Modern Art? Don't Ask Me!

Regular readers will know how much I like Barcelona Graffiti, and that I consider it a great way to spruce up some of the terribly drab alleys and shutters around Barcelona's old town and the other neighbourhoods, too. For me, those talented guys and gals are the real modern artists. Check out this really cool no parking sign at Calle Angels I spotted the other day.



It's the old Ghostbusters logo, which has been adapted for the no parking sign. Classic, and always something to make me smile.



Now let's compare that to a recent trip of mine up to Montjüic and the sculpture garden next to the Miró Foundation. It's the first time I'd been in the garden and it's just behind the Greek Theatre, a little walk along from the Funicular. It has to be said that there's not a great deal in there, and if I didn't know that it was supposedly the sculpture garden, I would have had no idea this is supposedly "modern art" - ok, maybe the metal plaques with the artists' name and title of the work could have been a giveaway.



Just to whet your appetite, there is a tiled roof on the floor, a trolley with some glass being transported somewhere and a rather large concrete triangle with some blue paint splashed down it (yes, that's my little boy running around in the picture). I have a cringing suspicion that these all probably cost a fortune and were unveiled in some fantastic ceremony a couple of years back - please tell me I'm wrong if anyone knows!! Now I don't pretend to understand anything about art, and more so if it's "modern" like this, but I'll tell you one thing - give me the ghostbusters no parking sign anytime!!

Like what you're reading? Please leave me a comment and let me know!

For more information on Barcelona, see this cool Barcelona guide and for accommodation in Barcelona look no further than BCN Rentals.

The Coolest 7 square metres in Barcelona

Barcelona's old town surprises me all the time. I've touched before on some funky old town art galleries and wanted to share another one, which is perhaps a little more famous than the last one I wrote about.

7metros is a great space offering some cool expositions, and is located on Carrer Riera Alta, 60-62 This is the space at the front of buildings often used by some of the more innovative residents, who have macro-shops selling jewellery, bags, or other small necessities.



The idea behind 7metros, is that the space is a mere seven square metres, and if you check the web link above, you'll see some of the previous entries.

This week being Carnival accross the world, it was no surprise to see a festive filling to the 7 square metres. The window had a display with "María Escoté" and a coaster for "Le Swing". Cool.



Anyone else seen some cool fillings of 7metros? Please share below, I'd love to hear about it.

For more information on Barcelona, check out the Top 10 Barcelona Museums and don't forget apartments for families in Barcelona.

Great things to do in Barcelona for FREE - Part 2

Following on from my previous post about great things to do in Barcelona without spending any money, today's post is all about the Magic Fountains at Montjüic.


The fountain was build as part of the Universal Exposition, held in 1929, and is a water fountain which "dances" to music. There are various "shows" which last around 20 minutes, and have different music (sometimes strange choices - the Barcelona song made famous by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé and Celine Dion's my heart will go on?!). It's a great way to spend an evening in the summer, for example, and there are often fire jugglers between performances and things like this. I always feel like a little kid when I go and see them!

For times and other information, see the city's official website here.

Comments welcome as always guys, and for more information on Barcelona, see this great Barcelona Guide. Also, for your accomodation needs, I reccomend trying apartments for groups in Barcelona as a great alternative to hostal bunk beds.

English Hair Salon in Barcelona

So, let's go back about 9 & 1/2 years. I picked up an English magazine in a pub (might have been "Metropolitan", can't remember if it was around then?!) and saw an ad for an English hair salon - "Don't let your Spanish come between you and your hair!" by Anthony Llobet's hair salon. This was a God-send for expats like myself, and I of course made the call. I went up to Gracia, off Fontana Metro station, down a street and up a couple of flights of stairs into Anthony's apartment, which was well kitted-out with certificates from London and Germany, as well as some cool paraphernalia of Barber's shops around the world.


Things have moved on a lot since then, and Anthony now has a great salon - still in in Gracia - which has become something of an institution, as well as a cool salon in the old town Raval quarters, an Eixample Salon, and a new place in El Borne.


As far as I know, Anthony's the only guy in Barcelona who specialises in a "foreign" hair salon (his stylists are from Scandinavia, Germany, England, Spain, Barcelona itself, etc.) so is offering a great service for the thousands of foreigners living and indeed visiting Barcelona. I can highly recommend the salons (and no, I'm not getting paid to write this!) and have been using Anthony's Raval salon since it opened - even since my Spanish has been good enough to go to any old Salon anywhere. They're great professionals, and the salon itself is very cool (see images here!).

