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Designer shops in Barcelona
Designer shops in Barcelona
What to Do in Summer in Amsterdam When It Rains
A woman dressed in a red blouse and a long blue skirt mysteriously leans in an interior courtyard, absorbed in the performance of some daily work. On the right, in the doorway of the adjoining house you can see another woman whose white clothing stands out against a dark background and huddled between the women are two children who seem to be playing on the sidewalk, perhaps playing marbles. In the red brick houses, which are typically Dutch, we see the careful details of the cracks and the arrangement of the bricks, just as we wonder at how thoroughly the shutters, the windows, and the tiled floor are represented… We could look for hours and hours in a state of near hypnosis at the wise and enigmatic way this painting has represented this space (the different open areas, the rear facades, the roofs) and especially the appearance, the way the silence and atmosphere prevail over noise, the reasons for depicting this place, how the geometrical composition gives way to the preference for a sense of temporal materiality, the manner in which this small and beautiful Vermeer canvas is light years away from the artificiality of the pleasant De Hooch paintings that seem to address the same issues. You will find three other masterpieces of the painter from Delft, the unforgettable Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, The Milkmaid and The Love Letter, in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/?lang=en). It may well be the best thing we can do on a summer afternoon when the rain surprises us in the beautiful city of canals, especially now that foreigners are no...
Catalpa Festival 2012 in New York
A new New Yorker festival that promises to become popular, not only because of its performances, the best and newest of reggae, electronica, hip-hop, indie rock and indie, but because it will fill Randalls Island with art installations and innovative scenarios different than the typical format of the music festivals we know so far. Different aesthetic and unique atmosphere is what the organizers promise you’ll find at Catalpa youth festival, which starts its history in July. The idea is to bring innovation and creativity to the stage of the 40 presentations to be held on the 28the and 29th of July, making them more interactive and in a Great atmosphere!, At least this is what the organizers have promised. We will have take the chance and experience the first version of Catalpa, but I can tell that just by the performers it is already worth going. Some of the forty bands that will perform during the two-day festival are, on Saturday the 28th of July are The Black Keys, Zola Jesus, Felix Da Housecat and Hercules and love affair. On Sunday the 29th: Snoop Dog, City and Colour, Girl Talk, and Matt and Kim. As you can see, this is a selection of the most varied and new of the musical styles. Aside from the fun, Catalpa also helps the needy through Oxfam America, an organization dedicated to fighting hunger and poverty in the world. The value of tickets is $ 179 for both days of the festival. In addition to the entries you should consider the transportion cost to Randalls Island, if you go by car you can...
The beach bars in Barcelona
The Beach “Chirniguitos” in Barcelona are an institution that is part of the trio: beach, sun and fun. You should not miss these cool beach bars with cold drinks, meals and very good music. Although starting as stalls for selling season, and being remodeed that over time. Today they do not only sell patatas bravas, olives and tapas, a more sophisticated model has emerged and there are more elaborate preparations, with cocktails and international cuisine. But what is fashionable and attracts tourists is music, the opportunity to experience the festival in the full light of day or night in the warm sands of the Catalan coast. Many people are enjoying these proposals and we´ll tell you where you can locate them and have fun. Relevant is a bar on the Mar Bella beach that has the best of music, culture and urban art nothing is missing here, they have a very nice menu with a gourmet touch . There are pastas, salads, tapas and cocktails. In addition to this great dining offer , music is what gives it an extra special flavor The Sand Squid is one of the best known beach bars outside Barcelona for lovers of electronic music. Each year and in parallel to the festivals that take place in Barcelona, this beach bar located on the beach about 15 km from Barcelona in Prat , brings the best DJs ofthe international scene. Memorable are Sonar with the likes of Miss Kittin and Ellen Allien, with hundreds of followers. Sand Sea is a unique beach bar, sophisticated in all aspects. It has a excellent novelle cuisine menu , as...
The Berlin of Good Bye Lenin
Today there are many vestiges of communism in Berlin. Not only the Wall but also the famous Checkpoint Charlie, huge avenues built by the Communists, the last flag of the Kremlin, or numerous monuments and cemeteries that remind us those who were killed trying to cross the Wall from its beginnings up until 1989. Let’s start the tour. We all learn from history and from what we’ve seen that the world is more just now that the Wall has fallen. And the Germans began a new stage of no return, marking the end of communism. In Berlin it is possible to take a tour of the most significant places of the former GDR. And you can even take a tour aboard a Trabi, the model of the former Communist regime. With the company Trabant Berlin, you can visit the typical Communist avenues with large gray buildings, at a cost of around 70 euros an hour. The tour also visits the East and West sides of the Wall (where you’ll notice the difference) and Checkpoint Charlie (the most famous crossing of the Wall between 1945 and 1990). It is located near Friedrichstraße and was under the control of the U.S. The name Charlie is the phonetic alphabet used by NATO, it stands for the third letter. There are also others, such as Checkpoint Alpha, in the autobahn in Helmstedt or Checkpoint Bravo in Dreilinden. In addition this route will pass through the museum of the Wall, the last flag of the Kremlin, and the Wall itself, or what remains of it. You can continue this “Good Bye Lenin” style tour...
