2011-06-01T12:45:00.000+02:00

Coming soon...