TRAVEL TIPS

Safety Transportation When to come? Going to the beach What to buy?

Safety

Safety tips (Click for Photo Album)

Barcelona is a relatively safe city, but as in any other big city you must follow some safety rules to avoid bad experiences:

Be alert. Pickpockets are likely to be around in most tourist sites: La Rambla, the squares and streets around the Cathedral and the Picasso Museum, the surroundings of the Sagrada Família church (and even in the spiral stairs of its towers!), the beach, the most popular parks..

Do not consider the back pocket of your jeans a safe place for your wallet. It’s not!

Wear your backpack in front of you. If you are a lady, carry your bag so the opening faces forward.

If you drop your bags (while taking a picture or when having a drink in a bar), keep them between your feet, so nobody can grab them and run away.

Some typologies of people you shouldn’t trust:

- Young ladies begging: They are gypsies from Romania that often pickpocket. They usually carry babies with them, wear long skirts and their hair bunched. Lately I’ve seen some of them pretending they are doing a sort of inquiry to help handicapped people: it’s a scam.

- Ladies selling carnations: They are local gypsies and go usually in couples. They are pickpockets.

- Street gamblers. They work in groups in La Rambla, pretending a passer-by is making money guessing under which recipient is the little ball, trying to attract their victims. They cheat, it is impossible to win. Don’t even bother to stop watching.

There is only one area in the Old Town where I recommend NOT to go. It is the neighborhood to the left of the lower part of La Rambla (Barrio Chino or Low Raval). It is the area framed by La Rambla and the streets Sant Pau, Rambla del Raval and Arc del Teatre (although it is true the rule that the closest you stay to La Rambla, the safer it feels: an example is the Güell Palace in Nou de la Rambla St.)

Transportation

- Taxis. Not as expensive as in some other European cities, yet the locals would prefer it to be cheaper... Stop them anywhere in the street if they have a green light on, which means it’s available, or find a taxi stop. A 10 minute ride shouldn’t be more than 5-10 euro, a longer ride across the city is around 15 euro, and a ride to the Prat airport is around 25 euro plus the fee per suitcase.

- Bus and Subway. Safe and economic, you can get subway maps behind most hotel city maps, and bus maps in Information Point of the main Subway Stations. Unless you are planning to do more than 10 rides a day, the 1-Day or 3-Day passes aren’t such a good deal. Most of them time you’ll prefer a 10-trip card (Zone 1) that you can share with other people, and even allows to transfer from bus to subway or subway to bus within 1h15min. And it also works for the RENFE train going to the Prat airport!

- Renting cars. Unless you are planning to go out of town don’t do it! Or you’ll be paying to park everywhere and get stucked in rush hour traffic jams…

- Renting a scooter. If you are brave enough to drive like a crazy local go ahead! www.barcelonamoto.com.

- Renting a powered wheelchair. Good idea for enthusiastic people with less energetic bodies. At www.cosmoscooter.com.

- Renting a boat. Yatches at www.azul-sailing.com and Catamarans at http://www.barcelona-orsom.com/home.htm.

When to come?

The weather is Barcelona is relatively mild, so you’ll enjoy your experience in the city any month of the year. However, it is good to know that August is the warmer month and January and February are the cooler (but rarely get below 0ºC). If you want it to be warm enough to go to the beach, but prefer to see more local than tourists, then June and September are your favorite times to come.

Apart from that, there are some special moments in our Calendar.

SPRING

3^rd of March, Sant Medir. Morning and evening parades of trucks distributing (or to be more exact, throwing) candies to the kids. Warning: don’t trust grandmas, they get wild when it comes to getting sweets for their own grandchildren! The best parades are in the neighborhood of Gràcia.

Easter. See the happy faces of kids carrying “palmes” and “palmons” on Palm Sunday. Or if you are a chocolate lover, you will have so much fun jumping from one pastry shop to the other, watching the amazing chocolate figures and cakes that godfathers offer to their godchildren.

23^rd of April, Saint George’s day. Day of the rose and the book and the local version of Saint Valentine. The streets will be packed with stalls selling books and roses. The ladies offer books to their men, the gentlemen offer their sweethearts a rose.

11^th of May, Sant Ponç. In Hospital street you’ll find an amazing fair of medicinal herbs, artisan cheese, honey and bee products, crystallized fruits, handmade perfumes and other products offered by artisans and peasants.

Spring (Photo Album)

Summer (Photo Album)

SUMMER

June. The Tipuana tree will be blooming by now, and this is my favorite time to visit the romantic Sant Felip Neri square, near the old Jewish quarter.

Corpus Christi. Around the second week of June, but it might vary depending on the Catholic calendar. See the surprising “Ou com balla” in the cloister of the cathedral and other medieval courtyards of the Old Town. A dancing egg suspended on top of the water jet of the fountain. It was supposed to be only on the Corpus Christi Thursday, but now it is displayed the whole Corpus week.

