Carnival, mildly spicy or red hot

Carnival is just around the corner and Barcelona is getting ready. It has all the costumes, parties, and craziness you would expect. It´s all about letting your hair down; breaking all established order and decorum; spontaneous, active participation. It all starts on Fat Thursday ("Dijous Gras" when the Carnival King makes his triumphal appearance. Blamed for all the evil in the world he is condemned, publicly burnt, and buried along with our sins. The high point of the week will be Saturday the 13 when the Big Parade (“La gran rua”) takes place. It will end on the 17th with the burial of the sardine (“L´Enterrament de la Sardina”) which symbolically buries all our fun and, in theory more than in practice begins the forty days of Lent. For people who do not need complete craziness, we can put your minds to rest; Barcelona is not Rio or New Orleans. But it is a very good time and very close to our hearts, partially because it was prohibited during the Franco dictatorship until 1981 when the tradition was reignited with a vengeance.

Some serious revellers find Barcelona´s Carnival, well, a little decaffeinated. For you we have the wonderful extravagance of Sitges, the super popular seaside resort a mere 40-minute train ride from the Hotel Principal. Here the costumes are more eccentric, the fireworks crazier, the parties among the hottest in Europe. A lot of this lavishness is due to the large gay and lesbian community which helps make Carnival in Sitges an international event. So if you like your Carnival mildly spicy or red hot, we have just the plate for you.

Picasso and Erotic Prints from Japan: yet another side to Picasso

“Art and sexuality are the same thing.”--Picasso

You have just two more weeks to go to check out “Secret Images: Picasso and Erotic Prints from Japan” at the Picasso Museum of Barcelona. The official publicity talks about the life-long dialog between the great painter and the erotic tradition in Japan and the exhibit contains 61 major Japanese erotic prints, some of which date back to the 17th century, and Picasso drawings which show their influence. These drawings span the years from when a hungry, young Picasso sold his erotic drawings “on the clandestine market”, as the exhibit puts it, to when he was an established multi-millionaire with the same sexual obsessions.

This is billed as a collection of Japanese prints from Picasso´s private collection but he acquired most of them in 1934 and there is no hard evidence of his owning more than one in his quiet days in Clichy, Paris. But Japan had been introduced into Europe at the end of the 20th century and was certainly in the avant-garde air.

This museum goer was especially interested in the long Japanese tradition of depicting women in compromising positions with octopuses and fish, themes which fascinated both Picasso and Toulouse Lautrec as well as others. So, the exhibit is a little spicy, but Picasso says that “Art is never chaste and should be forbidden to innocents.”

We learn that, unlike in the West, erotica was not at all marginal in Japan. Shungo, as these erotic prints were called were in wide and respectable circulation and were used in sex education dating from 1764. Much of the exhibit is not pornographic; there is an official Picasso poster of Madame Sadayakko, a geisha-trained Japanese artist who was all the rage at the time, and a learned discussion of Japanese print techniques.

Picasso says, “Everything about the East seduces me. The West and its civilization are merely the leftovers from the gigantic loaf that is the East.” You will certainly find something to be seduced by in this exhibit which can be seen alone or together with the permanent museum collection. In any case it shows yet another side of the multi-faceted Spanish genius.

by Michael Oudyn

The glam rock "Kiss-es" Barcelona

If you are looking for a good excuse to plan a trip to Barcelona, now you have it: the concert of Kiss, one of the most important bands of glam rock.
As a part of the tour "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom", the group will visit Barcelona on June 24th. In the show, they will make a trip trough their whole musical history.
The concert will be held at Palau Sant Jordi and there are still tickets available on Ticketmaster. Get hurry!

Urban fashion in Barcelona

If you want to know what the new trends in design will be, how to revamp your marketing strategies, or learn about the most innovative projects in the fashion industry, you can’t afford to miss The Brandery. According with their website:

A business platform and a generator of trends. It is an outstanding communications tool for buyers, distributors, salespeople and creators.
Held in Barcelona, one of the most modern, cosmopolitan and trend-setting European capitals, The Brandery offers the best investment for getting access to the southern European market.

More than 100 brand will participate in this edition. Beside the parades and the exposition, there will be spaces to develop several activities related with the fashion world.

For example, if you are interested in this business, try "The Laundry", a place for discussion and thought that brings together fashion experts and professionals. Some of the big challenges facing the sector will be under discussion, such as the use of new technologies for marketing products and creating brand value, the usefulness of fashion catwalk shows, changes in consumer profiles and new business opportunities.

Or, if you are sporty kind, maybe you prefer "The Stadium", the sport and street sector at the fair, bringing together all the brands that specialise in high-adrenaline sports, urban culture and sport style. In this space there will be daily exhibitions by the top skateboard and BMX experts and an amazing exhibition of snowboards customized by the most well-known international tattoo artists.

The event will held in La Fira de Barcelona, from 27 to 30 January. Come to the fair and stay in Hotel Principal, we have a place for you.

