De Cajón, Flamenco city festival

Flamenco comes from Andalusia, south of Spain. But the many generations of Andalusian immingrants have contributed to create a nice flamenco scene. However, most of the time it is hard to find "authentic" flamenco athmosphere.

But if you want to avoid the tourist tablaos, now it's the right time! De Cajón is the city flamenco festival you can't miss. In Barcelona, from January 9th to April 3rd.

More information and program in their website.

Most famous participants:
*** CIGALA Y COMPAÑÍA, Remedios Amaya y Moncho. Gran Teatre del Liceu, Jan 9th.
*** CHIQUETETE + Dorantes. Sala Apolo, Feb 19th.
*** NIÑA PASTORI. Palau de la Música Catalana, March 20th.
*** FARRUQUITO. Palau de la Música Catalana, April 3rd.

2008 Food Tours feedback (moved from my website)

☺☺☺☺☺ Thank you for the wonderful tour, you were a great guide! Very informative, friendly, accommodating, and your English was perfect. The tapas tour was excellent, it was what I was looking forward to when coming to Spain. The food was delicious. We ended up going to a couple of those places the next day. Your Gaudi tour was also very informative and well explained. I will make sure to look you up when I am back in the area. Eric Gleit, USA.



☺☺☺☺☺ Ed and I have fallen in love with Barcelona! Thank you for sharing your fabulous city with us and Lori Boyd. We really had a wonderful time. I can assure you that we will return. We look forward to touring with you again! Linda and Ed Boren, USA.

At the Wine Cellar with the Boren’s and Lori from I wish you were here tours.

Christmas like a local. Part 5: New Year's Eve

Tomorrow is the last day of the year. If you are out in the streets, remember the Home dels Nassos (Man of the Noses, that has as many noses as days are left to the end of the year) will be enjoying his yearly walk around the city (learn more about that here).

If you have planned to go sightseeing, remember tomorrow most sites will be closing sooner than usual and some might just close around 2pm. Same thing for January 1st, as it is a family day, some sites might close at lunchtime and don't reopen later. Instead, the streets will be quite empty in the morning, as locals will be sleeping after a whole night out!

As for New Year's Eve, if you haven't got a reservation for dinner... oups! I'm afraid it'll be almost impossible to find a table available. So you better make friends with someone that invites you home!

In Barcelona, locals usually prefer to wait until midnight at home, with friends or family. We have a nice dinner (seafood, salmon, cheese, ham... hopefully something lighter than the Christmas meals), then watch the bell tolls on TV. Most chains cover the countdown from the Plaza del Sol in Madrid. However TV3, the Catalan chain, does it from the AGBAR tower.



But before that, it's time to be bit supersticious: Some people say it's good to wear a red thong for good sex in the new year (I think we imported that tradition from Italy). Others write their wishes on a paper and burn it in a candle... Whatever makes you feel confident about 2009 going to be even better than 2008!

And then the countdown approaches. Do you know in Spain we don't count down? Here is our tradition:

You'll be given 12 grapes (yeah, you can peel them and remove the seeds, but that's cheating!), and when the bells start tolling you must eat one grape per toll. You have to be quick! Or soon your mouth will be packed with grapes, juice pouring out over your face and you risk choking! But if you manage to eat the 12 grapes before the tolls end you ca be sure that means good luck for the next 12 months!

After the tolls, it's time to hug and kiss and toast with a good cava, and then it's time to party. In Barcelona we don't really celebrate much in the street, so don't expect to find much ambiance. So my reccomendation is you choose a well known nightclub and go there. The entrance fee will surely include many drinks, but be prepared to pay a high price for it...
By the way, locals will get there late, at least until 1am it won't be much lively. But after that time it'll be packed. And you can keep dancing until the sunrise, go see it from the beach, and after that do like locals do: have some hot chocolate and churros! You'll find bars open in the Old Town and La Rambla from 6 or 7am.

See you next year!

Works in train station affect Airport Train Line

From Dec 25th to Jan 5th there will be works on Passeig de Gràcia RENFE station.

That will affect the schedule of most local train lines passing through it, and it also affects the El Prat Airport train line, which will START / FINISH at Sants station instead of continuing to Passeig de Gràcia and so forth.

RENFE will also provide a bus service from/to França Station and the El Prat Airport.
More information in the RENFE website.

Christmas like a local. PART 4: TV classics.

