Life in Barcelona

This winter has been very hot here in Barcelona…and disappointing for all winter sports lovers like me. But you know, we have to look forward now and just enjoy the sunshine! So, although it is still March, the recent weather has inspired me to put my shorts and sun glasses on!! It’s spring time, it’s “chiringuito”’s time!!

For those who don’t know what a “chiringuito” is, it is a type of bar located at the beach, where they offer drinks, ice-creams, refreshing fruits, snacks…etc, with some chill out/dance background music. Believe me, it’s great if you have the chance to go to the beach and find a chiringuito close by. There are a lot in Barcelona, for example Princesa Beach Bar or Barceloneta Bar. Actually, I live in Barcelona and I always go to the same beaches. The reasons?? I know where the water is clearer and I also know where the good chiringuitos are !!

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Tags: Chiringuitos+in+Barcelona, Beaches+in+Barcelona, Summer+in+Barcelona

…And feel like a local! Barcelona has been a scooter-friendly city for a long time! Everywhere you look you will find them: parked on the side of the road, swerving left and right between the cars, in rows upon rows along the pavements, down by the beach or just casually driving around the city centre! The locals especially use scooters to get easily from one place to another and to avoid the crazy traffic chaos that has become commonplace in any huge city such as Barcelona. The scooters can just squeeze in and out between the cars to line up in the first row – which is actually really funny to watch, since in many cities you would probably get a fine for doing this at the traffic lights. But in Barcelona this is now a normal thing to do and the police don´t mind the queue-pushing at all!

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Tags: Rent+a+scooter+in+Barcelona, Barcelona+scooter+rental, bike+rental+Barcelona, moto+rental+barcelona

The theatre is one of those things that most people really enjoy, but almost never go to! I still don´t know why! However, if you have a Saturday evening off, I strongly recommend that you go to one of my favourite theatres here in Barcelona! The Theatre Neu is situated in the ‘Gracia’ district and they really do put on loads of great plays.

When I went with my boyfriend and some friends a couple of weeks ago, there was an INTERACTIVE show being staged. My boyfriend´s colleagues had informed him that, if we wanted to get a discount for the tickets, then all we had to do was tell the person in the ticket booth A RHYME!! So, when it came to our turn at the front of the queue, filled with the fear of perhaps being the victims of a practical joke, we shyly whispered  “Apostaré apostaré …y las entradas ganaré!” to the woman on the other side of the glass! There was a doubtful pause until she finally gave us a grin and the well-deserved half-price discount for our effort!!

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Tags: teatro+neu+barcelona, theatre+barcelona, interactive+theatre, public+barcelona

Montserrat literally means “jagged mountain” and is used because of the peculiar aspect of the mountains which are visible from a great distance.

I’ll be there again, for my second time next week! It’ll be so exciting to climb these strange rocks again. On my first visit we were three people and a dog, we left the car at the bottom and we walked up until the sanctuary…when we got there, the dog was the more tired of the group! I really enjoyed that day, walking around, having a rest in every shady place, and watching the extraordinary views!

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Tags: Barcelona+Mountains, Montserrat+Barcelona, Montserrat+excursion, barcelona+excursions

I was looking forward to seeing the biggest match of the year for months now! Barça – Real Madrid WHOW! Every year I have followed the battle of the year closely in the Netherlands but this time I was incredibly privileged to be in Barcelona when the match was played. I was planning to see the match in one of the numerous international Bars in the city centre of Barcelona since a friend I got to meet here in Barcelona told me that it was impossible to get tickets (if you don’t have a season card). He has lived here all his life and he couldn’t manage to get tickets for a single match.

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Tags: Barça+Madrid,, FC+Barcelona+v.s+Real+Madrid,, Leonel+Messi,, Barça+football,, The+Camp+Nou

Located to the right of the famous Ramblas, el ‘Raval’ is a district that attracts artists, musicians, partygoers and old and young alike.

The Raval (known formerly as the Chinese quarter) was originally the Bohemian quarter of the city and it still retains a certain bohemian something. It is certainly the most multicultural part of the city with Chinese, Asian, South American and African communities living side by side. This creates a fantastic mixture of traditions and styles, and lucky for us some really good restaurants offering native dishes.

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Tags: el+Raval+Barcelona, Barrio+Chino, Rambla+de+Raval, Barcelona+districts

Have you every tried drinking from a fountain? A fountain of wine that is!

After reading about the trip to the Catalan Pyrenees, it reminded me of a similar excursion I made, where I got to have my first experience of ‘El Porrón’, a Spanish tradition which is NOT for the faint hearted (neither for those with very bad aim)!

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Tags: El+Pórron, Spanish+traditions, El+Portalón+Barcelona, Spanish+wine+traditions

…But, it definitely was not a one sided game! After the first game in Camp Nou, who would imagine that Barça would be so close to eliminate Liverpool at the mythical Anfield Road. That is the final impression I got yesterday when, around 22h30, the referee decided to “pitar” the end of the match. I’m sure that all Barça supporters have today the same feeling as me…

Gudjohnsen scored with 15 minutes still remaining…and I was sure that Ronaldinho and co. would appear in the last minutes to demonstrate that they are the best players in the World. However, if I analyze the whole match, I have to recognize that Barça didn’t deserve to go through to the next round and even to win yesterday. Actually, the red devils played better during the most part of the match, above all in the first half when Riise and Gerrard were incredible. Barça didn’t have too many opportunities to score and we were lucky to profit from one of them…so, we started dreaming of getting some kind of miracle, but Liverpool managed the situation very well.  (more…)

Tags: Barça, Liverpool+against+Barça, Football+in+Barcelona, Champions+League

What about playing Alice in Wonderland for a little while?! You might need to imagine the white rabbit with glasses jumping around you but the rest of the scenery you will have right in front of your eyes. 

Entering Barcelona’s Labyrinth Park is like arriving at this imaginative world where you can let yourself get lost (literally!) in the many winding paths created by the high, green hedges.

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Tags: parks+barcelona, labyrinth+barcelona, labyrinth+park, horta+barcelona+park

I was looking at the pictures of the past weekend…and I was realizing again how gorgeous it was!!
We were nine people, divided into two cars, with just a small bag each, and plenty of food and drinks.

You can’t plan a trip and then expect that everything will go exactly according to schedule!!! We decided to leave Barcelona early, 8.00 o’clock on Saturday morning…(trust me…it’s a big effort for me!!) …at nine the two cars, one smelling of leeks and the other one of onions, finally left the city , in an attempt to get to the Pyrenees!! “An attempt”, because the only one of us who knew the way is not normally trusted when he says “I know where it is”! Last time we went right around the block twice and he was still saying “I know where it is!”…but he’s our friend and we love him in any case! … And he happens to have a house in the mountains

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Tags: Catalan+Pyrenees, weekend+outside+Barcelona, Mountains+near+Barcelona, Port+del+Compte