23^rd of June. Saint John’s Eve. We celebrate the beginning of the summer and the shortest night of the year with fireworks. It is a night of fire. Families and friends have dinner together and as a desert have the traditional “coca”, a cake

decorated with crème caramel, pine nuts or fruits. There is parties and dancing all over that will last until the sun goes up. And then, bathing in the sea will give you good luck for the rest of the year! However, I strongly recommend you to check out the parties in advanced and even buy a ticket if possible, as there is not much celebration in the streets and you could be disappointed for not finding the entertainment you expected…

July and August. Grec music, dance and theater international festival. Enormous range of cultural activities, including theater plays in English and other languages. In Plaça Catalunya near Portal de l’Àngel you will find an information point.

Week around the 15^th of August. Festival of Gràcia. This popular neighborhood organizes its festival and every street is decorated by its inhabitants, who run a contest to choose the best ornamentation. Regular buildings become the ocean, the Eiffel Tour, the animals of a farm or the Amazonian forest. Morning activities for the children and concerts and dancing for the grown-up every night during the whole week. Don’t miss Carrer Verdi and Carrer Joan Blanques, the two streets that compete every year for the first price!

AUTUMN

Autumn. Buy roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes to the “castanyeres”, ladies selling this autumn products in their street stalls. There is usually one of them in the crossing of la Rambla with the street Cardenal Casañas.

Week before the 24^th of September. La Mercè. The main festival of the city, honoring our holy patron, the Virgin of Mercy. Human towers, sardana dancing, folk demonstrations, traditional parades for children, the exciting fire run correfoc, concerts and street shows, and the spectacular firework and music festival Piromusical. In Plaça Catalunya near Portal de l’Àngel you will find an information point. http://www.bcn.es/english/ihome.htm (site in English).

1^st of November. We don’t celebrate Halloween here, but the All Saints day. I won’t recommend you to visit our cemeteries (as locals will do to honor their beloved ones), but to visit a pastry shop and buy some panellets, delicious marzipan and nut sweets that are the traditional desert for this day.

Autumn (Photo Album)

WINTER

December, until Christmas Eve. The Christmas lights are lit at the beginning of the month, and it is a joy to walk around the shopping streets and the Old Town in the evening. Join the locals in the every-year discussion about the appropriateness (or lack of) of their contemporary designs against the traditional ones. And don’t forget to check out the Christmas market in front of the Cathedral.

Winter (Photo Album)

First week of January, until the 5^th (included). Your kids will have so much fun watching the toys fair in Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes. In Spain children are given their presents by the Three Wise Men, who arrive on the night of the 5^th of January. Parents desperate to find their kids favorite toy will have time until past midnight to find it in this fair. And you can also find decoration items and other presents for those that are not kids anymore.

Carnival. February, the dates may vary might vary depending on the Catholic calendar. Although it is not easy to find now carnival celebrations open to everybody, in most markets the sellers do dress up to cheer up their customers. You can also have a walk around the Ciutadella Park on the Sunday of Carnival (many children will come dressed up as well) or have a wild night in the town of Sitges during their Carnival Parades. http://www.sitges.com/ (Site in Catalan. English and Spanish translations coming soon)

Going to the beach

When is the best time to swim? Locals find the temperature of the sea warm enough to bath from June to September. In October and May and even in some sunny winter days it is possible to see locals sunbathing, but only very brave ones will dare to enter the water. Nevertheless, if you come from a northern country it is quite likely that you will find the water warm enough in Autumn and Spring…

Is the beach clean?

Far are those pre-Olympic years when only the fools would use the city beaches. Now our beaches are cleaned every night during the summertime and avail of all kind of facilities from public toilets to showers, access for handicapped, lifeguards… whoever, remember the beach of a four million inhabitant city can never be a paradise...

The beach high season in Barcelona is July and August, and usually the most crowded (therefore, dirtier) beaches are those going from the Barceloneta to the Olympic Village, because they are closer to the city center and more accessible by public transportation (bus and subway). As you get further from the Olympic Port, the subway stations are located also a bit further from the beach and consequently they attract less people and stay cleaner. Many locals prefer the Bogatell, Mar Bella and Nova Mar Bella beaches because there is free car parking. This summer will open to the public the new beach of the Forum of Cultures.

Also, avoid the beach on the day after a summer storm: the rain carries trash to the sea water and it can get really dirty.

What about beaches in the surroundings?

There is plenty of tourist resorts and pretty beaches in Catalonia, but if you are based in Barcelona and you are planning a day out of town I have some suggestions for you:

Take the train towards Maçanet-Massanes in Sants-Estació. This line borders the coastline and many stations are right by the beach. Some towns near Barcelona have regular long city beaches (Ocata, Badalona, Mataró); a bit further, there is some charming villages with smaller nice beaches (Caldes dEstrach, Arenys de Mar, Sant Pol).

Take the train towards Sant Vicenç de Calders in Sants-Estació. Castelldefels Platja has a popular long beach where locals go. But if you prefer something with more charm, get off at Sitges and enjoy its beautiful modernist villas, its historic center, its shopping and its liberal atmosphere. For an extra cultural touch you can hire me and I’ll show you around!

