| Destinations
> Spain > BARCELONA
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| View
from Parc Güell |
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Blessed with luxuriant geography, Barcelona
is situated between two rivers, along the Mediterranean coast, and framed
by the Collserrola massif. The landscape is naturally verdant and lush,
and the present day city includes many barrios which used to be farming
villages. Visitors can look out over the entire valley from Mount Tibidabo
(a reference to the Biblical temptation of Jesus by the Devil, saying
"this I give to you"). [Full
Profile] |
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Featured
Sights
Barcelona's parks, architectural sights, museums, and various and diverse
barrios provide a rich fabric of activities for visitors. |
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Museums
/ Culture
Visit the Museu Picasso, the MNAC, Fundaçió Joan Miró,
Fundaçió Tapies, the Espai Gaudí or changing exhibitions
at la Pedrera, and many more cultural enclaves... |
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On Foot
Walk the elegant Passeig de Gràcia, the thicket of Las Ramblas,
the cool caverns of the
Barri Gòtic, or stroll the winding pathways Gaudí's
masterful Parc Güell, overlooking the city and the sea.
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Architecture
Barcelona is rich in fabulous modernist architecture. The old quarter
(Ciutat Vella) also contains a wealth of architectural variation dating
back to gothic times. |
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Restaurants
Rich in sidewalk cafes, four-star dining, and fine cuisine accessible
to all price ranges and palates.
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| Featured
Favorite: Els Quatre Gats |
| A
Barcelona landmark, this unique café/eatery at the
edge of the Barri Gòtic was once a favorite haunt of
Pablo Picasso, Pere Romeu, and Santiago Rusinyol. It's a must
see, situated on the first floor of a neo-gothic structure
designed by the great Catalán architect Puig i Cadafalch. |
| Visit
them on the web at 4gats.com |
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Hotels
Hotels range from world-class five-star resorts to elegant two-star
hostels, which can compete with many inexpensive hotels for amenities. |
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Nightlife
Barcelona boasts nightclubs of world renown, and offers traditional
flamenco music, modern jazz, opera, and the awe-inspiring modernist Palau
de la Musica Catalana. |
| Travelers'
Resource: Barcelona Connect |
| An
online guide and community in Barcelona with hundreds of classifieds,
chat, travel and living tips covering bars, restaurants, accommodation,
legal info, work permits, language schools etc. |
| Visit
them on the web at barcelonaconnect.com,
or read their free online Magazine... |
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Daytrips,
Region
The Costa Brava, north of Barcelona, is one of the
most intimate and picturesque stretches of the Mediterranean riviera,
an elegant, natural and soothing environ for any weary or curious vagabond. |
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Language
The primary language spoken in Barcelona is Catalán,
a unique and independent romance language, which developed prior to or
parallel to Castilian Spanish.
Not all barceloneses speak Catalán, but all catalanes
speak Spanish, so you can get around with either. |
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Transportation
Getting around Barcelona is surprisingly simple when using the Metro
underground rail system. Regional trains also take travelers to many city's
throughout Catalunya. |
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History / News
Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya, and so the new tripartite Generalitat
resides at the Plaça Sant Jaume, across from the city government,
the Ajuntament. |
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| Xampanyería:
A Memoir of Spain |
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Nothing
easier than getting lost in the ruins of another time.
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| The
cobbles, the asphalt, the air were rich with sea salt. The
mountains on the northwestern edge of Barcelona invited morning
fogs to hang over the whole city, sinking only reluctantly
back to the shoreline. These fogs lifted the sediment of history,
daily, into the air, a ritual cleaning. A salty timeless savor
would, daily, override the sooty-city residue of industry.
For those intimate, empty hours, life itself opened up, became
vulnerable, reliant upon our will. We tended to attempt to
dwell among the salts. |
| No
matter what my intended destination (many days I would have
an insurmountable urge to pass by the Museo Picasso; other
days, it was more important to find myself at the port’s
edge, watching the world in flux), all streets, every exiting
of an art gallery, every callejón or escondrijo,
every late café luncheon, would lead me back to the
xampanyería. We would sometimes joke that all of the
Barri Gótic was a series of compartments of the spirit,
all fascinating but exhausting, all begging the loud, unclean
serenity of the crowded cava bar. |
| At
four p.m., possibly, definitely within the hour, one could
locate Michael or Saint Jerome or Renault, Farola or the Dutchman.
Nevertheless, it was always the outside, the persistence of
the old places, that would drive us there. It was always an
integral part of a more organismal experience, never solely,
or statically, ‘a separate peace’. [Full
Text] |
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©
2000 Joseph Robertson
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| Oxígeno
y ciprés: junio en España |
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ENTRANDO...
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| Camino
por el pasillo abierto que lleva hasta la puerta. Me recuerdo.
Recuerdo sin fallos el lugar y el sentido del lugar. Ver el
mismo cactus, el encanto de las plantas que llueven sobre
los muros, ver la casa, el umbral, la cara y bondad insondable
de Gloria, que siempre me cuidaba tan bien, significa una
colaboración improbable con el fluír temporal.
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| Cenamos
y hablamos de literatura, de leyenda y de la verdad. Hablamos
de ese espacio infinito que corre por entre los nudos y planicies
de la biografía a medias. |
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Me
encuentro entre planes, entre mundos, entre variados trayectos
de un progreso incierto que se llama vida. El aire tenue
y privado está repleto de fantasmas e ideales, preferencias,
gustos, y todo lo demás que pueda trascender los
cambios cotidianos de la vida... [Texto
completo]
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©
2001 Joseph Robertson
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| SentidoNews
is a comparative media source, gathering information from publications
around the world. SentidoNews content is available to CavaTravel readers
through Casavaria, their mutual publisher. |
| CITY
OF BARCELONA |
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BARCELONA
SETS GAZE ON PEACE
15 February 2004
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Barcelona
was host to a rally honoring the peace-first principle.
The organizers are calling for an end to the Occupation
in Iraq, citing Spain's 92%
opposition to involvement in the war. One year ago,
1.3 million people demonstrated for peace, in what was seen
as a new birth of civic involvment. [For more: BCN.es]
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| In
Madrid and Valencia, still more turned out, reading manifestos
against the war policy, and calling for the return of Spanish
troops deployed in Iraq. [For more: ElPeriodico] |
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| GENERALITAT
DE CATALUNYA |
TRIPARTITE
PACT YIELDS NEW CATALÁN PRESIDENT
15
December 2003 |
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The
new government, formed by Pasqual Maragall (Catalán
Socialist Party), Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira (Republican
Left of Catalunya) and Joan Saura (Catalán Green,
United Left), brings a progressive face to Catalán
politics, and ends the reign of Jordi Pujol as President
of the Generalitat. Maragall, the new president, has said
he wants to have a new relationship with Spain's central
government and that Catalunya is once more "sincere,
having recognized its diversity as wealth". [For more:
AVUI]
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| EUROPEAN
UNION |
EU
CAMPAIGNS TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY
17 January 2004 |
| The
European Union requires a ban on the death penalty for all
members. While the EU has been a staunch proponent of human
rights, and is home to the World Criminal Court, EU officials
have announced they will intensify their global campaign against
capital punishment. Representatives of the EU are touring
Asian countries, hoping to lobby their governments for the
cessation of the practice. [For more: IHT] |
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