Reset Experience - New Club in Barcelona!

The clubs in Barcelona are always reinventing themselves. I often get asked which are the best clubs in Barcelona, and although I've been off the circuit for a while, I almost always answer that it's not the place but the people you're with. Some of the best nights I've had out in Barcelona have been the least "planned" and just a place we've ended up. In the same way, New Year's Eve is almost always the biggest let down of a night out (I learned this many years ago, and adjusted my plans each year!).




There are, however, some pretty special places which I hold dear when it comes to clubs in Barcelona. La Terrrazza is one of them (about 11/12 years ago, of course), The old Matinee afters down on the Port Olympic, Octupussy had its charm, and Discotheque always used to blow my friends away when they came to visit. It's had a few dodgy makeovers since then, and this Friday, there's a new inauguration of the new space -. now called reset experience.

The location is something a bit special, set in Poble Espanyol - a purpose built Spanish Village on the side of Montjuïc representing different architecture of the cities around Spain. During the day, it has artsy-crafty things going on, gincanas for the kids, puppet festivals, well, you get the idea. But at night, it's a special place to go, wandering the quiet stone streets past the plaça principal, to the corner into the local of what used to be discotheque.

So, by the looks of things from the youtube trailer above, and the website itself, things are very hush hush, and it'll be up to the revelers to test the waters and give the opinions. There are a few cool teaser photos on the Facebook page to get you in the mood, and there's a free bus from Plaça Catalunya from  midnight onwards, if you fancy it. Anyone going? Let me know in the comments!!

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Rollerblading in Barcelona - Palau Sant Jordi

 Technically, this could be titled Rollerblading with kids as it's a family activity that we do, but mainly geared towards the kids. It started last year, after we took them to the ice rink at Christmas two years ago. It's been a post I've had as a draft for absolutely ages, and just keep not getting round to publishing!!

It's well known that Barcelona is a great city for wheels of the non-motorised variety - hundreds of skateboarders descend on the city each year and the lax laws and slight gradient the city is on makes it a perfect place to practise tricks and shoot videos.

So it's natural that skating also fits the bill. There are plenty of associations and events that revolve around skating (both inline and traditional) and even just two weeks ago there was a roller disco kind of event at Sant Antoni festival, but I wanted to focus here more on the wee ones. Obviously, before I go any further, I'd like to remind everyone - young or old -to always wear proper protection. Knee and elbow pads, wrist guards and a good helmet are a must, people (as shown by my fashionable lad here in the photos).

As a family, we've tried a few places to skate which I'll be adding to the blog bit by bit (when I remember to take photos of the places we go!) but so far, I don't think you can beat just in front of Palau Sant Jordi.

There are so many advantages to skating here, it's a really tough one to beat. First of all, it's huge. Literally, these pictures don't do it justice at all, and there are actually three different spaces you can skate on, all joined together but on slightly different levels. You can see from the snaps, that the place is almost entirely covered with smooth pinky flag stones, so great for beginners but still "urban" enough to practice (there are plenty of broken ones and drains to navigate). You can also see the decorative posts in the above pic, which are great for training the kids on curves/slalom and just getting them to practise changing direction in short spaces.

Another massive advantage is that you can almost always find a car parking space right outside for free, so if you are going in a car, there's no need to worry about that. I say almost always, unless there's a daytime event inside the Palau, or nearby Olympic Stadium. And even if you decide to take public transport, it's a quick hop up from Plaça Espanya on the escalators, or there are bus routes too which stop right outside. 

It never gets crowded  - just occasional tourists who come to admire the views towards the airport, or close ups of the telefonica needle. There is also a great ramp to one side of the Olympic stadium which is great to practice on and get used to different inclines and gradients. Perhaps the biggest advantage though - and remember I'm always thinking of the kids here - is that there's absolutely zero traffic. You don't have to worry at all about someone straying off, or not being able to stop at a traffic light or junction!! 

And while you're there, you can get some pretty snazzy shots of the Barcelona skyline, too, like this one below! 