Christmas is of course also present on TV. There are a few TV classics that any Barcelona person associates with Christmas here are some of them that you shouldn't miss (in no special order):

FREIXENET CAVA SPOT
Every year this popular Cava brand presents a TV spot with international celebrities such as Pierce Brosnan, Paul Newman, Martin Scorsese...
This year they have asked the olympic medal winner Spanish synchronized swimming team to create a special choreography for them. You must check it out... so spectacular!



SPANISH LOTERY SPOT AND DRAW
The Spanish Lotery also prepares a special TV spot for Christmas, that evokes the magic and good feelings of this time of the year. Their musics are usually cool too (and it seems this year they made rich a poor NYC author that was about to loose his appartment and had his song on the internet!).



Yes, the Spanish Lotery Christmas Draw is something so big here! Everyone has tickets and hopes to get the "gordo" price, the big one. The draw is actually going on right now and it is shown on TV. The Niños de San Ildefonso, school kids, read the numbers and sing them in a special tone, creating a lot of expectation. But everyone agrees that it sounded better when they said "pesetas" instead of "euros"...



THE KING'S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
Well, I'm not sure many people do watch it, because it is actually pretty boring... But it's every year on TV on Christmas eve: the King of Spain Juan Carlos wishes the Spanish people happy holidays and sends his message of peace to the country.
An example here:



NADAL A TRÈS BANDES (Three cushion Christmas)
TV3, the Catalan TV, offers a great creative billiard Christmas show every Dec 25th in the evening. It's so fun to watch, as they mix the spectacular caroms with dance shows and invite local celebrities to try their own fun carom as well. Watch that video:



So that's some of the Christmas TV classics! Hope you enjoyed the videos!

New Temporary Exhibit at the Picasso Museum

A very interesting temporary exhibit will be shown at the Picasso Museum until March 1st, 2009: Living Things, Figure and Still Nature in Picasso.

I went visiting last Friday and found it really interesting and a great complement to the permanent collection of the museum. As our museum is speciallised in the early works of the artist, it doesn't really cover the maturity years of Picasso when he devellopped the cubism and the surrealism. But with this temporary exhibit you'll approach these periods from the point of view of how he worked on objets (figures and still natures), often treating them as if they were human characters.

A great opportunity to enter Picasso's mind and soul!

New home for the Textile Museum!

For many years, the city Textile Museum was located in a medieval mansion in front of the Picasso Museum. However, a few weeks ago it closed and it has finally reopened in a new home at the Palau de Pedralbes (686, Diagonal Avenue. Metro L3 Palau Reial), now as part of a larger project, the DHUB (Disseny Hub Barcelona).

It is a great excuse to visit this often forgotten part of the city.
I'd suggest you start in the morning visiting the Pedralbes Monastery, then explore the streets of the Pedralbes area where the wealthiest families live, have a cofee at some cafe of the local Sarrià neighbourhood.

Sarrià

Then keep walking towards the Güell Pavilions to take some pics at the amazing Dragon Gate by Gaudi. You'll be near Diagonal Avenue, where there are plenty of busy lunch menu restaurants packed of bussiness people and locals.


It is worth to walk a bit around the gardens of the Royal Palace (can you find there a pergola and a little dragon fountain by Gaudí?), before you get to the Textile Museum.

If you have some more energy, after the visit you can still get to the Barcelona Football Club Stadium, one of the largest in the world, or either go shopping as some of my favorite local shopping malls are in the are, one next to the other: Corte Ingles, Boulevard Rosa and l'Illa.

Have a great day!

Christmas like a local. PART 3: Christmas for children!

Christmas is always a big thing for kids, who are delighted with the magic of traditions and presents.
Barcelona children have plenty of opportunities to enjoy the holydays:

- Advent Calendar. The countdown for Christmas starts when you buy an Advent Calendar in a bookstore at the stationer's. This calendar goes from December 1st to Christmas, and has a little window for each day, that you open as days go by.

- Setting up the Nativity. That's a huge event for the family. I told you everything you need to know about it in my first Christmas post.

- Caga Tió. This tradition might sound a bit scathologic, but it actually refers to the land fertility, and therefore wealth and good luck in general. On Christmas Eve, a Tió or Pooing Trunk is set in a prominent place of the house living room. Traditionally, it has a smily face painted in one end and wears a "barretina" hat. You must cover it with a blanket, so it doesn't get cold. But the trunk is still freezing, so children must warm it up so it can "poo" them their presents, and they do it by hitting it with a stick and singing a traditional song. I've heard many different versions of this tune; in my family we used to sing something that could be translated as: "Poo trunk, poo cottage cheese and honey, if you don't poo enough, I will burn you". Yes, maybe not too reassuring for the poor trunk but it is effective! After singing it a few times always hitting the trunk with your stick, you can lift up the blanket and... surprise! the trunk will have certainly pooed presents and sweets for you!



