The Piromusical, a fabulous end to the Merce Festival

Mercè Piromusical 2008

As every year, the Piromusical (a show that includes music, fireworks and the water movements of the Montjuic Magic Fountain) has been the perfect end for the festivities of the city, the Merce Festival.




I went to Montjuic with some friends and really enjoyed it. We got there two hours before the start of the show, knowing that there would be a huge crowd and we wanted to get a good spot from where we could see the fountain.

It was great, and I strongly reccomend it to anyone being in town next September!
Here are some pics and videos!

New video! The Montserrat Boys Choir singing the Virolai!

One of the most important attractions of a daytrip to Montserrat is hearing their Escolania Choir. Every day during the school year except for Saturdays they sing for the visitors the Salve Regina and the Anthem of the Virgin of Montserrat, the Virolai.

Here you have a video I recorded today. Sorry about the image quality, the shaking and the heads popping out, but what really matters is the sound, which is good.

This month: Two Contemporary Architecture Tours

Data: 23/10/2007 16:36 Nombre de comentaris a la fotografia:0 Veure la fotografia

This month I've given two specialised Contemporary Architecture tours, a 5-hour private one for the designer Galina Zbrizner, and a 3h tour for a group from a Norvegian firm.

Both tours included the main focus of Contemporary Architecture in town, the Forum of Cultures, as well as the AGBAR tower and the Calatrava bridge, and with Galina we also explored other areas such as the Barceloneta, the Olympic Village, Diagonal Mar, the 22@ District, the Parc Central del Poblenou, the Plaça de les Arts and Montjuic, and I also provided her with information on other works in progress that will become landmarks in a near future.

This album includes a selection of the best contemporary architecture in town, including some other sites that we didn't visit in this month's tours. Enjoy!

Pics of my Botanical Garden Tour for the Schweighardt

Data: 23/08/2008 05:01 Nombre de comentaris a la fotografia:0 Veure la fotografia

The last week of August I organized a few tours for the Schweighardt: my colleague Míriam took them to the Old Town and the Picasso Museum, and I gave them a Gaudi tour and a special tour that included the MNAC (romanesque and modernism sections) as well as the Botanical Garden.

It was a nice time to visit the garden: despite the weather there were still some flowers, but also many bushes were getting ready for autumn and presented their colourful fruits.

Check this pics out!

Coming soon: La Mercè, Barcelona Main Festival!

September 24th is the day of Our Lady of Mercy, patron saint of Barcelona, and the city will be celebrating it for over a week, from Sep 19th to 28th.

The program of the Festival activities in online in the city council web but... unfortunately only in Catalan so far! The only info in English I could find was in this link.

So in order to help you, I've selected a few of the most important events that could be of interest for anyone:

DANCING:
* Sardana dancing, the Catalan circle dance:
- Sat 20th at 6pm in Plaça Sant Jaume.
- Fri 19th at 7pm in front of the Cathedral.
- Teams competition on Sun 21st at 11am in front of the Cathedral.
- Sun 21st at 1pm in front of the Cathedral.
- Tue 23rd at 6pm in Plaça Sant Jaume.
- Wed 24th at 7pm in Plaça de la Mercè.
* Bastoners, Catalan stick dancers: Sat 20th from 11am in Plaça Sant Jaume, at noon there'll be a parade from there to the MACBA.

TRADITIONS:
* Castells and Falcons, the breathtaking Human Towers: Sun 21st from 11.15am in Plaça Sant Jaume. Wed 24th at 12.30am in Plaça Sant Jaume.
* Trabucaires, blunderbass bandits parade: 10am from the Cathedral towards Plaça Sant Jaume.
* Giants folk parades: Sat 20th at noon in Plaça Sant Jaume towards the port. Wed 24th at 11am in Plaça Sant Jaume towards Raval.
* Correfoc, the firerun: Fri 19th, the parade introducing the Fire Monsters will start at 9.30pm in Plaça Sant Jaume. The adults firerun takes place on Sat 20th starting in front of the Cathedral at 20.30 with the "Hell Gate". The children firerun will take place on Sat 20th at 6.30pm in front of the Cathedral.
* Fireworks: international competition in Barceloneta beach on Fri, Sat & Sun at 10.30pm. Big Piromusical on Wed 24 at 10pm in Montjuïc.

MUSIC:
* Grallers and Tabalers, traditional drummers and fluters: Wed 24th parade starting at 8am in Plaça de la Mercè towards Plaça Sant Jaume.
* Havaneres, sailors songs: Fri 19th at 9pm at Portal de la Pau. Tue 23rd at 9pm at Portal de la Pau.
* Folk/pop/rock/fusion/modern/etc. concert stages: Plaça del Rei, Plaça Reial (except Mon, every day from 8.45pm), Plaça Catalunya (Fri, Sat, Tue at 10pm), Plaça dels Àngels (Fri, Sat, Tue from 8.45pm), Parc del Fòrum (Fri, Sat, Tue from 10pm).

FOOD
* Food tasting/eating/sharing:
- Fried fish: Tue 23rd at 9pm in Portal de la Pau (included in the Havaneres concert).
- Rice: Wed 24th at midday in the Nova Icària beach.

RELIGION
* Our Lady of Mercy procession: Sun 21st starting at 5pm from the Church of Mercy towards the Cathedral and back.
* Mass: Wed 24th at 10.30am at the Churh of Mercy.

OTHER ACTIVITIES AND CELEBRATION POINTS
* Plaça Catalunya: permanent fair of local associations with their performance showcase.
* Old Port: family activities, workshops and folk performances (Fri, Sat, Sun).
* Ciutadella park: family activities, workshops, outdoor cinema and concerts.
* Montjuic castle: family activities and circus (Sat, Sun, Wed).
* Passeig Lluís Companys: african and arabic folk and concerts from the evening of Thu 25th to the 28th.
* Airplane acrobatics during the mornings of the 27th & 28th by the beaches.

IMPORTANT NOTE 1: Never trust Spanish and Catalan punctuality, everything starts usually much later than announced.

IMPORTANT NOTE 2 - SAFETY RULES FOR THE FIRERUN: Dress coton clothes that cover entirely your body (long sleeves and pants), cover your neck and hair with coton shawls, wear comfortable running shoes and make sure your ankles are covered aswell. Gun powder reacts to water: do not throw water to firerun participants. Safety above all: respect the indications of the devils (firerun staff).

Today is September 11th, National Day of Catalunya - La Diada

Today Catalunya celebrates its National Day.

On September 11th, 1714 Barcelona surrendered under the Borbon troops after months of seige. After the defeat followed a time of repression of the Catalan culture, and a new fortress (Ciutadella) was built to control Barcelona. The heroes that died trying to protect the city were buried in the Fossar de les Moreres (Mulberry cemetery) beside Santa Maria del Mar church.

Very few nations in the world choose a defeat day as their National Day, but to us, this is a reminder of how proud we are of what we are. It is not a day for happy celebrations nor fireworks, it is a memorial day for those who have suffered throughout our history to defend the Catalan land and traditions, a day to honour our heritage and think about what we want for our future...
It is also a day when politicians will organize meetings to convince everyone they are the "true" representative of Catalan people.

o o
0

Anyway... today there'll be lots of Senyeres (Catalan flags) hanging from the balconies in every town. Welcome to La Diada!

Tapas Tour with Mona and Lee!

Hi!

Mona and Lee from Seattle were visiting Barcelona and wanted to do something special one evening. Since they are foodies, my Tapas Tour was their choice!
We had a great time hopping from bar to bar in the Born section, and I also gave them lots of good tips for the rest of their stay in town!



See the rest of their pics here!