Champions League Tonight - Déjà vu?!

Talk about classic football games! Tonight sees the second night of a welcome return to the knock-out stages of the Champions League with FC Barcelona travelling to London and the Emirates to face Arsenal in a repeat fixture from last year. Gone are the paper stories this year of "Cesc coming home" and the like - perhaps fuelled by constant speculation that Real Madrid will be bidding for him (handily this morning's press has a story with Perez denying the fact).

Barcelona will be looking to regain the title of Champion of Europe after going out last year to Inter, the actual champions and Arsenal looking to avenge their defeat from last year, too. With neither team dipping into their debt ridden pockets to bolster squads in the January transfer window there is no reliance on a new addition to shine, rather the usual suspects will need to be on their game. It will surely be a show of the two football minds in reality - Arsene Wenger with his football philosophy of how he wants to play, and Barça actually playing that way without (seemingly) really trying. Messi has even come out to say the Barça players are scared of Walcott.

Lets hope for a great game and although I think Arsenal will really have to be on top of their game in every position to win over the two legs, they have a good chance with the home advantage tonight and I'd love them to win for the tension that the return leg in Barcelona will bring along with it. It's always better when a team just HAS to come out attacking as they have no other option, than a cagey draw playing for the breakaway goal like so many of last year's world cup matches. Nobody wants to lose and sometimes "football" can be sacrificed for to that end. Prediction? OK, I'll say 2-1.

Coming to the city this month? There are some great last minute Barcelona apartment deals to take advantage of. Or how about the return leg of the Arsenal match here in Barcelona on 8th March?!

The State of World Mobile in 2011

This month, as always, sees the city of Barcelona as host to the most important minds and businesses in the Mobile Phone Industry. Growth of smart phones has increased enormously over the past few years alone, and the huge International companies showcase their wares in Barcelona from the 14th to 17th February (for those of you planning a last minute Valentine's Break, you may want to think again as Barcelona as the destination!).



Apple's iPhone, Google's Android, RIM Blackberry and Windows Mobile are all vying for your attention alongside Vodafone, A T & T, Telefonica, Ericsson, Yahoo, Twitter and many many more - the keynote speakers list this year reads like a who's who of current internet mobile technology. Facebook reaches millions upon millions of people: 500 million to be exact. And 200 million Facebook users are mobile, getting their Facebook fix from their Android, iPhone, and Windows devices. There's no doubting the market is huge.

Last year, much of the "wow" factor was taken by Google Goggles amazing translation tool and although that has quite possibly been bettered already, you can bet there will be another few rounds of applause in the App Planet this year, too.

The Congress has been injecting life into Barcelona's tourism industry since 2006, and is safe as host for the moment. However, with the bidding launched for 2013 onwards last summer you can bet that everyone involved with the congress is praying for a smooth running this year, given that the announcement is to be made "mid-20112 as to who will take the crown from then on. As usual with Barcelona, petty crime has been a problem in previous years, as well as hiked up hotel room prices (as of writing there was only ONE room available via the official website at the Barcelona W hotel at a cool 8,500 Euros per night!).

If you're coming to Barcelona this February, then consider apartments in Barcelona as a great alternative to hotel rooms. And for a quick look at the top sights, then check out this Barcelona On-line Guide.

Watch UK TV on Your Computer

One thing that many ex pats miss about home is the TV. Spanish TV is notoriously bad, and even after the introduction of digital channels a few years back, the rubbish just seems to have multiplied. Being from the UK, I have SKY in my home as the satellite signal can reach Spain here (not the same for US channels for example). However, even then there are certain things that are broadcast or repeated online on such sites like BBC iplayer. Being in Spain, the site detects your computer's IP address, and the content is blocked. Which has been very annoying, until now.



Step up Expat Shield. I've been using this for a few months and was going to blog about it, but just never seemed to get around to it. It's a simple program which you install on your computer and it assigns a UK IP address to your browsing. You have to put up with a few banner ads, but it's definitely worth it.

Another great use it has is for watching movies online. There are many good blogs with cinema released movies which are streamed online. Some of the video hosting sites such as Megavideo and videobb annoyingly only allow you to watch 72 minutes of a movie, and then you have to wait for 30 minutes before you can re-start. There are various ways around this trick (opening various browser tabs and starting the movie at 20 minute intervals, etc.) but with expat shield, it's even easier - you can just "turn it on" and then watch the rest of the movie as the video host registers a new IP address (and you'll see all the ads turn from Spanish to English, too!). Go ahead and give it a try, I'm sure you'll be pleased!