- December 28th, day of the Innocents. That's the equivalent to April Fools for many countries: a day to fool people and have a laught at them. Children often cut off paper dolls (LLUFES in Catalan) to hang them at the back of people when they don't notice...

- Childhood Festival in Montjuic. Every year the Barcelona Fair organises a kids festival with hundreds of activities for kids. In 2008 it'll be from December 27th to January 4th. Unfortunately, their website is only in Spanish.

- The Man of the Noses. A Catalan Legend says there is a Man that has as many noses as days are left before the year is over. This poor man can only walk in the streets on the last day of the year, when he has only one nose. Children walk around watching people noses and wondering who must be this misterious man... A big-head carnival figure of the "Home dels Nassos" will be parading the streets. Check out the city council website to know more about its itinerary.

- Toy Fair in Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes. Every year the central part of this street holds a Toy Fair with dozens of stalls with the best toys and games to tempt both kids and adults.

- A letter for the Three Wise Men. Although globalization is making him more and more popular, in Spain Santa Claus is still beaten by the Three Wise Men as present carrier. Usually each child has a favorite Wise Men: Melchor (the white), Gaspar (the blond) or Baltasar (the black), and writtes a letter for him, telling him all the presents he/she wants to get for having been a good child. After writing the letter, it must be giving to a Royal Page. You'll find one in the Palau de la Virreina (99, Rambla) from December 29th to January 4th.

- The Three Wise Men Parade. They come to the city with their camels and pages and parade the streets before starting their important job of distributing toys among the Barcelona children during a long long busy night for them. This year they arrive by boat at 5.30pm at the Moll de la Fusta pier, then the Parade starts at the Ciutadella Park, through Via Laietana and towards Montjuïc.

- Getting ready for the Three Wise Men to come. Of course, January 5th is a night when children must go early to sleep. But before that, they will make sure to leave some turrón and cava for the Three Wise Men, and water and old bread for the horses. We also leave a shoe near the nativity, so they know where to leave your presents.

Christmas like a local. PART 2: The Christmas Spirit is in the streets!

Isn't it nice to walk around the streets and feel Christmas in the air?
But when you are in a foreign city, sometimes you are a bit lost trying to find the local Christmas spots...
Here are some suggestions to get the most of your Christmas in Barcelona!

VISITING AND STROLLING AROUND
- Christmas market in front of the Old Cathedral: Nativities, Christmas threes and local traditions.
- Real size Nativities: in the cloister of the Old Cathedral and in the Plaça Sant Jaume.
- Nativities Diorama exhibit: in the Betlem Chruch (La Rambla).
- Christmas lights: In the evening, walk down Passeig de Gràcia, accross Plaça Catalunya and continue down Les Rambles and into the Gothic Quarter. Lights on from 6pm to 9pm aprox.
- Cycling to light a Sustainable Christmas Three: This year the city council has set up a few sustainable Christmas trees. Some, like the one between the Arc de Triomf and the Ciutadella Park work with sun power. Others, like the one in the gardens at the crossing between Passeig de Gràcia and Diagonal Avenue, or the one in front of the Santa Caterina Market, work with the energy generated by people cycling.
- Ponsetia: In Christmas time La Rambla is red and green from this plant. Get to the flower market to buy one and decorate your house!



CHRISTMAS THEATER: THE "PASTORETS"
The favorite version of the story of the birth of Jesus was written by the Catalan author Josep Maria Folch i Torres, and it is often performed in local theaters for the pleasure of children and adults. It's such a big thing here, than even the local TV organised a reality show to choose the best actors for the characters! Check it out here! (although it's of course in Catalan, but it's fun!).

My reccomendation to see the Pastorets play (in Catalan, but it's a real local experience!):
- Centre Moral i Instructiu de Gràcia. 9, Ros de Olano st. December 20th, 21st, 27th & 28th at 6pm, and the 26th at 7.30pm. It's an amateur group of theater with a long tradition in the neighbourhood, an oportunity to see the real Barcelona ambiance.



