The Correfoc at La Mercè

After a summer of festivals for each barrio it is all brought to a close with La Mercè – Barcelona’s very own festa major. The festival is a celebration of the Roman Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Mercy, (La Mare de Déu de la Mercè in Catalan) on September 24th. This first became an official holiday in 1871 but most of the present day events really began to take shape in 1902.

This year the festival runs from the 21st – 24th September 2012. Although there are many events either side of this.

La Mercè 2012 Programme

Gigantes-y Cabezudos

There are many hundreds of events this year. So do check out the festival programmes to make sure you get to see the things that interest you. Unfortunately they seem to have only produced it in Catalan this year.

Expect to see the Sardana, the popular Catalan dance, performed throughout Barcelona. The castellers produce their incredible human towers. And the papier maché giants parade around the city. Sounding strange enough yet?

32a Mostra de Vins i Caves de Catalunya

There is the Catalan wine and cava fair at Arc de Triomf that is well worth a visit. This is a change of location from previous years when it was down at Port Vell. The 32a Mostra de Vins i Caves de Catalunya is on Passeig de Lluís Companys, the bit between Arc de Trimof and the park, all weekend. Buy a glass and some tickets and take your pick from the many wines and cavas on offer from the region.

Read the rest of this article…

App showing your origin and destination

I had a comment this morning on one of the first posts I ever wrote on this blog. The post was about the Barcelona Metro iPhone app. And the comment was regarding a new rival iPhone app. I certainly don’t mind a bit of self-promotion in blog comments as long as it’s relevant. If I think readers of that post would find value in it then great. And in this instance I certainly didn’t need to worry.

The app in question that was so shamelessly promoted on this very blog was the Enllaç Barcelona Transportation iPhone App. From the website…

Enllaç is an application that helps you find the best route using Barcelona public transportation. All the principal modes of public transportation offered in Barcelona are covered: TMB, Bicing, Taxi, By Foot

By foot?! Yes. And it even tells you how many calories you will burn. Read the rest of this article…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_0HBAUu2sQ

While I was doing my post a couple of weeks ago about Munich Sports I came across an iPhone app they have produced that lets you personalise your own trainers. There’s also a website which does the same thing at Munich My Way.

Check out the funky (and slightly odd) video with the heavy bassline.

Both the app and the website let you choose the colour of 10 separate areas of the shoe including the sole, toe, laces, tongue etc. There is only the Gresca style of shoe you can customise so if you don’t like it then you’re pretty stuffed. Read the rest of this article…

Barcelona Metro iPhone App

Apart from the Google Maps app on the iPhone which I use daily to find my way around (but isn’t specific to Barcelona obviously) the app I use the most is Metro de Barcelona from Presselite.

As you can probably guess, this Barcelona Metro iPhone app helps you plan your route when travelling on the Barcelona Metro. I could explain to you how it works but the Presselite website says it just fine.

Barcelona Metro iPhone app features include:

• Latest official map of Metro de Barcelona (2009). Landscape and portrait modes are available.
• Detailed map of all lines in Barcelona (Línea 1, Línea 2, Línea 3, Línea 4, Línea 5, Línea 6, Línea 7, Línea 8, Línea 11, S1, S2, S33, S4, S5, S55, S8, R1, R2, R2 Nord, R2 Sud, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6). Read the rest of this article…