Camino Barcelona Blog

Last weekend I had friends visiting, they had been already sometimes in Barcelona so they know the city already quite well, therefore we wanted to do something different and on Sunday we decided to go to the IMAX cinema in Port Vell.

We took the line 3 (green) in direction to Zona Universitaria and got off in Drassanes, at the end of la Rambla. You can also take line 4 (yellow) in direction to Pep Ventura and get off in Barceloneta. I recommend that you get early there because the tickets do not have seat numbers and if you want to have a good seat, you must be one of the first ones in the queue. The ticket for a double session costs 10€ but it is really worth the money!

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¡Hola chicos!

Me estaba preguntando si todos salís más o menos por los mismos sitios de siempre, y si no estáis ya cansados de ir a los mismos bares y discos, Catwalk, City Hall, Sugar, Plaza Real… ¿No queréis probar algo diferente?

I was wondering whether you all go out around the same places ALL THE TIME, and whether you are already tired of the same bars and clubs, Catwalk, City Hall, Sugar, Plaza Real… Don’t you wanna try something different?

Creo que como turistas que sois en Barcelona, os condenáis al mismo tipo de ambiente, que no digo que esté mal, pero quizá, aprovechando que estáis en España, deberíais probar algo realmente típico español y dejaros de tanto bar para ‘guiris’!

I honestly think that, as tourists, you are always ‘condemned’ to the same atmosphere, which I am not saying it is a bad one, but maybe you should take advantage of where you are and try the real typical Spanish atmosphere for a change!

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Las tapas son una tradición culinaria española que triunfa en todo el mundo pero… ¿sabíais que la cocina más imaginativa y creativa del mundo que se hace hoy en día es española? ¿No os lo creéis? Seguid leyendo y descubrid el mundo de los chefs españoles.

Ferrán Adriá es probablemente el cocinero más conocido internacionalmente. En los periódicos y revistas internacionales ya no se habla de la cocina francesa, sino de los nuevos e imaginativos chefs españoles.

¿Os imagináis una sopa medio fría medio caliente? ¿Convertir unas olivas en gelatina? ¿Comer un cocktail sólido? De primeras puede parecer una locura pero su cocina está hecha para los sentidos, para descubrir un mundo de sensaciones comiendo. ¡Por eso lo llaman “El Alquimista”!

Ferrán Adriá es también conocido por su restaurante, El Bulli, un lugar donde hay que hacer reservas con meses de antelación. Este restaurante sólo abre la mitad del año, ya que durante la otra mitad está investigando en su “taller culinario” los platos con los que sorprenderá a todo el mundo. (more…)

¡Hola chicos!

Hoy estoy especialmente contenta porque…¡Ya tengo mi entrada para el PRIMAVERA SOUND! Este festival de música tiene lugar en el recinto del Fórum (justo después de la última playa en Barcelona) todos los años en Mayo-Junio. A ver, os lo recomiendo especialmente a aquellos que os guste la música alternativa y queráis conocer también a nuevos grupos.

Today I am especially happy because… I got my ticket for PRIMAVERA SOUND! This music festival takes place in the Barcelona Forum (just after the last beach in Barcelona city) every year around May-June. I strongly recommend it for those of you who like alternative music and you like getting to know new groups in the scene.

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Hello again everyone!

Today I have a very shameful confession to make! I have been living in Barcelona for 3 years and on Tuesday I had my FIRST EVER experience of the Sitges Carnaval!  I know, I know….unforgivable! But don’t worry, on Tuesday I did lots of catching up! 

Before the big event I had read reports by Rocio (school director) and Laura (one of our favourite students :)) but I still wasn’t prepared for what I saw!!!  I have to agree with Laura - there were LOTS of men dressed very convincingly as women…all a little too convincing for my liking…most had better legs than me!

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¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? ¿Ya estáis recuperados del Carnaval? Ayer fue la última noche en Sitges y he oído que muchos en la escuela fueron… ¡Ya me contaréis!¡Quiero ver fotos!

