Do you know what a Saltimbanco is? In Italian a “saltare in banco”, which literally means “to jump on a bench.” A Saltimbanco is a street artist that perform acrobatics to dazzle the public and to take it to another world. This is the Cirque du Soleil that comes to Barcelona between December 30th and 10th January 2010. The famous company presents Saltimbanco, a tribute to the city and its many facets. Take advantage of a visit through the streets of the Catalan capital and discover the colourful and imaginative artists of Cirque du Soleil.

It’s been 25 years since two Canadian friends came together to act in the street until they created a wonderful company that now enjoys more than 80 million viewers in over 200 cities worldwide.

The Cirque du Soleil is unique in the world: It has no animals, but relies on 4,000 employees from more than 40 countries, 1,000 of whom are artists. Do not miss a show in which acrobats jump to the rhythm of live music. The impressive scenery will also help you to enter the world of Saltimbanco and if you go with children, they will remember that night in Barcelona for their entire lives.

This great show premiered in Montreal in 1992, the year of the Olympics in the Catalan capital. Today it is an exceptional show for its blend of theatre, baroque, fantasy, dream and dazzling workshops: since 1998, its workshop has made or modified about 5,000 pairs of shoes! The company has won over 100 awards and currently has 8 touring shows and 7 permanent shows all over the world and they will add new shows that are coming soon to Los Angeles, Japan, Macau and Dubai.

Saltimbanco invites you on a journey through unusual and very visual universes along with fantastic cities where diversity and cosmopolitanism are our hope.

What are you waiting for? Barcelona offers you its own particular charm along with the amazing Cirque du Soleil. And if the sun does not shine when you come, don’t worry, as it will be waiting for you at the Palau Sant Jordi! Rent apartments in Barcelona to find the best accommodation.

Sonar 2009, a great line-up of performers

Get your ears in tune because this year’s Sónar is going to be full of the best names in Electronic music as some new proposals from lesser well known bands. The 16th Festival of advanced music and multimedia art of Barcelona has a date: 18th 19th and 20th June 2009. Last year’s Edition of Sonar Barcelona saw around 80,000 people enjoying the best in live music along with world famous DJ’s from the world of Dance, Trance and House music to name but a few types. This year’s festival promises a great line up along with an audience to beat last year’s figures.

With still a few months to go until the festival, tickets have gone on sale at 140€. The Sónar 2009 ticket includes the Day entrance (CCCB, MACBA) to the festival from Thursday 18th to Saturday 20th June 2009 and the evening entrance ( Fira Gran Via M2) from Friday 19th till Saturday 20th June 2009. A Sónar day ticket will cost you 30€ and a Sónar evening ticket will set you back 48€. Lastly the tickets for the Lars Horntveth + BCN216 concert cost 18€ and will take place at the L’Auditori de Barcelona.

This year, the Sónar image takes the form of a short film. The central characters are surreal majorettes from the world of dreams, who have lost their bearings in the land of the living as a result of calls from a fiendish telephone booth. Check out the short video clip below.

Sonar Barcelona 2009 has selected the best emerging bands to be heard like Ray Fever, Crystal Castles, Micachu and the Shapes, Deadmaus5 or Mujava. Many of the groups coming on stage use the internet as the only means of spreading their music the festival and see the festival as their potential springboard to fame.

But there is also space for the heavyweights of the electronic music scene. One of the most eagerly awaited is that of the U.S. band Animal Collective, who are playing their only concert in Spain at this year’s Sonar festival. They will play in the SonarClub on Saturday night, just before the stellar performance of Orbital. With Orbital at the helm, the festival has been recognized as a pioneer of electronic sounds and the group which is the father of the 90’s electronic music, returns to the stage to revive some of its big hits and to introduce some of their new stuff.

The queen of the festival will be Grace Jones, singer, model, actress and muse of the 1980’s. She will sing songs from her latest album, “Hurricane” (2008), as well as previous albums. This year there will also be a space reserved for local talent such as Joe Crepúsculo, La Orquesta del Caballo Guillamino and also space called “Mechanics” for musicians who make their own instruments.

