Let's Petanca !

With Barcelona enjoying sunshine for many months of the year, it's common to see people practicing sports within the high rises of the building blocks that surround. There are many table tennis tables dotted around the city, which are permanently open and often in parks or green areas. You can take your bats and ping pong balls and play at any time.



Another such outdoor game which is a little more popular with adults and the older generation is "Petanca". Petanca is a kind of bowls game which is played on flat, often sandy pitches. The players can play alone, but usually play in teams. The game involves throwing a small wooden/plastic ball or "boliche" and then each team has to get the closest to that boliche with their metal balls, which are around 8cm in diameter and weigh around 700g. The technique of throwing the ball is to release the ball with your hand/fingers facing the direction you are going to throw, shielding the ball - so you gain backspin and it stops quicker. The one closest to the wooden ball gets a point, and the first to three is the winner.

It's great to see groups of mixed ages getting together for a quick game - you can be surprised at any time of day with a petanca game going on, and there are plenty of areas designated for the game, with perches to hang jackets and bags. Sagrada Familia has a fair few courts/playing surfaces in front of the Nativity facade inside the park, and there are numerous other locations in the city too. If you get the chance, stop and watch a game for a few minutes, it's great fun. For a full list of the rules, the Federation of Petanca in Spain has a website (in Spanish).

A great way to visit the city is also using the Barcelona Tourist Bus system, which takes in all the main sights. And for accommodation in the city, try apartments for rent in Barcelona as an alternative to a hotel room.

Second Hand Clothing Heaven

If second hand clothing or alternative items is your thing - instead of some of the mainstream high street brands - then you're in luck. Tucked away in a side street of the Raval is a haven for those who like second hand clothing, original print items and new designer stuff with thank funky feel. The street is Riera Baxia - click the link for a map.


There are of course many shops of this ilk in and around the town, but this is a particularly high concentration of shops all in the same street, so you're really spoilt for choice.



This can also be combined on a weekend with the funky market on the Rambla del Raval - just a short stroll away. The market is the main photo at the top of this blog. Again, the market showcases local designers who are only allowed to sell their own wares - no labels or brands here. There are some great items of jewellery, original bags, prints and graffiti clothing as well as fridge magnets, and other pictures to adorn your home with a lasting memory of the city. The market is on Saturdays and Sundays and also has a Moroccan tea tent with different snacks such as olives, sweet cakes and the like. It's well worth a wander around.

Do you know any other great places for second hand clothing? Share them in the comments. And if you're coming to Barcelona soon, then try apartments for rent in Barcelona as a great money saver between friends. For a digestible read-up on the city's sights, also see this Barcelona Guide.

Fly Over Barcelona - From Your Armchair!

Now I don't know about you, but when I was younger, those complicated flight simulation computer games never quite did it for me. Unless it was the arcade version of After Burner complete with moving chair and joystick for the complete Tom-Cruise-in-Top-Gun experience, then it was all a bit dull for me. Maybe that's why I never became a pilot, and I'm not raking it in...



Anyway. I decided to make the effort and download Barcelona council's 4D Virtual Flight over Barcelona, and after fiddling around for about half an hour, I'd say it's a little bit of distraction for half an hour! I'm sure the council has put a lot of money and effort into the project, just like this one, and it is pretty cool, even for a flight simulator rookie like me.

The concept is extremely simple, using either your keyboard or mouse over the screen controls, you can "fly" over Barcelona at various heights and see the sights (true to my blog's name, there, guys and gals). There are various landmarks mentioned on your screen, and you can also click on bigger landmarks, and be "flown" there, too.



The 4D flight doesn't stop at there, though, and also offers a flight through time. There are virtual maps of the city from 1940, 1950 & 1960, 1970,80 and 90, too! So if you wondered what your street looked like before the Olympics (or at least what it looked like from above) then you can have a gander! It's amazing to see how places like Montjuic have changed so much and of course the Coastline at the Olympic Village, too. A bit of distraction for a lazy afternoon at work!

Coming to Barcelona soon? Check out these apartments for rent in Barcelona as a great money-saving technique - and fly over your street to get an idea of the area!

Barcelona Day Trips: Montserrat

Continuing the series of Barcelona day trips, this is another great one. Montserrat literally means "the serrated mountain" and makes reference to it's jagged form against the surrounding landscape which is completely flat. There is a Monastery on top of the mountain, and various walks can be enjoyed to view the fantastic views.



This is one day trip I can recommend using the great public transport services.
From Plaça Espanya, you can take a train around 40 minutes to Olessa de Montserrat which is a beautiful train ride inland. You will see after leaving Barcelona that the surrounding land is particularly flat and then all of a sudden a huge collection of rocks seem to just shoot out of the ground creating peaks - this is Montserrat. The train leaves Plaça Espanya from around 8:30am onwards each hour and drop you at the bottom of the mountain with two options of getting up to the top.

First is the zip train, or cremellera - so called as the train tracks have teeth and the train's wheels are like cogs which sit in the teeth, like a zip. The alternative is the cable car which leaves right outside the train station. Both of these methods will take you right up to the top where the monastery is. Those travelling in a car often have to park along the long winding road which takes you to the top, and then walk the rest of the way, which on busy days can be quite a hike.

