Send a Personalised Message to Someone for Sant Jordi!

This coming week is one of the most colourful celebrations in the Catalan Calendar, Sant Jordi. It's a celebration of the patron saint of Catalunya and a patriotic day where everyone takes to the streets to buy a book and exchange a rose. Las Ramblas is a particularly cool place to visit on that day! There's a great explanation in English about the story behind the tradition here.

Now, with the modern age of connectivity and all things digital, the council usually also organises something on the website for people to join in, too. We've had virtual roses in previous years and there's an Instagram iniciative too again this year, for people to share their photos with the hashtag #JoxTu (me for you) and photos are published on the web.

So this year is no different, and you can send a personalised message to your friends or family or loved ones via the website here. It's based on the idea that "for you I'd..." with some funny ones like "I'd give up gossiping on facebook", "I'd bring you breakfast on the way back from a party" (classic Barcelona there, up till the dawn - although why this person wouldn't be with you at the party escapes me), "I'd miss Barça - Madrid" and "I'd change the cat's litter box" ! It's all a good bit of fun, and I like the way that the council has decided to share this in English, too, encouraging people to join in with the celebrations and embrace the tradition (unlike they do with La Merçe, for example). So go on, send someone a message!

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Ocean Colour Scene play Apolo Barcelona

One of the great things about living in a big city like Barcelona (for someone who comes from a small town in England) is the live music that visits the city. I've blogged before about the various live music venues in Barcelona and I've been lucky enough to see some amazing bands in very intimate venues that would be total sell outs back in the UK.

One of my favourite places is Apolo along Parallel. It's got that old school vibe fitting for watching live music (it's also a great place for dancing) but still feels like an old-style concert hall for example. I watched Elbow there a couple of years ago and they were amazing - the venue suits people like that. Paul Weller is another one who played there last time he was here.

So, if you're at a bit of a loose end this week, you could do no worse than nip down there, as Ocean Colour Scene are playing the Apolo on Tuesday. The britpop band are promoting their new album Painting which is out now, but you can bet they'll be re-visiting a few of their classic tunes like The Riverboat Song and The Day we caught the train from the classic Moseley Shoals album (how many memories does that conjure up?). They're a really good band live and also played the Hard Rock cafe here a couple of years ago, too. Fancy going or already got your ticket? Let me know in the comments!

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Free UK TV with Filmon

It's been a while since I last posted about the options of getting free UK TV in Spain, and in fact, my last post is so out-dated that I'm not even going to link to it. So, this is hardly a "new" service I'm blogging about, but it's one just in case there are a few people out there who haven't heard about it/want to try it for other channels.

So, I'm talking about Filmon. It's started to have a few more ads than it used to, but no more than your average You tube video. It's a great service for the usual free-to-air channels you'd get on a digibox in the UK for example (I can't say the same for the other channels from other countries as I don't know, but I imagine they're the same) so a great way to catch up with things in real time - minus the hour's difference, obviously :o).

There's an app for iPhone and Android, too which is well worth having, although it only works on wifi, not 3G. I keep up to date with the UK football, match of the day, and internationals as well as the Champions League footy on there, for example (there's a slight delay - like 1 second - so it's funny to hear the roars and cheers outside when watching Barcelona BEFORE they actually score!). Check it out if you haven't already.

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Barça draws Munich in semis of Champions League

I'm literally typing this as Ruud Van Nistelrooy has just pulled out the name of Barcelona from the cup in Nyon. Barça have got Bayern in the last 4, away from home in the first leg, avoiding as everyone hoped Real Madrid and paving the way for that possible "El Classico" final in Wembley. Obviously that's assuming they can defeat the champions of Germany Bayern, who are looking pretty unstoppable (and have been my favourites to win since a while back - only I've not been very good with my predictions this season!) - although as we've seen with this week's result against Paris Saint German, anything's possible with "the little big guy". 

Of course the other tie sees Mourinho's men travel to Dortmund to face Borussia after their...ahem...fortunate win mid-week against Malaga.

Ties will be played on the 23rd and 24th April in Germany, and the retun legs in Camp Nou and Santiago Bernabau on the 30th April and 1st May (to be decided as I'm still typing). No doubt Barça will be wrapping Leo in cotton wool until then, as well as Cristiano for Madrid. It's cheeky to say that they're both a one man team, but there's proof in the claim if you look at Wednesday's result in Camp Nou, right?!

