Better than Halloween

La castañada is celebrated throughout Catalunya on October 31 All Souls Day eve. The essential menu at this feast are the humble castaña (chestnut), sweet white Moscatel wine, panallets (a sweet made of almond/ potato paste covered with pine nuts), and roast boniatos (a kind of sweet potato).

Just like Anglo-Saxon Halloween la castañada has evolved from an ancient funeral rite. The menu is said to derive from an old village custom. On All-Souls Night the church and convent bells tolled all night long to honor the dead and remind the living to pray. Ringing the bells was long hard work and chestnuts, a great source of energy, were abundant. The bell tollers ate them in great quantities to avoid passing out and roasted them to keep from freezing. And they washed them down with the local white wine.

Family and friends started coming to give physical or moral support and ended up joining in. Since churches and convents were everywhere, almost everyone was at one or other of them eating and drinking.

By the 18th century the custom went urban and the iconic castañera first appeared selling her kind of “chestsnuts roasting on an open fire”. This folkloric street vender with her ragged dress and old scarf has been joined by tidy sweetshops where panallets and wine are sold. Come join the fun. It’s a great time of year for everyone.

Dragons, roses & books

Spring comes early here and with it Barcelona’s best day, April 23, La Diada de San Jordi , Barcelona’s answer to Valentine’s Day. On this sweet, joyful day the catalan lover gives his girlfiend a rose, and she gives him a book.

The origin of this custom is curious. According to the legend, San Jordi -the same as St. George of England- slew a dragon that was about to devour a beautiful Barcelona princess. From the dragon’s blood a rosebush grew, from that rosebush the hero plucked the most beautiful rose and gave it to the princess and from there a chivalric rose festival going back to the Middle Ages.

Books got into the act in the early 20th century to honour Miguel de Cervantes, the creator of Don Quijote and William Shakespeare; the greatest Spanish writer and the greatest English writer died on the same day, April 23, 1616.

The Ramblas take on a very different air during Sant Jordi: bookstalls and the color and scent of roses are everywhere, and love is in the air.

It seems everyone is strolling the Ramblas, leisurely leafing through books with their beloveds.

The Hotel Principal is just two blocks away.

Ferran Adria, again on top

Ferran Adria, the most representative figures of contemporary Catalan cuisine, has received The Chef of the Year Award from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, the number one authority on culinary matters in the United States.

Adria's world-famous El Bulli has been named the world's best restaurant four of the last six years by England's Restaurant magazine. Located in the small town of Roses (near Girona in northern Catalonia) it opens its doors to the eating public just six months at year. The other six months are dedicated to his various gastronomic experiments. So if you you want to test his creations, hurry up and plan well ahead; there is a waiting list of at least one year.

Camp Nou: the best side of Europe

Nou Camp, the FC Barcelona soccer stadium which seats 98,000 people and its history-dripping museum is one of Barcelona’s most-visited tourist spots. For many Catalans it is a nationalistic, almost sacred place.

Still it is interesting that American journalist and self-proclaimed "culé" (a Barcelona supported) should make a kind of pilgrimage to Barcelona to see “my beloved Barcelona”. But that is just what a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, the largest circulation newspaper in Obama’s hometown, did. Kevin Williams puts a definite political/social slant on the whole experience in his March 15 article.

Barcelona, he explains, is "not Spanish".Because Barcelona is Catalonia, baby, and its capital is Camp Nou. (…) You haven’t really experienced Barcelona until you’ve immersed yourself in the "soul-stirring Catalan love festival" and craziness of a home match of el Barça the de facto national team of Catalunya
FC Barcelona is called “mes que un club” (more than a club), and for good reason.During the long years of Franco repression some of the only groups than Spaniards could freely join were football clubs; they became pseudo political partie.

FC Barcelona was the great icon of the Catalan nation. When their language was outlawed and their culture despised Catalans could still rally around their football team and this nationalistic feeling still prevails.Each match starts with a "ritual path the himno, the club’s stirring, martial fight song".

On the purely sports side Barcelona is doing very well, thank you. A couple of months ago everyone was marveling at the beauty and efficiency of its soccer; the best in the world was the consensus of opinion. They went through a little doldrum period but have come back strong; in "la Liga", Barça still leads archrival Real Madrid by six points, have advanced impressively to the knock-out round of sixteen in the UEFA cup, and are in the semi-finals of the Spanish cup.

So a lot of crucial, exciting matches are coming up soon.So come on over to Barcelona and work a match or two and a trip to the museum at Nou Camp into your Barccelona holiday.

It is a team of superstars led by new idol Leo Messi, number two in El globo de oro voting for the best European footballer.

To buy tickets on line visit the official website. Don’t count on a ticket to the "clásico" (a match against archrival Real Madrid.) But you can usually score tickets to one of the second tier "La Liga" teams and take in the whole scene.