Anthony has salons in:

GRÀCIA - C/ Ros de Olano, 19 - Tel: 932 180 449 Mobile: 639 931 555

RAVAL - C/ San Pau, 122 - Tel: 934 413 177 Mobile: 645 257 506

EIXAMPLE - C/ Corcega, 364 - Tel: 934 574 211 Mobile: 691 330 188

BORN - C/ Carders, 34 - Tel: 932 954 871 Mobile: 645 257 628

Like what you're reading? Please comment below, and let me know your opinion if you've used Anthony's salons.

For accomodation, why not try apartments for rent in Barcelona as a great alternative to a hotel room. For more information about the city on a whole, see this great Barcelona Guide,

Barcelona Scams. The Postcard Cover Up.

I'm ashamed to admit that this is the only scam that I've fallen for in my time in Barcelona (hence the image below of Homer). However, for my 9 years here, and considering the only thing the thief got away with was 500 pesetas and a cheque in my name (which was cancelled within the same 5 minutes it happened) then I think that's not bad going. Like most scams it's opportunism which caught me out.

I had just been paid from my old teaching job, and sat outside a cafe on Rambla Catalunya for a coffee with a friend on a terrace. As is commonplace with the terraces, you pay when the waiter brings you the drinks. This sounds like such an easy scam to fall for, but as we were deep in conversation it was difficult to realise it was happening. As I paid for the coffees, I left my wallet on the table, between our coffees. After a minute or so, an old tramp came over to our table with one of those free photo flip albums, but with postcards inside. He asked us (in Spanish) if we wanted to buy a postcard. Being able to speak a little Spanish, we shooed him away, rather uncomfortable with his presence. Obviously, he flashed the postcards over the table and lifted my wallet from under my nose, but as we were so deep in conversation, and eager for him to leave, this was the perfect distraction technique.

It was literally only seconds before I realised what had happened, and I didn't even comment to my friend, but leaped out of my seat and at a crossroads, took the busiest street - figuring that at least the thief would need an easy getaway. There are a few open shopping malls and a few shop entrances to hide in, but this savvy trickster was long gone. As I mentioned, I was fortunately able to cancel the cheque and get a replacement, but I felt (as I'm sure many do) so stupid at being duped so easily. Let this be a lesson to you all! Keep all valuables in sight - NOT on the chair next to you or on the floor in between your legs, but on your lap, or at least in full view. It's difficult to be vigilant at all times, but if you have any unsolicited help, or anyone offering anything for you to buy or charitable donations (I'm aware of a similar scam exploiting the real deaf aid workers offering key chains), then be alert!


For more information on Barcelona, see this Barcelona Guide.

I'd also like to mention Barcelona apartments for groups as a great alternative for hotels for group bookings, too.

Mobile World Congress Arrives in Town.

The hospitality industry breathes a sigh of releief this week, as the Mobile World Congress (formerly the 3GSM) arrives in town - from the 16th to 19th February at the Fira de Barcelona at the foot of Montjüic. This is one of the biggest events in Barcelona, and past years have seen 100% occupation of hotels and tourist apartments for rent in Barcelona.

Press releases today have stated that, depsite the current economic downturn, and the fact that the recent fashion show Bread and Butter is returning to Berlin and leaving Barcelona, there is still a high attendance for the world's mobile phone conference. It's estimated that 55,000 people will attend the event, which although official stats say that's 5000 people down from last year, is still leaving the hospitality industry smiling.



Hotels have registered 95% occupancy and the self-catering apartments have an estimated 85% occupancy, compared with 100% from previous years.

This year sees the emergance of the android phones, as an attempt to break into the massive market share that Apple has gained with it's iPhone. Google (in conjunction with HTC) have their own android phone, which looks clunky, but may make people think again about opting for a Blackberry or Palm (both of which are also set to launch a new model).

I've noticed that this year there's not as much publicity for the big players. Ads have been confined to buses and taxis, where in previous years full buildings have been covered with billboard style announcments of a company's presence at the fair. Please comment if you're thinking of heading down to the Congress, I'd love to have some feedback.