One of the highlights of the Montserrat trip is the close-up viewing of the Black Madonna with infant Jesus seated above the church altar, and almost everyone makes the climb through the back altars to worship or admire the Virgin Mary so rarely seen in this manner. There are many theories as to why the Virgin Mary is portrayed in this way; due to fire damage, natural wood, or the ageing process. I've heard different stories on each occasion I've been there (and there have also been various fires, although not in the church itself). According to the wikipedia page, "la moreneta" was unable to be moved by the monks, who built their monastery around her, and that the statue is a Romanesque sculpture dating from the late 12th Century - some believe to have been carved in Jerusalem in the early days of the church.

Also worth a mention are the side trips such as the Angel trail, which can be enjoyed from the peak of Montserrat. Funicular trains take you to the highest points above the Monastery itself, and other routes - varying in length and time - can be taken at a leisurely pace, giving magnificent views of the surrounding countryside for those who are not only visiting for the Christian side of things.

Have you been to Montserrat recently? Please leave a comment and let us know your thoughts. For nearby accommodation to Montserrat, try apartments for rent in Barcelona, which can offer considerable savings for groups. Also, see this great Barcelona guide for other tips and ideas whilst visiting the city.

Flickr Credit (all my photos of Montserrat have family or friends in front of the best views!!)

Sitges Film Festival 2009

The sleepy town of Sitges, just 20 minutes from Barcelona is a great day trip from the Catalan Capital and, set in a cove, the seaside resort is a welcome break from the busy streets of Barcelona. Famous for it's gay community and Carnaval, it also plays host to one of the coolest Film Festivals in Europe - Cannes this ain't.

Starting on the 1st October and running until the 12th, the 42nd Sitges Film Festival showcases the best of the horror genre in various locations in the town. The festival has been growing from strength to strength, with last year's festival showcasing over 320 movies, with over 100,000 spectators jumping with their popcorn. This year's festival looks to be another great 11 days!

As well as screening some of the classic movies (The Pit and the Pendulum, A Clockwork Orange, Alien, Nightmare on Elm Street and even Ghostbusters), the festival is also screening the premiere of eagerly-awaited sequel "Rec2". Shot in an abandoned Barcelona building, Rec shot to fame in 2007 as the spoof documentary female reporter Angela follows the city's firefighters on a "normal" night. What follows was a Blair witch style mockumentary that was so good, Hollywood decided to make a carbon copy.

The festival also pays homage to some of the horror world's most esteemed players and creators, with this year being no exception. Clive Barker of Hellraiser fame is honoured, and another Brit, Malcolm McDowell is also honoured. If the name rings a bell, cast your mind back to Stanley Kubrick's banned film around when I was born - clue, I've mentioned the film already. These gentlemen will grace the stages where many other huge stars have been before - Quentin Tarantino, Ralph Fiennes, Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster to name but a few.

The great thing about the Sitges Film Festival in my opinion, is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. So while the festival will be closing with John Hillcoat's The Road starring Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smith-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce - you also have time mid-week to check out "Best Worst Movie", "The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon", "Lesbian Vampire Killers", "Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl"....need I go on?!

Fancy coming to the Festival? Nearby Barcelona will be a great option for accommodation, as Sitges is a little pricey during the Film Festival Week. Try these apartments for rent in Barcelona, for a lsst minute deal. And if you can squeeze in some free time for your stay between screenings, then check out this great Barcelona Guide.

Random Merce Photos 2009

Every year I try and see as much of La Merce as possible, and many times I've never taken a camera (I didn't blog in those days!). So this weekend, although I was fairly busy with work, I tried to get out and about and see some of the things I thought were new this year, and that the kids would like! If you want to see some great Barcelona photos, then check out Carlos Lorenzo's photoblog and in the meantime, here's a few from this weekend!



First ones are the Barcelona Giants. Ceremony dictates that the giants come out and dance in the Plaça Sant Jamue, and the weekend of La Merçe is a great weekend to see this (if you can squeeze through the crowds!).



For the rest of the weekend, the giants went back to Las Ramblas number 99, in the Institute of Culture building. This time however, there were some additions to the usual giants, and they were out of the glass cases on display for all to see.



There were some smaller horse models, dragons, lions, and a beast which apparently is the animal which is least known about in the history of the gegants. I thought that would merit a photo!



And the horses..


Barcelona Port also got in on the act with concerts on the stage near the markets opposite Columbus monument, and there were activities for children, old-style board games and a huge Jenga (which I think nobody knew what it was - I was dying to start the game!).



And probably the coolest thing I saw all weekend was parked outside the Maritime Museum. I think it was called the soundbox and is way cooler than the name suggests. If you look at the image, you can see metal meshing/sheeting underneath the blue frame. Inside the box, there were some speakers, probably a computer and some high-tech sensors. Everybody was just walking past it, but I sensed it must do something, so went for a closer look. The way it worked was if you touched any two of the metal parts (windows?) the box emitted a sound. And the sound was different if you used your whole hand, or just the tips of your fingers, or a combination of both. Sounds a bit daft, right? Well it was bloody cool, and as soon as I worked it out, loads of people came over as well and the box made loads of different funny noises !!



Did you see anything at this year's Merce? Let me know what you liked in the comments. And if you're coming to Barcelona soon, try these apartments for rent in Barcelona, which are right in the heart of the city.