25th May will see the final in Wembley and what a prospect that already seems like being. Let's hope it doesn't disappoint. Part of me knew the draw troday would have kept Madrid and Barça apart - there's always talk of fixing and warming the balls and all that bollocks, but it does keep the draw still very interesting, because even if Barça do go out to Bayern then there'll always be that "waht if..." thought about what could've been in Wembley.

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Crunch time for Barça !

Well, it's come round fairly quickly this time, but tonight is the return leg of the Champions League match between FC Barcelona and AC Milan. Mourinho's Inter made the trip a couple of years ago but it's the Rosserini who have been on the up and up this season, and already hold a very comfortable 2-0 cushion against les cules.

Tonight's match remains vitally important to the team and the fans, after crashing out of the copa del Rey to Madrid, this is a cup competition that Barcelona would love to win back from Chelsea - who knocked them out last year. I've been reading already about rallying cries from the likes of Iniesta and Pique who are well aware of the difficult task facing the team. A loss would mean Barça will not qualify to the quarter finals - something unthinkable at the beginning of the season. All eyes will be on Camp Nou tonight.

So where is at all going wrong ? Well, there's no denying that Tito Vilanova's absence is an upheaval and disturbance to the team - like an orchestra without a conductor no less - as he continues to receive treatment in New York (God bless, and good luck). Losing a manager at any stage of the season must be a difficult situation, but I was quick to think (obviously wrongly) that such a strong dressing room would have no problem coping with a little shake up - after all, the team almost picks itself, and has hardly had a huge overhaul since the appointment of Vilanova. So it just goes to show how important these things are, and in my book, raises the stock of absent ex-manager Pep Guardiola. In a similar way, I thought that the team Guardiola inherited was amazing, and that in effect, once they were playing at full force they could have beaten anyone anywhere - that any old manager could have ground out those results, right? Well, it just goes to show how important the role of manager is and it'll be really interesting to see how Pep fairs in Germany next season.

So, prediction? I'd love to be positive but can't see it happening. Despite a couple of important injuries to the Milan team, they still come into this game off the back of a league win, and can perhaps give a little more importance to this game over the league which Juve look like running away with. Anyone disagree? Let me know in the comments!

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Rollerblading in Barcelona - 3 Chimneys Park

Following on from my recent posts about rollerblading with kids in Barcelona, it's time for another place to explore which is very popular with skaters of all ages and boards, scooters, rollerblades, etc. and is located just on the outside of the old town, along Parallelo and is known as the three chimneys park. Likely that these were old rubbish towers to burn the refuse of the city's population (clarification welcome for anyone who knows, guys), and there are also old mechanical pieces such as the one below, converted into urban art. 

The park is an urban playground with plenty of smooth flagstones ideal for skating, and small benches, a bandstand/stage which is used to jump on/off/along/you name it, as well as slight gradients towards the back of the space (away from the road) to gather a bit of pace and speed. 

This is a popular hang out for skaters and is also a great place for the graffiti artists (indeed the place of the best graffiti I've seen in Barcelona - yet to be beaten) and I have to say that the standard of the art on the walls is always high. It's a well seen spot from Parallel in car, for example, and I'm sure there must be some sort of code I'm unaware of between artists as to who and what can go up there.

I was fortunate this past weekend, as it was pretty empty so you can see the amount of space that is around (that's my little girl again in a few of the photos), but maybe it was early in the morning.

You can see here above how it's easy to skate up fast towards this stage area, and you can "slide" along with urban skates or jump up on normal inlines, or jump off the back, too. You can see the benches here, too for those people who might be accompanying and not skating (it's a great place to just soak up the sun!)

Verdict ? Very cool place as it's so central. The disadvantage of Forum Park, for example, is the distance - we went in a car. I know that you can go along the various bike lanes, but it's a fair trek, and with small kids, would end up being a bit of a marathon to enjoy the actual smooth areas. This place is a great little urban playground for gaining confidence on different leveled surfaces, and with hardly any obstacles.

Does anyone else have any tips for other places? Specifically for kids? Or m ore geared towards adults? Let me know in the comments!! And if you fancy coming to Barcelona this spring, then check out the apartments that BCN Rentals have got to offer - some great deals!