There’s nothing quite like being out on the open sea. You get a very different perspective of the city from the Med. And thanks to Noah’s Barcelona boat trips that’s exactly what I was able to do.

Three chimneys from the sea

We all met at Barnabier in Port Olímpic and shared a few beers until Noah arrived. We walked around the port to his motor yacht Minerva, where we were given a quick safety briefing during a few moments of seriousness. Then we piled aboard like eager schoolboys and bombarded Noah with questions, mainly about where the fridge for the drinks was and how fast the boat went, all of which Noah handled calmly and professionally. Read the rest of this article…

Sarah Everitt shares her daily struggle with improvisation addiction that has led to her 5th term of improv classes. She encourages you to become addicted too!

An old wooden door adorned with a fresco of graffiti on a dark, narrow street in the Born doesn’t look like the obvious place for an addiction to begin. Or at least not the kind you’d expect. It was my first class from Barcelona Improv Group (BIG). I’d signed up the week before in a fit of late night bravado. So I took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Just as Lucy emerged from an old, wooden wardrobe into the magical land of Narnia, I stepped through that door into a world where anything is possible. Whatever is real for you becomes real for your scene partner, and before you know it, you’re on a mission to peel a banana on the moon with a priest, venture on a disastrous first date with a stormtrooper, or attend a spa where the only treatments are given by kittens licking your feet. The fantastic Barcelona Improv Group teachers create a safe space where you can let loose, form connections with others, and just play like a kid. Is it addictive? Hell yeah!

Gemma, James, Nina & Alan slideshow

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Pedralbes Monastery

Pedralbes Monastery (Monestir de Pedralbes in Catalan) was founded in 1326 by King James II of Aragon for his wife Elisenda de Montcada. The Gothic monastery (and the nuns who lived there) were granted protection by the queen through the Consell de Cent (the Counsel of the Hundred)…

But hold up, we’re not here for a history lesson, far from it. In fact, any desire I might have had to learn about the history of the monastery was not catered for on this tour. This was a photography tour. And not just a ‘come along and take some snaps’ photography tour. There was some professional shit going on here.

My time with an SLR before I met Martín at Maria Cristina metro could be distilled into a few seconds. I had held other people’s on occasion, very gingerly let me say. I might have even pressed the button (technical eh!) just to hear that authentic old-school noise it makes. But as far as look through the lens, adjust any settings, nada. I was a novice, a Luddite, as green as they come. This was immediately obvious to Martín when I turned up with my usual bit of kit on these things, my iPad Mini. Read the rest of this article…

Romans in Barcelona? Really? Yes, Barcelona can be traced back to an ancient Roman settlement from 218 B.C. called Barcino! You might not be aware of this – after all, Barcelona is much better known for its Gothic district or Gaudí and modernism.

But Barcelona has some exciting museums on ancient Roman times to offer too! So, let’s take a tour of the Barcelona museums landscape.

We’ll also cover some more must-see Barcelona museums from other eras, including contemporary art, which can be found all over Barcelona as well – because Barcelona is international, up to date, and always goes with the times!

Barcelona’s Underworld?

In Barcelona’s City History Museum, you can experience the city’s past in an unusual way. All seems fairly normal when you enter the palace, but then the adventure begins: You enter an elevator and go from today’s Barcelona down into Roman Barcino – to the underworld, so to speak…

Visitors can explore each dig site by walking along footbridges. Among them are an old wash-house, a wine cellar, and a fishery – the history is so close you can almost feel it.

Want to be close to Columbus as well? Then get ready: the museum exit passes through the old royal palace. Here you can make a quick detour to the “Sala Tinell”, the hall where, according to legend, Columbus presented the first of his bounties from the New World to Queen Isabella I in 1493.

A Roman jug at Museu d’Història de Barcelona
© Céline Mülich, 2013-2016 | Courtesy of Museu d’Història de Barcelona

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This wonderful contribution is by the multi-talented and equally wonderful Camilla Mathias.

Before I had even thought about living in Barcelona, I had been recommended a trip to La Sonora de Gràcia.

Well to be honest, I was in the midst of asking around where would suit me to do a gig on my first short trip to Barcelona. And who better but the sister of one of my oldest friends (and tap-dancing partner in crime) to give me a simple answer. Get yee to Sonora de Gràcia! Read the rest of this article…

Steel Donkey Bike Tours

If you’re in Barcelona and you fancy getting out and about on a bike for a few hours then you could do a lot worse than checking out Steel Donkey Bike Tours.

These guys have been around the block and are consistently recommended on TripAdvisor as a great way to see the city on two wheels.

They kindly asked me to join them one morning, and so, feeling like a modern-day Sancho Panza and on a very comfy set of wheels from Green Bikes, we set off from Plaça George Orwell with our guide whose name escapes me.

This lapse in memory is no reflection on the guide himself. He led the tour extremely well and was always ready to answer my questions. The groups are small, usually no more than 4 or 5, so I certainly felt there was opportunity to pick his brain. Read the rest of this article…

Monica, who first shared her perfect day with us 3 years ago, writes about all that Parc de la Ciutadella has to offer.

Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona

Barcelona has quite a few parks scattered around the city, some less known waiting to be discovered, and some more popular where some days it seems that all people of the city gather. One of these such parks is Barcelona’s main green oasis: Parc de la Ciutadella.

Parque de la Ciudadela (or Parc de la Ciutadella in Catalan) is a 70-acre green space built on the vestiges of the old city fortress from the 18th Century. In preparation for the 1888 Universal Exposition of Barcelona, the city council transformed the whole area, from an old military fortress to the main park of the city, including various buildings and displaying diverse landscape. Read the rest of this article…