The Costa Brava beaches are smaller and the sand is thicker (sometimes there are pebbles instead), but its wonderful landscape of cliffs and rocks is worth a visit. Unfortunately, no trains reach this area, that must be accessed by car or public interurban bus. Blanes, Platja Fenals in Lloret (but stay away from the rest of this otherwise ugly tourist resort!), Tossa de Mar, Palamós, Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Calella de Palafrugell, Roses, Cadaqués… I am also available for tours in this area that hides medieval treasures and much more!

Dressing code

In Spain top-less is legal in all beaches, while nudist are recommended to use beaches specially designed for them. Anyway, rarely will the police warn a nudist in a “textile” beach if he or she is not disturbing other people…

The only official nudist area in Barcelona is found in the Mar Bella beach, although a certain area of the Barceloneta beach has traditionally been mixed (textiles and nudists). Sadly, last summer some male nudists started to show up seeming more interested in flirting rather than sunbathing and swimming, and this annoyed both neighbors and other nudists… hopefully their protests will help improving the situation for years to come.

Safety

Unfortunately, the beach in Barcelona is often frequented by pickpockets. My recommendation is taking to the beach only your swimsuit, towel and sun screen. Leave all documents, credit cards and money in your hotel room.

For your physical safety, never enter the water if there is a red flag. Orange flag means relatively powerful waves and recommends to avoid bathing. Green flag announces safe swimming. Blue flags are awarded to the cleanest and better equipped beaches in Europe.

If you will be carrying a bag with other stuff, then don’t go alone or at least do not enter the water leaving your belongings unattended. Locals never do: we take turns to swim so there is always someone from our group staying with our things.

It is also socially accepted to ask your neighbor to keep an eye on your things. In this case the etiquette says that you shouldn’t stay in the water for more than five to ten minutes, and you mustn’t blame them if something is stolen anyway.

Another good tip is covering your bags with a towel or shawl: this way it is more difficult for pickpockets to grab it and run away.

And finally don’t trust people walking around normally dressed. It might sound funny, but specially at night, when it is so pleasant to have a night swim and enjoy the breeze and the moonlight, it is easy to identify pickpockets because they move in groups and don’t wear swimsuits but regular street clothes. If you feel watched, just move to a place where there is more people.

What to buy? Alternatives to cheesy souvenirs

After the Olympic Games Barcelona became the “City of Design”, and the souvenir industry changed consequently and improved the quality of its offer. However, there are alternatives to the souvenir stores. The following are some ideas for clever shopping:

FOOD (Most products can be found in supermarkets or gourmet stores):

Ø Wines and liquors. Red wine from La Rioja or Ribera del Duero, white wine from Peneds, pure virgin oil (in elegant glass bottles), Aromes de Montserrat (nuts digestive), Melodys (Catalan cream liquor), Ratafia (nuts liquor).

Ø Sweets. Turrón (Christmas nougat) de Jijona, de Alicante or de crema, carquinyolis (Catalan dry almond cookies served with desert or coffee), chocolates (find those that copy the design of the Passeig de Gràcia tiles), thick hot chocolate powder.

Ø Meat. Jamón de jabugo (the highest quality of Spanish cured ham,; if vacuum-packed you won’t have problems at the airport), other pork sausages (salchichón, langoniza, fuet, butifarra…).

Ø Other. Saffron, seasoned olives, olivada (olives pat), local nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts).

KITCHEN HOUSEWARE (In department stores or hardware stores): iron and clay dishes for Catalan Cream cooking, tomba-truites (special flat dish to flip omelets), olive and vinegar sets, local design houseware from Vinçon’s.

ACCESSORIES: hand-painted silk fans, stationary designed by Jordi Lavanda, Gaudí inspired jewels, women accessories by Tous, modernist Masriera jewels.

CLOTHING: Designer Custo BCN fashion, funky and colorful clothes by Desigual, Camper shoes, espardenyes (traditional spadrilles).

CHILDREN: Kukuxumusu and Paramita good quality and fun souvenir T-shirts, giant lolypops from the Boqueria Market, cloth reproductions of the Dragon of the Park Güell, music by the Catalan band Macedònia.

TEENS: Zara and Mango casual wear, jeans by Samblancat , Spanish pop music (La Oreja de Van Gogh, Amaral, Ojos de Brujo, La Cabra mecnica, Chambao (flamenco chill out), Mala Rodríguez (hiphop)…).

SPANISH MUSIC AND MUSICIANS:

v Flamenco. Niña Pastori (female voice), Argentina (new young female promise), Diego el Cigala (latin flamenco), Arcángel (young male voice).

v Youth music with flamenco influencies. Ketama, Rosario, Ojos de Brujo.

v Oldfashioned singers: Isabel Pantoja, Jose Luís Perales.

v Hip Hop: Mala Rodríguez. Violadores del Verso.

v Rock: Loquillo y los Trogloditas (eighties)

v Pop: For the latests hits, check out Spain Top-40’s.

v More ideas here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Spain

CATALAN MUSIC AND MUSICIANS:

v Opera: Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras.

v Choirs: Escolania de Montserrat, Orfeó Català.

v Jazz: Llibert Fortuny (young saxophonist), Ignasi Terraza (great blind pianist), Carme Canela.