El Barrio del Born – Barcelona

This is another very interesting neighbourhood of Barcelona. It is the most important medieval neighbourhood in the city.

In this "barrio" you will find some of the coolest bars, restaurants and boutiques. Its narrow streets in the form of a labyrinth make it a “must” when you visit Barcelona. A walk through will make you feel you have stepped back in history. Together with El Barrio Gótico, El Born forms the antique city of Barcelona.

El Born contains some amazing pieces of architecture such as El Palau de la Música – one of the most beautiful examples of the Catalán Modernism. This great palace built by arquitech Lluís Domènech i Montaner is well known for its facade decorated with mosaics.

In El Born you will also find the Picasso Museum – probably “The” museum to visit in the city, for the artist and for the building.

Another fascinating building is the church of Santa Maria del Mar – this is a Catalán gothic style church from fourteenth century. It was built on top of the chapel of Santa María de las Arenas from year 998. Berenguer de Montagud initiated the project in 1328, which was finished half a century after.

El Born is the most sophisticated neighbourhood in the city – come and enter this enchanting labyrinth full of magic, history and beauty.

The clubs and bars tend to be a little more relaxed than the ones by the port. If you fancy a cocktail or even dance until the morning, El Born is the place to be.

More Catalan culture – Les Festes de Gracia, Barcelona

Gracia is a neighbourhood in Barcelona. This one in particular is where you will find more students, young people and more bars. It is the modernist “barrio” (neighbourhood in English).

Les Festes de Gracia begin on 15^th August and go on until 21^st August – these are outdoors parties that include all sorts of activities for kids and for adults.

Normally you will be able to go from one street to the next to see different performances during the day, such as “Els Castellers de Barcelona” (The Castle Builders of Barcelona), (Picture No 1). You can also go to a little stage where you can see a theatre play going on. Other activities include Catalan people dancing “La Sardana” – the typical Catalan dance. (Picture No 2). 

At night time from about 20:00 hrs. is when most people come out to have dinner outdoors – most neighbours take their tables and chairs out in the street and dine together. It is very family orientated and a lot of fun. In some streets you can buy food and drinks and join the dinner. It is really cool – you will always find families cooking sardines and offering wine from “El Porró” (Picture No 3). This is a funny shape glass bottle that typical Catalans drink wine from.  I have not seen many English people able to drink properly from that object. It is very important to not pronounce the word wrongly, as without the accent on the last "o", means something totally different.

Each street has got a different theme and decorations around it, for example, last year there was one street themed with the song “The Yellow Submarine” from The Beatles and the whole street was a yellow submarine. There are more than 20 streets and they all have a different theme – they really are beautiful. There is a competition between all the streets and the winner street receives the top prize. (Picture No 4 of a street of Gracia decorated).

At night, there are several stages where life music bands play until about 2-3 am – all the neighbours are happy – they know there is no sleeping for 15 daysJ. You will normally see local bands playing with enthusiasm – fun never finishes as bars and other late night venues are open until the sunshine comes up again. (Picture No 6 of a band playing). Come to Gracia this year – you will love it!


 Picture No 1 - Els Castellers de Barcelona


Picture No 2 - People dancing La Sardana


Picture No 3 - Drinking wine with El Porró


Picture No 4 - Gracia street decorated


Picture No 5 - Band playing at Festes de Gracia





A piece of Catalan culture

I start my blog today with the idea of getting people to talk about their recreational Interests. It sounds funny these days people talk and meet on the Internet, I know. What I am trying to achieve here is to open a forum to talk about recreational  thoughts, interests  and ideas, so we can all learn and benefit from each other’s stuff – for example:

I went to a very remote place for Easter called Set Cases (in the north of Spain) and this is where the river Ter begins. It is a very small town on top of the Pyrenees mountains where people go skiing and spend relaxing hours looking at the sky, walking and breathing fresh air. Set Cases in English means Seven Houses. I invite you to discover Set Cases through the video clips and find out how you could enjoy a few days of glory. Unfortunately the web is not translated but the clips are beautiful and don’t need much translation. View The Fair of St George’s Day and find out where to eat the best mushrooms in town. Watch the main town fair clip called Festa Major Setcases. (minute 2:36 locals start dancing the typical Catalan dance La Sardana). You can also learn about the wild mushrooms through Festa dels Bolets clip.

I also saw a band there called Caliu and they are from El Maresme, nearby Barcelona. El Maresme is another beautiful part of Catalonia with long beaches and plenty of sunshine.

I have plenty more stories and things to share – from my own country, from Mexico and other interesting places. I can tell you how to cook a Catalan dish or how to bake Brunyols - my Mum’s favourite thing.  
Why don’t you share an exciting or funny story with all? You can add some photos or even a video.

·         Did you follow the Euro cup? What was your favourite team?

·         Can you recommend local food and wine from your country?

·         What is the top movie you have seen in the last year? 

·         What is the last music or culture festival you have been to? Where?

·         What did you cook last time you had guests at home? Can you give the recipe?

·         Do you have any funny stories, photos or videos that you would like to share?

·         Can you tango? Do you know where to learn?

Sure you have also loads of stories to share.