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Late Photos of Reyes 2013 !

OK, I know I'm really late with this one, and we're well into the new year - hell, some kids' toys have probably already broken or ran out of batteries! It's just that I've never posted photos of the cabalgata dels Reis before, so wanted to at least put up a few pics for those readers who don't live in Barcelona and didn't get the chance to go or watch it on the TV.

It's a huge deal in Barcelona - like the kids' Christmas Eve for the rest of us - and the whole city stops to watch the parade, which starts down at the port with the mayor receiving the Kings (on a boat no less) before they begin their journey through the town preceded by loads of floats representing the different parts of the tale.

Kids write letters to the Kings in a similar way that they do to Santa Claus, and there are people collecting those late-comers with nets and post boxes - there's even a miniature sorting office of the postal service!

Obviously the 3 Kings of the East are accompanied by typical costumes, with some fantastic dancers and models of animals (not all photographed here by a long shot) along with cool toys or coal if you don't go to bed by midnight.

And all along the way, the participants in the floats and those surrounding them are throwing sweets out to everyone. It does get a little manic with sweets literally "raining down" on people - a couple of little babies near us were crying at the shock/emotion of it all!

It's great fun, and some people are so well prepared with stepladders adorning the corners of the streets in Eixample where we were, for example. I remember the first year going, seeing people wandering the streets all the way from Raval with stepladders thinking "what the hell is he doing at half past six on Reyes, with a stepladder?!" only to realise later, they're the best prepared for the little ones!

Happy (belated) New Year everyone and my sincere best wishes to everyone  - I hope this year is better than 2012 in every way, even though it all points to maybe not being the case. Be happy, be healthy, and be good.

BarGelona 2012-13 Christmas Ice Rink

This Christmas, the same as last year, Plaça Catalunya has been converted into a festive Ice Rink called BarGelona - the play on words there in Catalan, "gel" is "ice". Unconfirmed reports last year suggested that the installation of the rink was to stop another camp-in of the 15-M indignados who had spent so much time there in the spring, and not just an impulse to encourage Christmas shopping and spending to boost the economy. Either way, it must have been a success, as it's back.

 The rink is sponsored by local companies and banks, and is a little different to last year in the layout and organization. In a similar way to last year, there are plenty of vouchers flying around the shops and bars easy to pick up but this year seems like a better deal. Last year, you got 2 x 1 for 30 minutes skating and this year it's 50% off instead, so for 4,50 € you get an hour's skating time (but I'll get to that later).

I went with my kids and some other from their school last Friday, and there was very little wait to get your skates and get on the rink. You must take gloves - otherwise you have to buy some - and kids have the option of helmets (all free) and there are free lockers to drop off bags, coats, etc. as you can get quite hot skating around. I assumed before we arrived, that time would be regulated every hour -i.e. they blow a whistle on the hour and swap those who have been on with those waiting, in a similar way to last year. So, we got booted up with our skates and were patiently waiting for it to come around to the hour. Then we noticed that other people behind us just got their skates, and went straight on the rink, so we thought as there was only 20 minutes to go before the hour mark, they're probably just turning a blind eye to the time - you can see from the photos, it wasn't heaving. 

Well, we skated for 2 hours, and could have gone on for longer, I reckon, as no-one asked us for our tickets  or seemed to be controlling the time, and we only left as my daughter was really tired. So great value for money too! AND on the back of the tickets we were given to skate, there was a voucher for a free snoog-scarf from Banc Sabadell which I picked up this morning, too!

There is a refreshment area at the back with a bar, waffles, hot chocolate, etc. and plenty of room to sit down and take photos for those who aren't skating. There's also a smaller rink for the little ones who can practice with the big heavy plastic penguins - apologies for the photo being so blurry, I was trying to catch the action!

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Els Sortidors del Parlament - New Bodega in Town

To be honest, anyone brave enough to open a new business in today's Spain is either a few gambas short of a paella or has found a niche. Today's post is about the latter. Some friends of mine have opened a new Bodega in the Sant Antoni neighbourhood, called Els Sortidors del Parlament.

