Children cook workshops

Let children touch, mash, observe, smell and taste food up without any restrictions. This is the method used by Eulàlia Fargas, who runs “Cuina per a nens“, cooking workshops for children and teenagers held at the Boqueria market.

The aim is straightforward and sure to be of interest to many mums and dads: for children to learn to feed themselves in a healthy and varied manner, so they’ll able to make their own judgement in the future when it comes to eating.

In a fun and engaging way, Eulàlia Fargas shares her knowledge with the children and the pleasure of experimenting with the vast range of food we have in our country, to arouse their curiosity and make them aware of all the different kinds of food.

Young children are involved in the whole process of making the recipe, with a little bit of help. In that way they learn about what they eat, taste products in season, study an animal’s anatomy and even listen to stories about the origin of food. And, to round that off, every one of them can savour what they have cooked at home.

Teenagers, on the other hand, start learning to be independent in the kitchen and go through the whole process, from the market place to the dining table. They prepare, cook and then eat everything they have cooked, to discover the pleasure in cooking and educating the palate lies in eating better.

From Núñez i Navarro Hotels, with nine hotels in the center of Barcelona, we take this last post of the year to wish the best for this new year 2010!

The Children’s Festival during Christmas holiday

Immersing yourself in a mysterious jungle, painting recycled water bottles, taking part in a cart race, jumping on trampolines, playing on “Planet Basketball”, cooking fruit and vegetables, travelling through virtual settings, becoming a firefighter for a day, scaling artificial climbing walls and taking part in juggling, magic and circus workshops, are just some of the many activities you’ll be able to do at the Children’s Festival, which is being held from 27 December to 4 January at Fira de Barcelona’s Montjuïc site. This year’s event will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Convention on Children’s Rights.

Sport will be one of the Festival’s pillars. Children will find areas for playing football, basketball, climbing, skating, hockey, Olympic shooting, cycling, cart racing, athletics and taekwondo. Other highlights in the programme include game activities, such as merry-go-rounds, trampolines and games of every kind, plus shows, with this years featuring performances by clowns, magicians, storytellers, puppets, children’s theatre, human castle makers and Bollywood artists.

Children’s rights will have a place in several of the festival’s activities, which will be promoting creativity and solidarity among children in a playful and educational way, as well as encouraging sport, physical activities and healthy eating habits, instilling values such as respecting diversity, integration, healthy coexistence and looking after the environment.

47th Children’s Festival  |  From 27/12/2009 to 04/01/2010
Fira Barcelona -> Av Reina Maria Cristina, 2 | Sants-Montjuïc

Cursa del Nassos (Nose Race)

Since 1999, when the Cursa dels Nassos – Saint Silvester of Barcelona – Ibercaja Gran Prix began, the number of runners participating in the race has grown significantly. Last year the race reached a spectacular record number of 8.500, which was the registration limit set out by the organization. Many men and women athletes have decided that they do not want to miss this chance to participate in the final race of the year, despite winter temperatures.

The “Cursa dels Nassos” (or Nose Race, as the name comes from the fact that the date coincides with the last day in the life of the Man of Many Noses, a popular character in Catalan folklore) has become one of the most important sporting and festive events in the city sports calendar.

This year’s Cursa dels Nassos race continues to arouse great interest, as can be seen by registration numbers. With only two weeks to go before the event there are more than 7.000 signed up, while last year at this time participation was just over 5.000.

For this reason, the organization has set out a maximum number of 9.000 participants for this edition. This is the only way to ensure the sporting quality of the race without forgetting the need for continual growth in terms of participation, which is one of the ways to consolidate the Cursa dels Nassos - Saint Silvester of Barcelona – Ibercaja Gran Prix as a highly popular athletic event, both in terms of competition and participation.

Art on the Street with August Rodin in Barcelona

Art on the street (“Art al Carrer“), an initiative organised by the La Caixa Social Work Foundation with the City Council, is back in Barcelona for the third time. It has previously put on two exhibitions, on Manolo Valdés and Igor Mitoraj.

Rambla de Catalunya will become an outdoor museum from Friday 18 December to 6 February 2010 .

And this will be courtesy of the exhibition Art al carrer. Auguste Rodin a Barcelona, which is putting seven sculptures on display from the Musée Rodin in Paris, including The Thinker.

The exhibition was officially opened by Barcelona’s Mayor, Jordi Hereu, in the company of Eixample’s District Councillor, Assumpta Escarp, the secretary-general of the La Caixa Foundation, Lluís Reverter, and the director of the Musée Rodin in Paris, Dominique Viéville.

Rodin’s exhibition includes the famous work The Thinker and six studies of the six leaders making up The Burghers of Calais. You can see it on the Rambla de Catalunya, between Carrer Consell de Cent and Carrer Diputació.