A bat in the city: Batman visits Barcelona

Even Batman has come to the conclusion that Barcelona is simply where you’ve got to be. It seems our dark hero gets a little bored with Gotham and decides to come to Gothic Barcelona for his next great comic-book adventure. In Mark Waid’s "Batman in Barcelona. The Dragon Knight" the Dark Knight lands in the great Catalan capital to solve a few mysterious murders. Tracking the villain, Batman stumbles through looming Gothic architecture and right into a dangerous international intrigue with a strange twist on the St. George- slays-the-dragon legend. It seems archenemy Killer Croc gets brainwashed into believing he is the saint, and Batman is the dragon, or something like that. All this is very fitting; St. Jordi (St. George) is the Catalonia’s patron saint and St. Jordi’s Day is right around the corner. See the recent blog to see how this day is celebrated in Barcelona. It might increase sales, or not.

The team behind this Gothic beauty is first class: Barcelona artists Diego Olmos and Maria Martínez take care of the graphics; super influential X-Men and Wildcats creator, Jim Lee, does the cover.

The simultaneous US/Spain release of this latest Batman comic will coincide with the grand opening of the 27º Salón Internacional del Cómic de Barcelona, the 29th May 2009. This exhibition will feature the First International Professional Comics Conference which will promote illustrations and artists and discuss the present and future of comics from various points-of-view.

So, comic buffs of the world, follow Batman’s lead and fly on over to Barcelona; be where the action is. And for all the rest of you Barcelona is still the place to be, Europe’s capital for having a great time.

It's raining candy... hallelujah!

A sweet celebration: that’s what they call Sant Medir’ s Day. To remember this Christian martyr a parade is organized with cars, horses, and most importantly, a sweet candy rain .

Gracia is a typical neighborhood a few subway stops from the center of town. Every March 3 candy is thrown from cars weaving their way through the narrow streets. Children and adults alike form crowds throughout the entire quarter. They come for the show and for something nice to chew and suck on. And they won't be disappointed; the organizers are counting with almost 100 tons of candy, enough for everybody, even those with a real sweet tooth.

The tradition began in 1828. A aging baker from Gracia begged Sant Medir (who had been dead for 500 years) to restore his youthful health and vigor. When the miracle happened the grateful baker made the obligatory pilgrimage to the saint’s shrine, and along the way he gave candy to everyone he found.

Flamenco in Barcelona: Flamenco Festival and El Cordobes tablao

When I get invited to a tablao (a flamenco show) I go with a little fear and trepidation. You very well might be in for a little melodramatic tap dancing; a few bloodcurdling shouts; and a heavy dose of trite Spanish folklore, a noisy parody of Carmen´s Andalusia. This is definitely not what you get at El Cordobés, Barcelona´s best and one of the three best-known and serious tablaos in all of Spain.

El Cordobés is a five-minute walk down the Ramblas from the Hotel Principal. Last night we sat down with Maria Rosa Adame, the current owner and director, for an informal interview. Flamenco is in her blood; El Cordobés was opened in 1970 by her guitarist father, Luis; and her dancer mother, Irene Alba. In the dining room Maria Rosa explained that the locale is decorated with original tiles, floors, and ceilings which are copies of Arabic elements in Granada´s Alhambra. The actual stage (the tablao) recreates the intimacy, improvization, interraction, and charm of the traditional tablaos.


The artists are from among the best in Spain: legendary artists such as Camaron de la Isla have performed there; the current lead singer is a winner of the most prestigious flamenco awards; many of the dancers are from El Baile Nacional de España (the National Dance Troupe of Spain). The show is a nice mix of the classical cante jondo and dance styles with some modern innovations.

You don´t usually think of Catalonia when you think of flamenco music and dancing. But actually, as Maria Rosa explains, the flamenco/gypsy tradition in Barcelona dates back to the 19th century. The immortal dancer Carmen Amaya is among the many famous artists from Barcelona.

And flamenco is definitely alive and well in Barcelona. We at the Hotel Principal went to see Diego el Cigala kick off the de Cajon Festival Flamenco de Barcelona at the Gran Teatro del Liceu. This ornate belle-epoque opera house seems an odd venue for flamenco´s new numero uno and worthy succesor to Camaron de la Isla. But the strange incongruence works real well and the music was great. The festival will go on through April 3 and will feature the likes of Niña Pastori and Jose el Francés at various locals around Barcelona including the masterpiece of Catalan modernism, el Palau de la Musica.



So if flamenco is your thing or you just want to find out what it´s all about Barcelona is a just the place.

Alphonse Mucha: Art Nouveau icon

Alphonse Mucha was one of the bestknown artists of his time, a creator and disseminator of the Art Nouveau style, a pioneer in the application of art in advertising, and one of the fathers of modern graphic design. His posters and paintings drew admiration in Paris and spawned imitators around the world. Mucha's art aspires to beauty. His elaborate compositions incorporate theatrical and allegorical elements and create an atmosphere of mystery similar to that evoked by Symbolist poetry.

