Camino Barcelona Blog

Hello guys!

I’m in an especially good mood today as I have just booked my flights for a holiday to Germany. And to top it off, the total journey costs me 42.50 euros, all taxes included!  That’s really cheap! 

I am travelling with Easyjet which used to be one of hundreds of these cheap airlines in Europe. They are offering hundreds of new routes to places (some exotic!) all over the world. Did you know that there are a lot of websites like this one, which compare flight prices for you? This is very helpful to keep track of these flights.  (more…)

If you like going to the circus, this information is for you: 

The Raluy Circus will be in the old port from the 16th of December to the 6th of January 2008 and his show is called this year: “La Belle Epoque”.

It might no be the biggest, the most innovative or the best circus that comes to Barcelona but still… its small format will give you an idea of what the circus might have looked like years ago.

His show this year is a tribute to the romantic “Belle Epoque”, a time when the TV, DVD, video games had not yet been invented and the Opera, the ballet and the circus were therefore a very popular entertainment.

Here is the link to the website to check their availabilities and buy your ticket.   (more…)

Hi all,

There’s something happening this week that makes Spanish people go crazy… ‘El Gordo de Navidad’ (literally ‘Christmas Fat Guy’)! On 22nd December, this Saturday, there will be millions of Spaniards watching TV (1st channel) like hypnotised from 8 am because the Christmas Lottery Draw is on! This draw is called ‘El Gordo’ because it is the most money played in Spain in the whole year.

Spanish people play the ‘Gordo’ as an old Christmas tradition more than a game. Everybody gets at least one lottery ticket as the one in the picture (’decimo’) to share with their friends, family or work colleagues. They cost 20 euros each, and these can be divided into ‘participaciones’ (tickets with the same number, playing a certain amount of money on that number). For example, if you buy a ‘decimo’, you can share 20 ‘participaciones’ of 1 euro with your friends, family…etc (more…)

¡Hola!

¡Vuelvo a hablaros de música! Hace un tiempo os hablé de los festivales de música en Barcelona este verano. Bien, ¡pues la semana que viene llega ya el PRIMAVERA SOUND! Desde el 1 de Junio podréis ver en Barcelona muchos grupos internacionales en el Fórum durante todo el fin de semana.

Y dentro de poco, el festival dance más importante de toda Barcelona, ¡el SÓNAR! Y en un mesecito, pues ¡el SUMMERCASE! ¡No puedo esperar, no puedo esperar!

Pero claro, el centro del mundo no es Barcelona, (aunque los que vivamos aquí lo pensemos…), así que hay muchos más festivales en toda España que merecen la pena visitar. Si estáis en Barcelona durante los meses de verano, y queréis salir algún fin de semana a otro sitio, l¡a mejor excusa es un festival como los que os voy a explicar!

- MONEGROS DESERT FESTIVAL - Es el 7 de Julio, y aunque es tan sólo durante un día, la verdad es que es bastante intenso. Es principalmente un festival de música dance y hip hop, organizado por una de las discotecas más impresionantes de España, la Florida 135 (¡visita obligada!). El festival tiene lugar en el desierto de los Monegros, en Huesca, provincia de Aragón. (A 2 horas en coche de Barcelona). Podréis ver a grupos como Asian Dub Foundation, Underworld o Snoop Dogg.

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This last week we had the choice to see the best tennis players playing in Barcelona. As every year the ‘Conde de Godó’ tournament sees many top 10 players, as Nikolay Davydenko, David Nalbandian and, of course, Rafael Nadal, the winner!

Esta semana pasada tuvimos la oportunidad de ver a los mejores jugadores de tenis in Barcelona. Como cada año, el trofeo “Conde de Godó” trae a muchos jugadores del “top 10″, como Nikolay Davydenko, David Nalbandian o, por supuesto, Rafael Nadal, ¡el campeón!

Rafa Nadal is the number 2 on the ATP list but definitely the number 1 when it comes to clay courts, as it is his 12th consecutive clay court tournament and his 72 consecutive win on clay, a historical record!

Rafa Nadal es el número 2 de la ATP pero sin lugar a dudas el número 1 en tierra batida, ya que es su título número 12 que consigue de forma consecutiva y su victoria número 72, también de forma consecutiva en tierra batida, ¡un record histórico!

This ‘Conde de Godó’ tournament takes place at the ‘Real Club de Tenis Barcelona 1899′, the oldest Tennis club in Barcelona, with more than 100 years of history!

