Music to "tune into" your trip to Barcelona

Today the supplement for leisuretime of La Vanguardia newspaper had an article on songs related to Barcelona. I found it so cool, that I made a playlist for you to hear them and some others I found.

Chris Gilbertie's feedback

Chris Gilbertie and her parents where departing on a cruise from Barcelona, and they wanted to used their short time in town between their plane arrival until the ship departure discovering Barcelona.
I organized for a driver to pick them up at the new airport terminal, and then we met in town to see as much as possible. Chris parents can't walk for too long, so we took good advantage of our spacious minivan and our driver Jose Luís took us around the city. We also stopped for some delicious tapas, before we dropped them at the pier.
Here is the letter I just received from Chris:

Marta- My parents and I want to thank you (and Jose) for a wonderful tour of Barcelona. We can’t wait to share the experience with our friends and family – and of course – to come back for more excellent tapas and Barcelona culture. You made our short visit in Barcelona a memorable one!

Thank you so much!

-Chris

Festa Major de Gràcia has started!!!

My favorite event in the year, the Festa Major de Gràcia (Gràcia Festival) has started!
This morning I joined many other locals strolling around the streets to see the decorations prepared by the neighbours and took lots of pictures to show you. I loved them even more than last year!

It'll be easy for you to move around the area if you can get one of the free programs available at the desks of each street: Page 33 has a map where the decorated streets are marked in red and the other party locations are shown in green:

The problem is that the program is only in Catalan, so I made a selection of what could be interesting for you (there'll be lots of disco, salsa, jazz and music going on everynight aswell):

DANCING:
* Sardana dancing, the Catalan circle dance: Fri 21st late afternoon at Verdi st.
* Folkdance shows and stick dancing: Tue 18th at 6pm at Joan Blanques (upstreet) and Perla st. Wed 19th at at 10.30pm at Plaça del Sol.

TRADITIONS:
* Castells, the breathtaking Human Towers: rehearsals on the 18th at 10.30 and the 20th at 20.30, and show on the 22nd at 6pm, always at Plaça Vila de Gràcia*
* Correfoc, the firerun: Fri 21st at 10pm at Plaça Vila de Gràcia*, children's correfoc on the 21st at 6.30pm starting at Plaça Trilla.
* Fireworks: Night from the 21st to the 22nd, at 00.30 in Plaça Vila de Gràcia*
* Parades ("cercavila"): Sun 16th at 10.30 starting at Plaça Vila de Gràcia*

MUSIC:
* Grallers and Tabalers, traditional drummers and fluters: Wed 19th at 10.30pm at Plaça Vila de Gràcia*, Fri 21st at 8pm at Plaça Vila de Gràcia*
* Havaneres i rom cremat, sailors songs and flamed rhum drinking:
- Sun 16th: 6pm at Plaça del Poble Romaní, latenight at Tordera street, and 11pm at Plaça Joanic.
- Mon 17th: at 11pm at Providència st. andJoan Blanques (downstreet), and at 11.30pm upstreet.
- Tue 18th: 10.30pm at Llibertat st. and Placeta Sant Miquel, 11.30 pm at Fraternitat st.
- Wed 19th: 6pm at Plaça Rovira i Trias, latenight at Progrés st., 10pm at Puigmartí st., 10.30pm at Passeig de Sant Joan.
- Thu 21st: 7.30pm at Mozart street, and 11.30pm at Berga st.

FOOD
* Food tasting/eating/sharing:
- Paella: Sunday lunch at Progrés street. Wed 19th at 3pm at Llibertat st.
- Sardines: Wed 19th at 2pm at Providència st.
- Butifarra (pork sausage): Sun 16th at 2pm at Placeta Sant Miquel, 3pm at Llibertat st. Tue 18th at 9.30pm at Providència st. Fri 21st at noon at Puigmartí st.
- Hot chocolate: Mon 17st at 6pm at Plaça Rovira i Trias. Thu 20st at 11.30am at Mozart st., and at 6pm at Bruniquer st. and Llibertat st.
- Ratafia liquor (tasting followed by outdoors siesta!): Mon 17th at 3pm at Perla st.
- Pa amb tomàquet (Catalan tomato bread): Tue 18th at 3pm at Llibertat st.
- Snails ("cargols"): Sun 16th at 8pm at Plaça Manuel Torrente.

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).

IMPORTANT NOTE 3: Night events must be over by 3am. After that time please respect the neighbours rest.

IMPORTANT NOTE 4: Plaça Rius i Taulet changed name this year and it's now called Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia, but you'll still find the former name in many maps (and it's likely many locals don't even know about that name change!).

IMPORTANT NOTE 5: Two sections of Joan Blanques street participate in the Festival with different decoration and different activities. To make the difference, locals talk about "Joan Blanques de dalt" for the section that is upstreet and "Joan Blanques de baix", for downstreet.

Enjoy the Festival of Gracia!

For last year's articles go:
The Gracia Festival has started!
Lower Joan Blanques won the Gracia Streets Competi...

Letter from the Jones

Last week I spent two days with the Jones, a wonderful family with two teenage kids.
On our first day we had a city tour mostly focussed on Gaudí's works, and then the next day we went to Montserrat.
It was fun! We took the cablecar to get to the monastery and got there early enough to visit the Shrine of the Black Madonna just before they closed it for masstime (and so, we skept all the superlong lines that form later). Then Mike and one of the kids decided to take the Funicular de Sant Joan and then walk down (it's easy walk and there are great views!), and instead, Judy and the other son stayed with me in the monastery area and we visited an exhibit on the mountain with a slide show, strolled along a short Via Crucis path that took us a bit into the nature and the forrest, and then went to the farmers market.
We finally met with the other and bought some "coca", a traditional sugared bread that all locals buy when they come to Montserrat and sat at the cafe to eat it with some drinks.
I then called the driver to pick us up, and on the way back to Barcelona we stopped at the Santa Cecília Monastery, and in several vantage points to admire the curious shapes of the rocks of Montserrat.

I just received a letter from them that I wanted to share:

Marta,

I wanted to send you a note and thank you for your serevice! We had a great time in Barcelona and really enjoyed your city.

Mike Jones and family