Caixa Forum presents the exhibition "Seduction, modernity & utopia", dedicated to Alphonse Mucha's art in relation to four broad themes: Theatre, Beauty, Mystery and Modernity. It also focuses on four specific aspects of his oeuvre that illustrate the scope of his work: The Metropolis as Stage, Photography as Tool and as Art, The Slav Epic: A Vision, and The Spread of 'Le Style Mucha', which examines the influence of his work on Modernisme in Madrid and Barcelona.

The exhibition will be open until January 4 and the entry is free.

Sweet Christmas in Barcelona

Sure "Turrones" are available all year round. Spaniards eat 35, 000 tons of them every year after all. But Christmas is the real "turrón season": a full 85% of this tonnage is consumed and a whole lot more is exported.
The Christmas turron is no new fad; it has the authenticity that only centuries of tradition can bestow. In 1492 the last vestige of Muslin Spain, Granada, fell. The whole Iberian peninsula was once again Christian and the musicians who sang at the celebration were paid with turrones, not money.
In 1541, the great Lope de Vega wrote a play whose plot revolves around a master who must berate his servant for eating a pound of his Christmas turron, which he has left on his desk.
In the 16th Century the oldest extant recipe for turrons was recorded in the anonymous "Manual de Mujeres".
So, what are these "turrones" and how are they made? They are basucally a kind of nougat which comes in hard and soft bars. But they are not the kind of nougat that finds its way into candy bars in the UK, the USA, and all around Europe. They are made in the old artesian way: the "pasta" is crafted with honey, sugar, egg and toasted almonds. The soft ones are milled and pulverized before packaging.
Barcelona us one of the great centers of "turrones" and we all have our favorite place to buy them. Near the Hotel Principal you have some iconic stores, like "Casa Colomina" or "José Planelles", both at the Portal del Angel.

Mushroom hunting

In autumn, at the break of dawn all over the Catalan countryside you can see warmly dressed Catalans from all social classes with their straw baskets and high boots, poking around under trees with their walking sticks, their sharp knives on the alert. These are the “caçadors de bolets” (the wild mushroom hunters) and autumn is their season.

Perhaps nowhere in the world are people so crazy about the wild mushroom as here in Catalunya. The best places for finding the bolets are jealously passed from father to son. A dear friend might lavish his wild mushrooms on you year after year. But he will never tell you the secret of their origin.

Quite a cult of witchcraft, primitive religion, and family murder surrounds these bolets. They have been consumed to facilitate communication with the gods and were eaten to celebrate the return of pre-historic migratory animals. Some deadly spores were discretely stirred into a delicate dish and fed to the unfortunate Emperor Claudius by his wife Agripina. Or so they say.

Traditional dishes (the non-poisonous kind) are served everywhere at this time of year. The revellon is grilled up with parsley, olive oil, and garlic; the rosignol is eaten raw or in salads; the fredolics is excellent in soups; the rabassola is worth a fortune; and so on and so forth. There are hundreds of edible varieties and you can find dozens of them around the corner from the hotel at the central market.

From Florence with love

For the first time ever you can see some of the best religious masterpieces from Florences's world-famous Uffizi Gallery right here, in Barcelona.
"El pa dels angels" (Angels bread) is made up of 45 pictures including biblical scenes immortalized by Botticceli, Luca Signorelli, Parmigianino, Luca Giurdano and other of the greatest XV, XVI and XVII century masters.
The extraordinary collection of religious art takes you an emotional, trascendental tour of Christian spirituality. Through the eyes of some history's greatest painters you revisit original sin, the annunciation, the last supper, the crucifixion and resurrection. And you follow 300 years of artistic innovation.
Caixa Forum, in colaboration with the Uffizi, will show "El pa dels Angels" until february 8th 2009. And it's completely free.

Go go go... Go Cars tours

Do you prefer exploring new cities on your own, without a guide? Would you like to drive around Barcelona, but worry about the high cost of rentals and parking? Then you just might go for a Go Car tour. You'll feel like your in an amusement park!

These little yelow cars have a GPS navigator, so there is no risk of getting lost. You choose the tour, the car will take you to the principal points of interest.

Go Cars Tours offers different routes. Choose the one-hour City Highlights Express tour; or the "All Day" tour, the 85-Euro option which gives you the easy-to-park Go Car for up to 21 hours.

Even in the fall, Barcelona has wonderful weather (oops.. maybe today is the exception, there is a light rain). So enjoy this open-air car all around the city. Go now... go Go Car.

