Monthly Archives

May 2015

Getting Around

6 ways of getting to Gràcia

28th May 2015
Plaça Trilla, Gràcia, barcelona by Bill Sinclair

How can you not explore a neighbourhood with streets called Danger, Liberty, Fraternity, and squares called John Lennon and Revolution?

Hot spots

You’ve probably come across articles, or heard friends talk about the cool bars, excellent affordable restaurants, bodegas, chic shops, cinemas, music venues, markets and lovely squares amid a warren of narrow streets in a barrio called Gràcia.

Warm words

Much of what’s written and said is true — Gràcia is a fascinating area at any time of day or night, every day of the week.
You may very well want to put at least one visit to Gràcia on your itinerary.

But where is this fabled land? And, how do I get there? Continue Reading…

Food & Drink

How to tackle tracklements — or sauces for courses

21st May 2015
Tracklements & sauces in Barcelona

The Norm

Though things are changing, we don’t do ‘cocktail’ sauce and other sweet’n’spicy gloops in Barcelona.

If in a snack bar, or bar-restaurant, and you’ve ordered a burger then your server may bring you tomato ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard automatically. If they don’t, and you want them, ask for them — ketchup [ketch-oop] — mahonesa [my-yon-essa]— mostaza [moh-sta-sa]. Continue Reading…

Now

12 Sinister Symbols & Ciphers

14th May 2015
Burglars and house breakers symbols, Barcelona, 2015

A sure sign warmer weather is on the way is the appearance of warnings posted in the entrances of apartment buildings advising residents to check for symbols scratched on, or near, their front doors.

With the warmer weather more of us spend more of our time outside the house. S’only natural. But our absence is often seen as an invitation to opportunist plunderers.

Having enjoyed a day, or weekend, hiking, biking, climbing, rafting, or simply mazing and grazing around, the last thing you need is to return home, find all your most precious things gone and a turd in the fridge.
But these things happen — don’t let them happen to you.

You don’t need a brain like Alan Turing’s…

Continue Reading…

Civil War

Spanish Civil War Posters

7th May 2015
GCEcarteles

The image in the bottom right-hand corner isn’t a poster — it’s a cover from a magazine published by a Barcelona based collective of members of Mujeres Libres (Free Women), the anarcho-feminist solidarity group.