But undoubtedly the main novelty of this edition is the SónarKids, a day dedicated to children that will take place on June 21st at the CCCB. With this new initiative intended to bring children to the forefront of music, many artists have added their names to the list of this event including: Mala Rodríguez, Beardyman, Laurent Garnier and Miqui Puig to name a few. Besides concerts, children can enjoy the hip-hop puppets of Puppetmastaz and participate in workshops such as DJ, skate, fingerskate, and beatboxing.

Once again, Barcelona will become the capital of electronic and experimental music and from 18th to 20th June the Catalan city awaits you with open arms. Rent the best apartments in Barcelona and enjoy your stay to the full while at the same time discovering one of the best music festivals in the world – Sonar Barcelona 2009!

Everybody knows Barcelona as a cosmopolitan city for all kinds of tourists: whether for families, youth or old people; whether for Gaudí fans, museum lovers or people who just want to have a good time; or maybe for people who want to enjoy the Catalan sun on the beach, or taste the delicious Mediterranean food. There are an infinite number of possibilities, but what about the gay community? If you think they hide in dark bars, you are wrong! Come to Sitges, and discover the gay paradise!

Have you ever been to Barcelona on holiday? Do you think you have seen everything there? What would you say if I asked you if you have ever been to Sitges? Don’t you know this little village located 20 minutes from the city? If not, you don’t know what you’re missing! Apart from a beautiful town with amazing beaches, Sitges is the most important gay destination in Spain. This gay town stands out for its great attraction for gay people: they have all kind of bars and clubs, beaches, saunas and massage parlours, restaurants, hotels, cruising and spectacular events. In fact, they have everything they need there!

What better way to start the day than by going to a sauna to enjoy a relaxing massage? In Sitges there are more than eight saunas for gay people where they can find places to relax, to meet new people and to participate in many events, such as the “Sauna Bingo”, where they can win a “Bingo Boy”. And what does a “Bingo Boy” mean? Let your imagination take wing! After taking care of your well being, you’ll probably like to exploit your fashion side. For all the fashion victims, Sitges stands out for having many gay shops, where you’ll find the perfect outfit for a successful night. Most of the stores, whether by great designers such as Dolce & Gabbana, Versace or Calvin Klein, or popular stores with low prices are spread throughout these streets: carrer Sant Francesc, carrer Parellades, carrer Major and carrer Jesus. Literature lovers will also find many gay bookstores.

After the shopping, you’ll need to rest a little bit. Why don’t you go to the beach? There you can sunbathe and meet some beautiful boys! There are several beaches according to different types of audience: Bassa Rodona Beach (for gay people), Las Balmins Beach (for gays and nudists), playa del Muerto Beach (this is only for gay people that are looking for cruising).

In addition, there are lots of cultural events especially designed for the gay community. Don’t miss the Sitges Carnival (February), the Sitges Bears week (April- May), the Santa Tecla Festival (September) or the summer parties and festivals in the Sitges beaches and clubs.

There is a huge range of offers to go party in the town: there are lots of gay bars and clubs with fantastic events and thematic nights such as the Eighties Night or Topless Night. For the gourmets among us this Catalan town is a paradise too. In recent years the number of gay restaurants has tripled. Here you can take a trip through many kinds of cuisines: Spanish, Catalan, Japanese, Thai, French and Chinese. And all of them are Gay friendly!

There are not so many places for lesbians as for gays, but girls can enjoy a great holiday in Sitges, too. In summertime many parties are held just for lesbian girls.

And what’s next? Has it left you with your mouth wide open? Travel to Sitges and rent Apartments in Barcelona. You’ll have an unforgettable experience there!

Antoni Gaudi is one of the greatest figures in the history of Spanish and Catalan architecture. Seen as the genius of the Modernist movement (Art Nouveau), his work was not only a product of the social context of the time, but also of his own personality and devotion to the Catalan culture.

He was born in Reus in 1852 and received his Architectural degree in 1878. Almost his entire professional life took place in Barcelona, where the greater part of his work is. Gaudi’s biography is closely related to the Güell family, which had huge prestige in artistic circles at this time in Barcelona. For this reason, he built for them some of his most important works such as the Palau Güell, the

Park Güell or the Colonia Güell.