The best horchata in Barcelona
There are drinks that have that scent of childhood that chase us our whole life. Horchata is one of them. It reminds us of those warm summer afternoons with the family with our mum giving us that elixir of freshness in the afternoon after playing. Perhaps that´s the reason that we´re always after the information that leads us to the places that prepare the best horchata. Because we want to make that search easy for you in Barcelona, here are some places that you´ll enjoy drinking horchata in this summer. Horchata is a white drink that´s drunk very cold and therefore is a summer classic. It´s prepared with tiger nuts, chufa, that they only grow in Valencia, where they arrived from northern Africa in the 8th century, a product of Islamic migrations. Obtaining the horchata is a process that has four stages: washing and soaking the chufa for 8h, crush and macerate, press it so that it lets go its extract and finally add sugar to it. With time and the scientific investigations that have taken place regarding the nutritional properties of the chufa, it turns out that it´s beneficial to have a glass of horchata every day because it´s high content of oleic acid helps bring down bad cholesterol levels and increases good cholesterol levels, preventing senile dementia and cardiovascular problems. Also, it has a hight content of Vitamin E, doesn´t contain gluten, is rich in minerals such as phosphorus, iron, magnesium, calcium and potassium, it´s low in sodium and it´s perfect for people with heart problems. For all of these reasons and those that connect us to the...
Shakespeare in Central Park in New York
Some say that, if he was alive today, Shakespeare would have become a film director. With the permission of the critics, if he had been born in the 1980s, he would be a blogger. And not just a run-of-the-mill blogger, but a successful one with hundreds of thousands of followers. And that´s because the great English bard (1564-1616) was an artist of his time, a shrewd master of words. He exploited the possibilities of theatre, like we all know, but his sonnets are of memorable beauty (well, let´s say worthy of the top ten ones in world literature). The thing is the Shakespeare didn´t really invent, understanding by invent its current meaning. His plays (from King Lear to Hamlet as well as Romeo and Juliet) already existed in previous compendia. However, he retook this tradition (interdiscursivity it´s called), shaped it, changed it, transformed it and placed the right words so that it didn´t lose a bit of its dramatic tension. Although news keeps coming in about places where the English playwright premiered (the latest just a few months ago), we have to take into account that theatres, as we know them today, didn´t exist back then. The venues were improvised in any place (in a patio, on the street or in the court) and the stages (like the Noh Theatre in Japan) were almost empty. Also, the female characters were played by men (it also happened in Japanese drama) and the shows had to be profitable in the box office. However, with all of these conditions, Shakespeare built a play that, according to Harold Bloom in his ´Western Canon´, puts words to...
Culinary Tourism: The Ruta del Xató
Tourism is a dynamic element that changes with time. Just like the world of fashion, trends have a lot to do with how people move around the planet to enjoy a pleasant and fun holiday time. That´s why sun and beach tourism isn´t enough for most people who try and find more enriching experiencies. Gastronomical tourism, for example, is growing and if you add it to nature, beautiful landscapes and an attractive and rich socio-cultural environment, the plan is perfect to spend a few unforgettable days. A route that seems very interesting and recommendable is the Ruta del Xató, in Catalonia. This gastronomical route invites us to go to three of the most beautiful regions of Catalonia: Alt Penedès, Baix Penedès and Garraf. And if we´re even more precise, some of the towns that we´re going to visit are El Vendrell, Sitges, Vilafranca del Penedès and Vilanova i la Geltrú. The activities and escapades that these regions offer us are quite varied, so one could say that it´s a route suitable for all, because it encompasses all the leisure options. On the Ruta del Xató there are plans that are quite different from one another, such as visiting the coast, visiting places of natural interest, discovering the rich artistic and architectonic legacy of the area, participating in regional festivals of different towns, enjoying good live music and, of course, sampling the best wines and eating unique dishes. Convinced yet? The plans that we can find out by consulting information on the route´s official website are designed so that we can combine various activities in a day or just a few...
Milkshake Festival at Westerpark in Amsterdam
“For boys who love girls who love girls who love boys who love boys…” That´s the slogan of this gay-friendly festival in its attempt to be the event of the year, which will take place on the 22nd of July at Westerpark, Amsterdam, an event founded by Peter van Vught and Marieke Samallo, who represent the clubs Paradiso and AIR respectively. This event has a clear message to tell the world: no musical choice, social status or style has anything to do with sexuality, to the point that it tries to consider life as a real big party, where the essential ingredients are racial, cultural and sexual diversity among others. But this liberal-minded festival not only will exploit the musical aspect associated to the term ´festival´ but it´s also a firm initiative for added values such as culture, creativity, art and entertainment. For that, in the city there will also be initiatives to gather up and care for all the attending public, trying to pay special attention to the different attending collectives: homosexuals, heterosexuals, transsexuals, bisexuals, blacks, whites, etc. Milkshake Festival Activities and programmes The festival is an initiative to emphasise and go in depth into values such as tolerance and freedom, and will try and manage it with a lively and fun decoration. Through 5 theme blocks or stages, the festival´s theme will be made up by the following stages: – Block Pool Party (Erwin Olaf) This photographer is famous for his popular ´Fucques lesson Balles´, as well as his participations in the club Paradiso. He brings a touch of exuberance and freedom...