Coming to Barcelona this month? Check out BCN Rentals apartments for a great saving on hotel rooms. And their Barcelona guide is a quick flick through the best sights, too.

Hidden Barcelona Tunnels - Refugio 307

Now Barcelona has had a turbulent history. From Roman times, Spanish Armadas, civil wars and the like it's no surprise that there are many stories hidden beneath the city streets of today. A wander in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona's Old Town will take you to the City History Museum, where you can literally be transported thousands of years to the past with a Roman village beneath the streets.



Montjuic Mountain also has many stories hidden in its rock. During the civil war the castle was used as a prison, and locals will tell you how many people were imprisoned simply for speaking the Catalan language. The elder generation have more vivid memories of these times and for many, a simple thing like taking the subway can bring back terrible memories. Underground tunnels with the alien sounds of oncoming trains and clackety-clack of rail-lines are too close to the fear that these children felt so many years ago when they huddled in underground tunnels and sewers, taking shelter from the danger overhead. There were many such shelters built during the civil war, some say as many as one thousand, but one has remained in excellent condition. Welcome to Refugio 307.

Cut deep into the city's bowels in between the old town and Montjüic, in the neighbohood known as Poble Sec lies a myriad of tunnels over 200 metres which included children's area, a medical station and many individual rooms. The indiscriminate bombings the city suffered at the time are brought sharply back to focus with this excellent example of the fight for survival that the local people must have had to confront at the time.

Refugio 307 can be visited for a guided tour (only Spanish and Catalan) daily at the cost of 3 Euros and is located very centrally on Carrer Nou de la Rambla, 169. Metro stop Parallel (exit funicular exit).


This is a guest post from Paul Jones who writes about Barcelona Raval apartments and Budget Barcelona apartments.

Visit La Sagrada Familia for FREE!!

Good News people. If the 3 Kings didn't bring you everything you lost in 2010, you can at least brighten up your January with the news that it's going to be free to visit the Sagrada Familia on each Saturday morning in January.



After the Pope's visit and consecration of the Temple, Europe's wackiest - and unfinished - cathedral has been drawing the crowds even more than when it was just a building site with lots of men in hard hats smoking fags inside. My mam visited in November and made the effort to go in and have a nosey around, and needless to say came back with the usual glowing reports, "Oh, the photos don't do it justice" etc. which I fully believe. Having been inside various times since I've been living here, I did want to see the finished inside, but kind of didn't want to pay that much, as I've seen all the rest of it about 5-6 times, so this comes as good news to me!! hahah! Does that make me sound tight?!



Well, it's only opening from 9-14h, according to the news link and that may be subject to change (going by the story) so don't take my word for it, and double check if you're reading this at the latter end of the month, just in case.



The whole experience of going is well worth a visit, even from the intricacies of the two facades (both on Barcelona's list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites) so to be given full access for nothing is a no-brainer (I think it's about 12/13 Euros normally).

Since it's completion, the inside boasts the information "Now that the architectural work on the interior of the great church of the Sagrada Familia is complete, its Dedication is an offering to God for all time. For its scale and its artistic merit, it is now also a Basilica". I'm not completely sure what the difference between Temple, Cathedral, Basilica, etc. all means but quite frankly you can give the place all the words under the sun that mean church cos it deserves them in my book.

If you're coming to Barcelona this year, then be sure to check out apartments for rent in the city as a great alternative to a hotel room.

Happy New Year!!

OK, so I'm a few days late, but hey, it's still worth saying. While the majority of Europe has got slowly back into the swing of things starting yesterday, for some Spanish kids tonight is what they've been waiting for since school broke up. Yes, the 3 Kings of Orient arrive tonight - on a boat, of course - all the way from Bethlehem and parade around the town on floats throwing sweets to children and bringing their presents like Santa Claus.



As regular readers will know, I have two children and we'll be doing our best to stifle the yawns and cries to keep them up tonight to go and see the "cabalgata". I'm all for embracing the local culture, and despite the Epiphany going largely unnoticed in my homeland of England, it's a big deal here (if my memory serves me correctly, most English households actually take all their decorations down today). My only qualm is that it starts so bloody late!! OK, maybe my family don't follow exactly the same routine as other kids in Barcelona, going to bed at 21h onwards, but they're 5 and 3!! They flat out refuse to do "siestas" (don't blame them, never been a siesta man, even when I've wanted to!) and end up being knackered at about 19:30!! So today is the first time we'll be venturing out to the parade, wish me luck!!

Coming to Barcelona this year? You can certainly get some bargains for Barcelona Apartments in the low season for the first couple of months, so feel free to check out. Also, if you need information about the city in general, see this Barcelona guide.