One of his most important aspects was his capacity as a designer: he wanted to create architectural space using wrought iron, stained glass, furniture, sculptures, mosaics, ceramics, etc – within an organic decorative concept.

This added an important element to his buildings which is often overlooked by architects, the use of colour. Gaudi’s work was greatly influenced by forms of nature and especially by the sea, which was one of his favourite inspirations. The absence of symmetry is an important characteristic in Gaudi’s work. As in nature, nothing in his buildings or furniture is absolutely identical, thus giving the impression that it is made of a plastic material.

His most well-known works of architecture are:

Sagrada Familia: he dedicated his life to carrying out this ambitious project which he left unfinished in 1926 when he died – and it’s not expected to be completed for another 30 to 80 years. This monumental church dedicated to the Holy Family is Gaudi’s most famous work and a worldwide symbol of Barcelona.

Parc Güell: it was commissioned by Eusebi Güell, who wanted to create a stylish park for Barcelona’s aristocracy. It is a magical park with amazing buildings, sculptures, and tile work. Watch out for Gaudi’s old home in the Park which is now open to the public as a small museum. UNESCO declared Parc Güell a place of World Heritage in 1984.

Casa Batlló: Casa Batlló and La Pedrera are the two great buildings designed by Antoni Gaudi on Passeig de Gracia. The colourful Casa Batlló is known for its elaborate decoration and forms derived from nature. From the outside the façade of Casa Batlló looks like it has been made from skulls and bones.

Casa Milá: better known as La Pedrera because of its cliff-like walls was built between 1906 and 1910 for the Milà family. Casa Milà was classified as World Heritage in the 1984 UNESCO Catalogue. It has an aquatic feel: the balconies resemble seaweed and the undulating façade the sea, or rocks washed by it.

There are some of Gaudi´s lesser-known, beautiful contributions that you shouldn’t miss such as the Gigantic Fountain (Parc de la Cuitadella), the Three Graces Fountain (Plaça Reial) and the amazing wrought-iron embellished street lamps that line the streets in the heart of the city (Plaza Reial, by Las Ramblas, Passeig de Gracia and the old port entrance).

Antoni Gaudí died in Barcelona run over by a tram on 10th June 1926. Probably some of Gaudi’s greatest works are the most visited attractions in Barcelona. They have deeply influenced the face of Barcelona Architecture and you will see Gaudi’s work all over the city. Do you want to discover it?

Rent Apartments in Barcelona and enjoy these superlative and original works of architecture.

Lomography in Barcelona

Let’s travel back to Russia and the old city of Leningrad in 1982, at the end of the Cold War. The Russian general Petrowitsch Igor Kornitzky is showing off a brand new model of Japanese to the magnate of Russian cameras, Lomo. Soon after, the communists decide to build the model, but supposedly better. Thus was born the Lomo Kompakt camera that inadvertently became in charge of documenting the last vestiges of the communist era. The legend also states that the spies of the KGB used these cameras for capturing potentially interesting documents and as they did not require flash were ideal for working in the dark. Whatever was the case, the only thing we for sure is that every respectable Russian citizen had a Russian Lomographic camera in their home.

In 1991, shortly after the fall of the Berlin wall, a wave of Austrian art students took advantage of the opening up of Eastern Europe and went on holiday to Prague. There they discovered some Lomographic cameras. On developing the films inside the cameras they found a collection of photographs around the size of 10×15 with brown edges and faded colours. Some of them were blurred, others surprised the students with their bright colours, and others captured movement. What appeared to be a toy camera had become a social and cultural movement of the most experimental kind. The Lomographical society was then setup and its main objective was to promote this new philosophy and lifestyle. This Lomographic spirit tries to capture the spirit of our everyday lives and turn them into works of art. The result is surprising which also enables us to create all sorts of textures and colours, as well as awaken our hidden poetic and melancholic spirit or our more cheerful and witty personality.