Bueno, ahí van las actividades para la semana que viene…

Hi! How are you? Are you still alive after Carnival? Yesterday it was the last big night in Sitges and I have heard that many in the school went there… Tell me about it! I wanna see your pictures!

Anyway, the activities for next week are…

Lunes 26 - 3 de la tarde - Copa de Bienvenida/ Monday 26th - 3 afternoon - Welcome drink

La bienvenida para los nuevos estudiantes. ¡Ven a comer y beber algo con nosotros en el jardín para conocernos!

Welcome to all our new students. Come and have a drink and a bite to eat with us in the garden so we can meet each other!

Martes 27 - 2.45 de la tarde - Taller: Descubrir Andalucía/Tuesday 27th - 2.45 afternoon-Workshop: Discovering Andalusia

Leticia, la profesora que es de Córdoba, os hablará sobre su región, famosa por su historia, cultura y características tradiciones.

Leticia, our teacher from Córdoba, will talk about the region where she is from, famous for its history, culture and traditions.

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Yesterday I read an article in El País that really got my attention: “according to the Financial Times, the Europeans choose Spain as their favourite country to work and live”.

It seems that the 17% of 7000 thousand people from Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain consider Spain as their first choice to live and work in case they had to leave their country. Europeans think that Spain is a country with an interesting economy, that Spanish people are welcoming to foreigners and very optimistic about their future. They also think that we are the ones who know how to live best in the whole of Europe. As we normally say: “Here in Spain we work to live, but we do not live to work”.

I, as a Spanish person, think that it is true that we know how to live well and enjoy life. I have lived in countries like Great Britain or Germany, and although their economy is much stronger than ours, salaries are higher and the number of working hours less, there are facts like the weather that can not be changed and really influence the way people are and behave. It is very difficult when you come from a Mediterranean country to get used to the freezing winter and the early evenings in January when at 3 o´clock it’s already dark!!!! Of course, not all is bad, and I really enjoyed my time in these places for many other reasons.

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CaRnAvAl!!!

Last weekend I went to Sitges with some friends to celebrate carnaval! It really was ‘la mar de divertido!’

We got there with the last train from estacio Sants. It’s about half an hour by train to get there. In the train everybody was drinking and singing. In Holland people celebrate carnival as well, so we introduced the Spanish people in the train some Dutch carnival songs!

We arrived in Sitges about 00.30. Sitges is well known as a gaydistrict. So when we walked to Sitges ‘downtown’ we saw a lot of amazing extraordinary persons and outfits. I think that about 50% of all people on the street were males dressed as women. Wigs, skirts, heals, lots of make up, nailpolish, they had it all! I think all people out there proved that they know the best how to celebrate carnival! (more…)

The football ‘Champions League’ is back and it couldn’t come in a worse moment for the current winner, ¡BARÇA!.

La Liga de Campeones ha vuelto y no lo podía hacer en peor momento para el actual campeón, ¡el BARÇA!

We lost against Valencia yesterday and we are not leaders in solitaire of the Spanish ‘Liga’ anymore. The team is not playing as good as everybody remembers from last year and there have been a few problems between players (name it ‘Eto’o has opened his bigmouth again’).

Ayer perdimos contra el Valencia y ya no somos los líderes en solitario de la Liga. El equipo no juega tan bien como todo el mundo recuerda del último año y han habido unos cuantos problemas entre los jugadores (llámalo “Eto’o a vuelto a abrir su bocaza”)

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My aim was to keep my blog updated every 2 weeks or so. To be honest I have slightly lost track of time and find it hard to believe I am just about to start my 6^th week, so I am half way through my time here.
I had a bit of a shocker last week and failed my first exam! That is the price you pay for spending a bit too much time enjoying the vino tinto. I have now pulled my finger out a bit and have started to get stuck into the language, as soon as you have the basics it is amazing how quickly it all starts to fall into place.

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