Parc de la Ciutadella

A massive downpour to clean the streets of the night before – and people. Take an umbrella and walk through Ciutadella Park. Sit by the boating lake, a tiny area of water with about 20 boats that pile up fast like a Friday night traffic jam. Over to the Born and En Aparté for coffee or wine. The service is good, friendly. Predominantly French fare so it’s cheese with ham, cheese with bread, cheese with cheese. Or cheese. Apart from the carrot cake. The coffee’s good. So is the price. There’s the brunch menu at weekends.

Head up to CosmoCaixa for no other reason than to walk through the rainforest. Be attacked by a bird (it happened). Worry that the “thing” wandering around the swamp missed breakfast and that the anaconda’s developed an exit strategy. (It wasn’t asleep and they’re fast). Walk down the hill because you can, past houses that look like a set from The Addams Family. Read the rest of this article…

My name is Mat, I’m 39yrs old and I live in Southampton. (I moved down here from South of London 20yrs ago and have stayed ever since).

My first trip to Barcelona was for La Noche Vieja (New Year’s Eve) in 2004. It was around this time that the “no frills” airline boom really started to take off (no pun intended), and quite a number of my then work colleagues booked short breaks to Barcelona via Ryanair’s  Bournemouth to Girona service.

Tying in with this my family normally had a couple of nights somewhere in the UK or France for NYE, so given the great things my work colleagues said about Barcelona I suggested to the family we went to Barcelona… and that’s where my 10yr (ok, its 11yrs and counting) obsession with Barcelona started.

View from the Museu d’Història de Catalunya

Read the rest of this article…

UPDATE: Matís Bar is sadly no longer open.

Bombón de queso y tomate – The art of sphericalisation

As I’ve said before, I’m not normally invited to restaurants, Suzy and Steve are the English-language foodie experts in Barcelona so I leave it to them. But I’m not one to turn down a restaurant invite when it happens. So that’s how I found myself at Matís Bar. A restaurant in the basement of the Architects College in the cathedral square.

The Collegi D’Arquitects de Barcelona is the building in one corner of the square that has friezes on the exterior walls based on drawings by Picasso. It’s not a place where you’d expect to find a restaurant of any note. Even walking past you have to look for the sign directing you to the restaurant downstairs. Read the rest of this article…

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…

The view from Bunkers del Carmel

This month will be a celebration of the 5th month since I moved to Barcelona. I decided to move here so my girlfriend could study at her university at UPF and I had been looking for work since we made the decision to move here and I handed my notice in at my previous employment back in England (where I had spent 10 years). We moved to a flat in Barceloneta, just a stones throw away from the beach and from the moment we moved in we had a sense of the area never sleeping, with tourists and locals frequenting the local bars, restaurants and cafes which are located everywhere around the area until the early hours of the morning.

My perfect day in Barcelona happened just a month after moving here. I had a job interview with a company who specialise in printing and embroidery services, and I instantly knew after turning up and meeting the owner and the staff that I wanted to work there. It had a friendly atmosphere that was a mixture of busy, on the go and chilled with friendly staff.

A few days after the interview my girlfriend and I decided to visit Bunkers del Carmel, which is located at Carrer del Turó de la Rovira, not far from Park Güell. We decided to begin our adventure at Parc de la Ciutadella where we were amazed by the gorgeous fountain – and the dog that was bathing in it! Read the rest of this article…

My perfect day would be a Friday in September. The city still maintains its business rhythm and schedule (the banks are open, you still can experience rush hour on the metro, with the intervals between the trains short and frequent). However, you already notice that the aura is more relaxed today and there is a foretaste of weekends in air.

Barcelona’s Golden Autumn (El verano de Sant Marti)

I really adore Barcelona’s Golden Autumn. The locals call it “El verano de Sant Marti”. The weather now is not that killingly hot, but it’s still warm and sunny. The bright colors of nature inevitably instigate me to go outside for a long walk around the city with my photo camera. The noise of crispy platan leaves under my feet immediately raises my spirits. Read the rest of this article…

TRX Suspension Training in Barcelona

20% of gym memberships purchased in January are cancelled within the first 3 months. This rises to 60% within the first 6 months.

I completely made that up. But if I’d researched it properly I’m sure it would be close to that, if not more. I have never been a part of those statistics, I knew I would never go to the gym. I am one of the least motivated people when it comes to exercise. I wish I wasn’t, but I am. But being the wrong side of 40 you begin to realise that your ability to eat and drink what you want and stay slim no longer holds, and if you don’t keep healthy you’ll be in trouble.

So I was a prime candidate for Jamie Luke Health & Fitness, a personal trainer based here in Barcelona. Jamie contacted me and asked if I’d like to try out his particular style of personal training. My own personal trainer? I jumped at the chance. Read the rest of this article…