The year 1994 arrived and the first exhibitions devoted to Lomographics simultaneously took place in the cities of New York and Moscow. Since then the movement spread throughout the world and Barcelona, a vanguard city par excellence, inaugurated its first Lomographic cameras store. Tucked away in a street in the lovely Born area of Barcelona we find the charming Lomoshop (c / 2 Mirallers left. Vigatans). The visit is almost mandatory for photography or art followers.

You will surely come out of the store with a Lomographic camera in hand, and you’ll be pushed to remember the exact moment you decided to buy as the packaging and designs of the cameras are simply irresistible. If you’re tired of the conventional photo album and you’d like to have an unforgettable memory of the city of Barcelona, we recommend that you get yourself a Lomographic camera, and start capturing the beautiful people of Barcelona, its mysterious streets of the old quarter, its emblematic monuments, the sea and its beaches through the lens of an original Lomo. Furthermore, it is not necessary to be an expert in photography; all you have to keep in mind is the golden rule of motion – always carry your Lomo camera and shoot!

Thanks to the wonderful climate and weather that Barcelona enjoys, it hands us the opportunity to walk and play around with our new camera. After a long day photographing the city you can relax in one of the best apartments in Barcelona. You will find many different options available at apartments in Barcelona.

Barcelona Apartments Says:
Barcelona is a charming and magic city. Almost everyone has heard about it, whether it’s because they have read something about it in a book or because they’ve seen it in a film or maybe on television, or maybe because they have been there before. Barcelona is one of the most touristic cities in the world due to Antoni Gaudi’s work, to some memorable streets such as La Rambla or Passeig de Gràcia and to its rich culture. As any other important capital, Barcelona is a bit expensive.

For this reason, some tourists avoid it and travel to smaller cities where the money is not a problem. But Barcelona hides a side to it that only a few people know about: Barcelona’s most friendly and cheap side – sometimes totally free! Discover it! If you are an art lover, don’t pay large amounts of money to visit Barcelona’s most famous museums.

Barcelona has lots of galleries and museums you can visit without paying a Euro! Just a few people know that some important museums are free once a week. The MNAC (the National Art Museum of Catalonia) is the largest art museum in Catalonia. It houses from Romanesque Catalan art up to modern art. The admission to the MNAC Museum is free on the first Sunday of every month.The Picasso Museum is the most visited one in Catalonia and it has also free admission on the first Sundays of every month. It houses early Picasso paintings and sculptures. The Caixa Forum Foundation is totally free and has a permanent contemporary art collection and two temporary exhibitions. On the Pedrera’s first floor (the famous modernist building by Antonio Gaudí), there are temporary exhibitions of renowned artists that you can visit free of charge. Many other museums offer significant discounts with different cards, such as the Student Card. In addition, all the museums are free on May 18th, the Museum’s Day.

Another free activity in Barcelona is “the cinema”. Many cultural centres, libraries or civic centres offer cinema and documentaries free of charge: take a look at the CCCB schedule and to the Elizalde House or to the Goethe-Institut programming.

To discover the most authentic Barcelona you should not miss the following neighbourhoods: Gràcia, the Raval Quarter, ant the Gothic Quarter. Through them you’ll discover a multicultural and fascinating city. Gracia has a huge leisure and cultural offer: there are restaurants, cinemas, bars and pubs everywhere you look at.
Its nerve centre is Verdi Street. Around it there are some beautiful squares filled with lovely terraces and street life. The Raval is a historic, old and traditionally poor district that has become fashionable. This is a historic, authentic area, full of life and personality. It is an active and multicultural neighbourhood that offers a wide variety of cafes, restaurants and bars. The Gothic Quarter is the heart of Barcelona, where the city was born and where the main government buildings are located. It offers a mix of alleys and squares with character and charm. It is full of shops, bars and restaurants too.

Apartments Barcelona
Barcelona Apartments recommend joining the Facebook

-“Travel and feel at home all over the world” group. There you can meet other people to share apartments. You can contact all the backpackers that go to Barcelona in order to get a cheaper apartment. In addition, discover how to move around without spending money with the following
websites:

Barcelona Gratis and
Sindinero.Com