Sales with a muffler

Ever since January 7 Barcelona has been head over heels with the last of the great holiday traditions: monster post-holiday sales. And with the crisis have come "best ever" sales according to shopping veterans. The tele and local papers and are full of sales of up to 80% and even "below cost". Come and see if it is all true and shop your blues away in one of Europe´s premier shopping destinations.

Don´t worry about cool air and tired feet. You can experience one of Barcelona´s Top Attractions: the "Barcelona Shopping Line". Luxury buses take you up and down the great Barcelona shopping streets. The route starts at the Corte Inglés in Plaza Catalunya, goes up the Passeig de Gracia (Barcelona´s 5th Avenue or Via Monte Napoleone), crosses the Diagonal, and ends at the Corte Inglés in Paza Francecs Mariás. You pass H&M, Zara, and FNAC; Chanel, Armani, Escada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Sita Mur, and all the other international giants on the "designer route". Or you can do it all the old-fashion way, on foot: "rebajas con bufanda" (sales with a muffler).

Don´t look at it as taking advantage of the crisis, but as doing your part to start the money flowing again.

Wise kings parade

The 5^th of January is right around the corner and that means the Wise Kings (Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltasar) and their entourages will be bringing gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus and, while they are at it, gifts to Catalan children. The Procession of Barcelona’s biggest street (La Cabalgata de Reyes) will once again fill the streets of Barcelona.

The great street spectacle and celebration winds for 5 kilometers through the most artistically important parts of the city and the generous kings will be throwing tons of candy to the revelers. Children have their last chance to drop requests for gifts to the Kings.

For the next day is Twelfth Night (The Epiphany) the day that children traditionally receive gifts in Spain. The carriages that take the Kings along their 5 kilometer strip through Barcelonaare two-tiered. One is for the Kings themselves, one for the 300 or so students from Barcelona’s dance and theatre schools who have been working on this big show since last summer. The city hall has gone all out to make this year’s spectacle the best ever.

The street theatre is incomparable and the vibe is festive. Baltasar will be accompanied by 35 percussionists and gigantic puppets representing African women. One carriage will be filled with with coal which will be delivered to the children who have been naughty.

The 5^th of January is celebrated everywhere in Spain, but Barcelona is the oldest recorded celebration; the first documented mention of the Cabalgata de los reyes goes back to 1855.
The parade begins on Marques de la Argentera street at 18:30 hrs., beside Parc de la Ciutadella, and the route go trough Via Laietana, Plaça Catalunya and Gran Via until Plaça Espanya, where you find the magic fountais.

We recomend to get there at least one hour before to have a good view.

Barcelona has chocolate soul

Maybe when we say "chocolate" you think in Switzerland or even Belgium, but in Barcelona you can find high quality chocolates. According with the website hotpaella:

"If the universe were made of chocolate, Barcelona would be at the very center of it (...) Barcelona has a deep rooted history in chocolate. Strolling the streets around La Rambla and the Barri Gotic in particular, you are certain to wander by and experience Barcelona's love of chocolate".

They also have some sugestion to enjoy it:

Dulcinea: Perhaps the best Chocolate and melindros (a catalan soft pastry) in all of Barcelona are found at Dulcinea (Petritxol street, 2). Established in 1930, this granja gains its namesale from Don Quixote's love, but gains its reputation for their lovely thick chocolate.

Fargas: Adorned with the same rustic décor since 1937, this old-time chocolate shop is one of the most famous in the city. Their Hot Chocolate is a definite must on every chocolate-touring itinerary (Pi street, 16)

Gelateria Xocolateria: Hidden in a corner of Plaça Sant Jaume, their speciality is Spanish chocolate con churros (you have to try it), although their ensaimada pastries are not to be missed either.

Pasteleria Escriba: Chef Ferran Adrià favorite chocolate croissants may be found at this old-time pastry shop. Family owned since 1906, this charming shop truly deserves its place in Barcelona’s history.

Museu de La Xocolata: Run by the Barcelona Confectionary Guild, Barcelona's Museum of Chocolate is the place to stimulate your mind, as well as your taste buds. Learn the history of chocolate, admire the impressively detailed chocolate sculptures, and finally hit The Café for some traditional hot chocolate.

Xocoa: A modern take on chocolate, these sweet treats come with flash wrappers and unique unforgettable flavors. Their shop boasts a novel assortment, including chocolate beer, chocolate candles and chocolate incense in addition to traditional favorites.

Cocoa Sampaka: a chocolate maker specializing in eccentric chocolate combinations (sunflower seeds and bitter chocolate, fried corn and dark chocolate) and classic bars. They also serve up a thick hot chocolate at their café.

Granja M. Viader: The chocolate milk drink Cacaolat (a bottled sweet chocolate milk) was invented here in 1931 and is still offered. We recommend the hot chocolate but they also have great milkshakes.