Barcelona from the sky

Want a really different view of Barcelona? why not try an all-new heliocopter tour? Cathelicopters offer 4 routes: the city; the city and Montserrat; the port of Barcelona and the Costa Brava.

This way you can get a general idea of the city in about ten minutes, or five minutes with the port tour.

After the trip through the sky, you can put your feet back on the ground and enjoy the earthly pleasures which Barcelona offers in such abundance.

The 10-minute BCSSkytour costs 80 Euros, or go all the way to Montserrat (35 minutes) for 240 Euros. If you just want to experience flying around in a helicopter, the option of choice is the quick 5-minute tour over the port for 45 Euros.

If you want more information, click here.

Better than Halloween

La castañada is celebrated throughout Catalunya on October 31All Souls Day eve. The essential menu at this feast are the humble castana (chestnut), sweet white Moscatel wine, panallets (a sweet made of almond/ potato paste covered with pine nuts), and roast boniatos (a kind of sweet potato).

Just like Anglo-Saxon Halloween la castañada has evolved from an ancient funeral rite. The menu is said to derive from an old village custom. On All-Souls Night the church and convent bells tolled all night long to honor the dead and remind the living to pray. Ringing the bells was long hard work and chestnuts, a great source of energy, were abundant. The bell tollers ate them in great quantities to avoid passing out and roasted them to keep from freezing. And they washed them down with the local white wine.

Family and friends started coming to give physical or moral support and ended up joining in. Since churches and convents were everywhere, almost everyone was at one or other of them eating and drinking.

By the 18^th century the custom went urban and the iconic castañera first appeared selling her kind of “chestsnuts roasting on an open fire”. This folkloric street vender with her ragged dress and old scarf has been joined by tidy sweetshops where panallets and wine are sold. Come join the fun. It’s a great time of

year for everyone

They are building a new world

The world's greatest architects will be meeting in Barcelona for the World Architectural Festival, a celebration of 2008's finest buildings from around the globe.

From 22 to 24 October, architects from many countries will gather in Barcelona to see great work, network, do business and above all celebrate the innovative spirit behind award-winning buildings.

The public can view all 722 entries from 63 countries at the unique Awards Entry Gallery and attend conferences where the "construction artists" explain the challenges they faced creating their vision.


For more information visit official website.

Perfect Simetry? Just at Razzmatazz

That's right. Keane will be giving a concert at Razmatazz hall which will feature "Perfect Simetry", this English band's third album.

So back your bags and be in Barcelona by 21:00 hrs on November 9th. Enjoy the concert and the vibes at one of the city's most popular discoteques.

Tickets are 30 Euros (plus sending fees) if you buy by Internet, or 35 Euros at the .

NBA at Palau Sant Jordi

The NBA European tour will celebrate 4 games in Europe and the New Orleans Hornets and the Washington Wizards will be playing in Barcelona, on October 17 at the Palau Sant Jordi.

Basketball lovers, come see the stars up close and enjoy a profesional game without leaving Europe and, even better, in this wonderful city.

The sound of jazz

Like jazz? Forget New Orleans, come to Barcelona. This month the city will celebrate the 40 Voll-Damm Barcelona Jazz Festival.

There will be 41 days with the best european jazz groups and soloists like Porgy and Bess, the Herbie Hancock quintet, Marc Copland, the Nicholas Payton quintet, the Ingrid Jensen quartet, the Matthew Herbert big band, Brad Mehldau - the Joshua Redman duet, and many others.

There will be venues for all tastes: beautiful and fun bars like the Harlem Jazz Club or the Zac Jazz Club; large halls like the Paulau de la Musica Catalana or L'Auditori; theatres like Teatre Zorrilla; open spaces like Parc Central del Poblenou.

Night, day, family outings, jazz is for everybody, just like Barcelona.

To the limit: extreme sports

Do you like the adrenalin rush? Come this weekend and experience the Barcelona Extreme Sports Festival, at the Parc del Fórum.

The action begins on 11th October: skateboarding, BMX, inline, FMX, urban jibbing and wakeboarding, all in the same place.

You can participate in amateur contest or just have fun watching profesionals exhibitions and international competitions. And, if after seeing them you want to try it yourself, they have a comercial area just for that.
The admission is 10 Euros for one day or 15 Euros for two.

The music of the city

30 new music proposals, 18 places and tons of fun. In that way we could describe the Barcelona's Popular Music Festival.

If you really want to know the Barcelona's heart and soul, get close to his music, the one which make catalan people sing, dance, smile and cry.

Some of the artist of this party are Quico Pi de la Serra, Pascal Comelade, Perico Sambeat, Down Home Orkestra, Roger Mas, Carles Benavent i Calima, and many others.

The concerts will take place in Luz de Gas (a classic in the city, you have to go), Apolo, l'Ateneu Barcelonès, Teatreneu, L'Auditori i and l'Antilla BCN.

For more info, check this link