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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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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¿Celebras San Valentín? Mañana es 14 de febrero y en toda Europa y Estados Unidos se celebra el día de los enamorados. Los escaparates de las tiendas se llenan de corazones rojos y la publicidad nos incita a comprar, comprar, comprar artículos románticos que no sirven para nada, perfumes, cajas de bombones, corazones de peluche… Por obligación tienes que salir a cenar con tu pareja y sentirte feliz en este día (o desgraciado/a si estás solo/a).

Do you celebrate Saint Valentine’s? Tomorrow is the 14th of February and in the whole Europe and United States the day of love is celebrated. The shop windows are full of red hearts and publicity forces us to buy, buy, and buy romantic articles which are completely unuseful, perfumes, chocolates… You really feel like YOU HAVE TO go out for dinner with your partner and feel happy this day (or sad if you are alone!)

En España es una tradición bastante reciente, probablemente llegó aquí por influencia del mercado americano, aunque no lo celebramos con tanta devoción como en otros países vecinos.

In Spain it is quite a recent tradition, we probably got it influenced by the American market, however we do not celebrate it with so much passion as in other neighbour countries.

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Barcelona is a great place to be!!! No doubt about that. But from time to time I like to get out of the city and enjoy a bit of fresh air and discover new places not that far away from here.

Some weeks ago, wanting to do something different, I decided to rent a car and get away for a few days. To rent a car in Barcelona is quite simple, the best company I know and the one with the best prices is Pepe car. After doing a bit of research on the Internet, I decided to visit a town in the north of Barcelona, a medieval town not far from Girona called Besalú. To plan my journey, I used a web page that it is always useful map24, and after just over an hour on the road I arrived.

I was very much surprised by what I first saw on arriving into the city: a beautiful and very impressive stone bridge with seven arches above a small river. This medieval bridge was built between the XI and XII century and when you stand in front of the main entrance, the Portal el Puente, you really travel back in time!!!

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El fin de semana pasado vino mi familia desde Málaga a visitarme y celebrar mi cumpleaños ( lo siento, pero no os diré mi edad!!!! ). Algunos de ellos no habían estado nunca en Barcelona, así que tuvimos que planificar muy intensivamente el sábado porque querían ver lo más posible.

Last weekend my family came from Malaga to Barcelona to visit me and to celebrate my birthday (Sorry! but I will not tell you my age!!!). Some of them had never been in Barcelona so we had to plan very intensively the Saturday because they wanted to see as much as possible.

A continuación te explico nuestro plan intensivo 24 horas por si alguien te visita, como a mí, en un sólo fin de semana, y queréis descubrir el máximo de esta única ciudad.

I will explain you then, our 24 intensive plan in case somebody visits you ONLY for one weekend, and you want to discover as much possible this city.

• No te levantes muy tarde, comienza a las 10 de la mañana o antes, y lo primero, toma el metro o el autobús desde donde te encuentres y con la línea 3 (verde-en dirección Canyelles) comienza tu día en Carrer Gran de Gracia cerca de la estación de metro de Fontana. Desde allí camina por la calle hacia Travessera de Gracia (o sea, dirección hacia el mar) y disfruta de la gran cantidad de tiendas y de los edificios modernistas y los bonitos balcones de cristales de algunos de ellos.
• Don´t get up very late, start at ten or before, and take the bus or the metro from where you are and with the line 3 (green line to Canyelles) start the day from Fontana Metro Station. From there, walk down the street towards Travessera de Gracia and enjoy the shops, the modernist buildings and the beautiful glass balconies in some of them.

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  Estas son las FANTÁSTICAS actividades de Camino para la semana que viene:

El lunes, como hace mucho frío y estamos todos cansados del fin de semana , iremos a las 15:45 a tomar un chocolate caliente (o un café o una Coca-Cola como prefieras) a una de las famosas chocolaterías de la calle Petritxol, cerca de las Ramblas, con nuestra profesora Maite.

El martes, tendremos un taller super interesante sobre el cine español más actual, que ahora ¡está de moda! (recuerda que Penélope Cruz ha sido nominada a los Oscars). Sonia hablará de cómo es nuestro cine, de nuestros directores más internacionales (como Almodóvar o Amenabar) y de algunos actores importantes que seguro que ya conoces aunque no sepas sus nombres, como Javier Bardem o Antonio Banderas (que es español, de Málaga, como yo  y no mexicanoooo como mucha gente piensa)

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Ayer martes fue un día histórico para el cine español. Por primera vez en la historia, una actriz española, Penélope Cruz, ha sido nominada como mejor actriz principal, para los Oscars.

Además dos cortos españoles han sido seleccionados como candidatos al mejor corto de ficción y entre las películas con mayor número de nominaciones se encuentran BABEL del director mexicano Alejandro González Iñárritu con 7 nominaciones (película que esta tarde nuestros estudiantes junto con la profesora Leticia verán en el cine COMEDIA a las 15:30) y EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO, producción española dirigida por el mexicano Guillermo del Toro, con 6 nominaciones. (more…)

La gastronomía española está de moda en el mundo, pero hay un sector que atrae a todos los estudiantes que vienen a nuestra escuela: las tapas.

Spanish cuisine is fashionable all over the world at the moment and one area seems to be of special interest to the students who visit our school: Tapas.

Originalmente, la tapa es andaluza. La primitiva tapa fue una fina loncha de jamón serrano con la que se tapaba la copa de fino a fin de que no perdiera el vino su aroma.

Originally, Tapas come from Andalusia. The first version of tapas was a thin slice of cured ham which was used to cover your glass of sherry to prevent it from losing its aroma.

Las populares tapas (llamadas también pincho en el norte de España) consisten en pequeños platos de comida o aperitivos que se suelen servir acompañando a la bebida, generalmente cerveza o vino.

The most popular tapas (also called ‘pinchos’ in the north of Spain) consist of small dishes of food which are usually served with a drink like beer or wine.

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As the SALES have arrived and we are in the mood for bargains, it is the perfect time to learn the basic Spanish vocabulary and phrases that you will need in the shops.

Useful Vocabulary:

Dependiente: Shop Assistant

Cliente:Customer

Precio: Price

Rebajas: Sales

Talla: Size

Descuento: Discount

Probadores: Changing Rooms

Tíquet de compra: Ticket

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If you visit Barcelona, you will see the name of Gaudí everywhere, but maybe you don´t now exactly who he is, what he has done and why he is so famous. However if you hear the name of monuments such as : Sagrada Familia, La Casa Milá-La Pedrera, la casa Vicenc, La Casa Batlló o Park Güell, you will very quickly associate these names with Barcelona. Gaudí is the author of all these works.

Born in 1852 in Reus (Tarragona, near Barcelona), from his childhood, Gaudí loved to observe the nature and putting special attention to its forms, shapes and colours. In1868 he decided to study architecture in Barcelona in a school dominated by Neoclasic and Romantic tendencies of the period. Therefore a great historical-oriental influence can be observed on his first production together with the use of medieval elements.

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