These guys have years of experience in the import/export of beers and the general hospitality industry, and have created and sold on some quality establishments in the past - some pretty cool bars in El Borne and the Gothic Quarter, so trust me when I tell you they know what they're doing.

The place itself is decked out very very cool, with plenty of rustic furniture and artwork by one of the owners, Kim, as well as a fantastic selection of continental beers, wines, and other drinks.

The wines are at a particularly good price, with a de-corking price as you usually get in these kind of places, meaning you can enjoy some bloody lovely wines at a very good price (like half what you'd be paying for the same plonk in a restaurant). They also have wine in barrels for tasting or just by the glass, beers on tap and in bottles, and they are developing a Gin and Tonic menu to rival some of the best bars in the city - I'll confirm when I've tried them all ;o)

If that's not enough, they've got some delicious finger food to accompany your drink of choice, typical Catalan specialties and conserves and preserves of the highest quality from all over Europe.

At the time of writing, the guys don't have a website yet for me to link to, but they can be found on Carrer Parlament, 53 (almost touching Ronda Sant Pau). Their opening hours are Tuesday from 17h-23h, Wed to Sat 11h - 23h and then Sundays from 11h - 16h. Sundays closed. Go and check them out !!

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Christmas Tree Shopping in Barcelona

Christmas is my favourite time of the year. Even more than the summer. I'm just a big kid at heart, and my memories of Christmas as a boy in England are all very very happy ones, so I love to get my kids in the mood as well. We've had the tree up since the 1st December, and we've been making mince pies this week whilst listening to Christmas music non-stop (in English, obviously). The kids have got various Christmas concerts and plays next week and I've written before about how cool it is to be a kid at Christmas in Barcelona.

So one of the things that's always presented a problem is buying a tree. It's not Christmas without a proper tree. Carrefour (the big one near IKEA, not the one on Las Ramblas) used to sell them  - not very good quality but did the job - but stopped, so you're left with the option of florists around the city, or the Christmas market. And here begins one of the problems - it's like 80-odd Euros for a bloody tree!! They may have even gone up since the last time I looked, AND they're already cut, so no root, no pot. Bah, humbug.

So I began doing a bit of research online and asking around, and nobody seemed to be able to suggest anything. And then I came across Catalunya Plants. We bought our tree there last year (but I used my phone as a GPS to get there, and ran out of battery so couldn't take any photos) and it was great - when I took it down after the Epiphany, it hardly shed any needles, and I reckon I could have planted it somewhere and it would have been fine again for this year. It's a 20-minute drive from Barcelona located in Sant Vicenç del Horts.

So they have two kinds of trees - ones that have been cut and potted, and ones that are specifically grown to be re-planted in your garden or whatever and ones that are just to be used for the Christmas period and then recycled. I go for the latter, and it's a bargain at 35€.

One of the best things about going to this place is that they also have a great kids play area with bouncy castle, swings and slides, picnic area, and a kind of mini farm, where you can go and have a look at the animals. It really is lots of fun, and all free as you walk around. My kids loved it and there were plenty of other young families around just passing the time and not necessarily buying plants or anything. They have a small pet shop with gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, fish, etc.  near towards the back too and a really good Christmas section (I took a pic, but it came out all blurry) so it's a really great place to go and stock up on stuff if you're just starting out too.

Here's the funny Ostrich - not at all shy, and good job the fence is high!

Very cool Buck and there are a few Deer dotted around too - this is in the middle of the farm part.

Goats just next to the Ostrich.

My son Jack doing Vitaly the Tiger from Madagascar 3. If you haven't seen it, go!

Pretty cool slides in the entrance of the kids play area.

Ponies!

Well Hello Mr Turkey!! Or is it a Mrs ?! hehehe!!

Peacocks!

As you can see, it's a lot of fun and a great place to go and enjoy the animals.

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