CHRISTMAS MASS
In Catalonia, the big mass is on Christmas eve. It's called the Rooster Mass (Missa del Gall), because it takes place by midnight. Some beautiful services are:
- Santa Maria del Mar church: 11.45pm (Sibilla chant followed by the Rooster Mass).
- Cathedral: 11pm (Vigil prayer), midnight (Rooster Mass).

OUT OF TOWN: PESSEBRES VIVENTS
A Pessebre Vivent is a Life Nativity. In many Catalan villages the neighbours organize representations of Bethlehem and the Nativity with real people and animals. It is not exactly a theater play, as the characters don't talk. It's selected scenes of the story of the birth of Jesus, presented along a path outdoors. It is beautiful, and a large number of inhabitants of the village get involved in its organization: they consider it an honour!

The oldest Pessebre Vivent is the one of Corbera de Llobregat, played every year since 1962. See some images here.

MY SUGGESTION: TAKE A CHRISTMAS BARCELONA TOUR!
If you love Christmas, contact me and I'll organize a Christmas-focussed tour specially for you!
A Barcelona walk, or even a drive to Corbera to see their Pessebre Vivent!
Price depends on itinerary and transportation needs. Contact me for more information!

Christmas in Barcelona, like a local! PART 1: How to make a Nativity at home.

Setting up the Nativity (pessebre in Catalan or belén in Spanish) is a family ritual that children love! Christmas isn't Christmas without a Pessebre!
So since I figure you aren't much familiar with this tradition, here are some instructions on how to set a Catalan Pessebre.

STEP ONE: GOING SHOPPING
- Visit a local Christmas Market (the two best are in front of the Old Cathedral and in front of the Sagrada Familia church). There, buy a miniature stable, little figures of the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the mule and the bull, an angel to hang on top of your stable, a star, the Three Wise Men and their pages, a "Caganer" and as many shepperds and other decoration stuff as you like. Get also some starry-night paper, a couple of oak three trunks and some muss.



STEP TWO: PREPARING THE SETTING
- Back home, free a shelf of books and anything you keep there, cover it with some old newspapers (to protect the shelf) and pin the night-paper on the wall as background.
- Then place the Stable in a corner, and hang the star above on the wall.
- Put the oak tree trunks as the mountains at the back, lying against the wall and the night-paper.
- Use some sawdust to create a path accross the shelf, a line of aluminum foil to make a river, and cover what's left of the shelf with muss (it'll be the grass).
- As final touch, use thyme branches as trees, flour as snow...



STEP THREE: PUTTING THE FIGURES IN THE RIGHT PLACE
- The Stable: Put the Holy Family and the bull and mule inside, and hang the angel on the edge of the rooftop.
- Put the three Wise Men with their camels and pages in the opposite end of the path leading to the stable.
- Put some figures of knealing shepperds in front of the Stable, and some walking shepperds along the path.
- Hide the Caganer somewhere where it's hard to see it.
- Other traditional elements of any good Nativity: the Anunciation group (shepperds around the fire + angel on a tree), well, bridge over the river, houses on top of the mountain, sheep, poultry and other animals.



STEP FOUR: THE NATIVITY DAYLY LIFE!
- The Three Wise Men: Every day you must move them one step closer to the Stable, so that they arrive there on January 6th, the Epifany Day.
- The Caganer: Weren't you wondering why would you have a figure hidden so nobody can see it? That's precisely the point! When you have guests, make sure to challenge them to find your perfectly hidden pooing-man! (at least, that's what all kids do here!)

Interviewed at the Localyte blog!

Localyte.com is a website that lists the best tourguides and tourist services around the world.

I'm listed as one of their top guides, and they interviewed me for their newly launched blog.

Read it here: http://blog.localyte.com/barcelona-from-the-eyes-of-a-local/

A bit about politics and Catalan identity

Often in my private tours I'm asked about the local political situation and about the Catalan/Spanish conflict. People wants to know about taxes distribution, school system, language, history, politics...

I always try to give them a moderated point of view that reflects the situation in our country (and if they ask, I can give them my personal opinion as well).

Last november, the Economist published an article about the Spanish regional system that gives what I would call the "Spanish right parties" opinion. It's the situation seen from the rest of Spain... You can read it here: http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12501023

But Catalan people don't feel represented, understood not listened to by this article. This is why University Professor Carles Boix has written a public manifesto to defend the Catalan point of view. His text has received popular support, and you can read it here: http://www.respostaeconomist.cat/web_english/english_MANIFEST.jsp

As always, politics are always a personal choice, a personal view. I thought you might be interested in comparing the two positions so you can decide for yourselves.