El trofeo Conde de Godó se celebra en el Real Club de tenis de Barcelona 1899, el club de tenis más antiguo de Barcelona, con más de 100 años de historia. (more…)

¡Hola!

¿Conocéis la Feria de Abril de Sevilla? Esta semana está teniendo lugar la fiesta más popular de la ciudad de Sevilla en todo el año. Más de un millón de personas venidas de todo el mundo disfrutan de esta fiesta grande, donde se canta, baila, bebe y come durante una semana, ¡con sus días y sus noches!

Do you know Seville’s April Fair? This week the most popular ‘fiesta’ in Seville is taking place. More than one million people from everywhere in the world are enjoying this big celebration, where people sing, dance, drink and eat all week long, day and night!

Pero claro, es un poco tarde para llegar a Sevilla para este fin de semana, así que os cuento algo: ¡En Barcelona se celebra desde hace 36 años la Feria de Abril! En Barcelona son miles los andaluces que migraron al norte de España después de la posguerra para buscar trabajo y prosperidad. Sin embargo, como echaban de menos sus fiestas y tradiciones decidieron montar una Feria de Abril y celebrarlo como se hace en Andalucía!

But it is a bit too late for us to reach Seville for this weekend, so I will tell you something: in Barcelona there is an ‘April Fair’ as well that started to be celebrated 36 years ago! There are thousands of Andalusians living in Barcelona that came north after the Spanish Civil War looking for work and prosperity. However, as they were missing their fiestas and traditions they decided to celebrate the April Fair exactly as they do in Andalucia!

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Esta semana me han sorprendido con la que creo que es una gran noticia: Woody Allen, director de películas internacionalmente conocidas como ‘Match Point’, rodará su próxima película en nuestra ciudad, en Barcelona. Por ahora sólo se ha confirmado que este verano Woody Allen estará aquí rodando, pero la verdad es que parece ser que ya hay bastantes rumores sobre la película.

This week I was surprised to hear some big news: Woody Allen, the director of internationally recognised films such as ‘Match Point’, will shoot his next film in our city - Barcelona!  At the moment, we don’t know much more than the fact that Woody is going to be shooting here but there are already lots of rumours running around about the film.

En Barcelona se han rodado ya cientos de películas, algunas super producciones muy famosas, como por ejemplo ‘El Perfume’, este año pasado. Sin embargo, un director mundialmente conocido como Woody Allen, con ciudades fetiche como Nueva York o Londres, ha elegido Barcelona, ¡lo cual me llena de orgullo por estar viviendo aquí! Desde luego que será un acontecimiento sin duda para la ciudad que la hará brillar internacionalmente, y también una muestra de que Barcelona es ciudad cosmopolita y con una escena cultural muy importante.

Hundreds of films have already been shot in Barcelona, including some really big ones like last year’s ‘El Perfume’.  But when a director as famous as Woody Allen whose favourite hangouts are usually places like New York and London chooses Barcelona, I feel really proud to be living here!  This shooting will bring Barcelona into the international spotlight and will show just what a cosmopolitan and cultural city it is.

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Hola chicos,

Bueno, tengo que decir que estoy bastante decepcionada con el resultado del Barça este año en la Champions, ¡pero si la ganaron el año pasado! Todavía recuerdo las Ramblas y Plaza Cataluña repletas de gente celebrándolo y el autobús del Barça recorriendo las calles de la ciudad con sus felices jugadores…Bueno, ¡y lo mismo pasó cuando ganaron la liga nacional!

Hi folks!  Well, i have to say that I’m quite disappointed with Barca’s performance this year in the Champions league…I mean, they won it last year!  I can still remember the Ramblas and Plaza Catalunya being full of people celebrating the victory and the Barça bus going throught the streets with the happy players…And it was the same when we won the national league!

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This has been a very ‘athletic’ weekend in Barcelona. The nice weather accompanied more than 9000 people on the 2007 Barcelona’s marathon. The marathon crossed the whole city, from side to side, so that everybody could enjoy the race.

This race is very festive, with professionals running next to amateurs, young people next to older ones… but basically enjoying a sunny day, taking the place of cars for a few hours.

That hasn’t been everything! On the European Athletics Indoor Championships, España has finished on 3rd position in number of medals, but 3 of these medals have been special. 3 Spanish athletes have coped the first 3 positions on the 1500 metres!

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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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