Source: www.bcn.es  |  NN Hotels: www.nnhotels.com

Merry Christmas!!

The Espanya Industrial Park has reopened

The work carried out has enabled a renovation and redevelopment of the entire park, including the restoration of all its green areas, rebuilding of its stands, modernisation of its lighting towers, enhancement of its lake, renovation of its irrigation network and urban furniture, and improvements to its access points.

The park is situated on a site previously occupied by an old textile factory. Today’s park opened twenty five years ago, but, as the Mayor remarked, “a comprehensive redevelopment was required ” to ensure quality and safety.

The area also includes a water supply network, which along with the new water circulation system and enhancement of the lake, allows environmental conservation and efficiency in the park’s water.

Besides its large lake, the second largest in the city, the park contains several amenities, including the Pau Municipal Nursery, the old factory building known as the Casa del Mig and the Espanya Industrial Sports Centre.

Source: www.bcn.es  |  NN Hotels: www.nnhotels.com

Replica of Gaudí’s dragon will be in Shangai

Last Sunday, 20th December, Barcelona’s Mayor, Jordi Hereu, presided over the send-off ceremony of an exact replica of Gaudí’s dragon that Barcelona is giving to Shanghai for the Expo being held there next year.

“This dragon forms part of Barcelona’s culture and is a clear expression of our universal vocation”, said Hereu, who also admitted he was “proud” that a dragon that “identifies” the city and has been offered to Shanghai as a “symbol of friendship and respect would be present in this sister city of ours”.

For the first time at any Expo, cities will have their own area in Shanghai, independent of their countries, namely in the area devoted to best urban practice.

The replica of the Park Güell dragon measures 3.28 metres long, 1.65 metres wide and 1.82 high, and it weighs 12 tonnes. Many Barcelona residents visited the Rambla de Santa Mònica to take a farewell photo with the dragon. They were also able to write and send their best wishes to Shanghai in the dozens of balloons that were released into the air at the end of the send-off ceremony.

The exact reproduction of the Gaudí dragon was sponsored by “La Caixa“, who see it as a way of establishing even stronger links between the Catalan and Chines communities.

If you want to discover the complet Art Nouveau information in Barcelona, do not hesitate to visit our Art Nouveau Route.

B-Hotel: Biggest rooms in Barcelona

Our B-Hotel has been awarded with the ”Biggest Rooms” distinction by venere.com users worldwide.

B-Hotel pays homage to the city of Barcelona, the modernity and design capital, through the giant letter B sculpture which sits atop the building, marking the city skyline.

The innovative and minimalist B-Hotel showcases a perfect balance of avant-garde style and cutting-edge technologies. The building features a blend of the latest architectural trends, and stands eight stories tall. It is home to 84 rooms and a private parking garage. It makes a great meeting place and has a beautiful and impressive lobby, where guests can enjoy drinks at the B-Bar or share some tapas and fine local wines in the B-Celler. Also offers a terrace with solarium, an incredible pool on the eighth floor, and some amazing views overlooking Plaza Espanya, Montjuïc and the Gran Via. It may be the only terrace in town with free Wi-Fi.

Venere.com is a trademark of Expedia, the largest online travel company in the world with presence in over 55 countries.

New Barcelona Christmas web page

You can now consult the Christmas web page and discover all the activities taking place in the city over the festivities. This web page will let you discover which route the Three Wise Men will be taking through the city on Twelfth Night, where the various venues and illuminated giant pasta shells are and how various popular figures will be celebrating Christmas.

This Christmas, the city is brighter than ever and even more packed with activities. To stop you missing out on any of them, the web page offers you a city map where you can find the main events going on, district by district.

In addition, the web page will let you download a Christmas street map highlighting the areas where the giant illuminated Christmas pasta shells have been installed and where street concerts and Christmas fairs are taking place.

How do some of the country’s most famous faces experience Christmas? The Christmas web page lets you see and hear Raquel Sans, who confirms she still beats the Christmas log, the Tió, to “poop” gifts, or read Ferran Adrià’s culinary suggestion for the Catalan Christmas stew Escudella i carn d’olla and the views of FC Barcelona player, Leo Messi, for whom Christmas is a time for getting together with the family.

The web page will also give you information on the various solidarity campaigns that are being launched for Christmas, on children’s activities like the Children’s Fair and on classic Christmas sports events like the Nose Race, the first swim of the new year and the Christmas walk.

MNAC celebrates 75 years

MNAC is 75 years old and is celebrating this by inviting everyone over to its open evening. It will take place thoday Friday 18/12 and visitors will be able to enter its permanent and temporary exhibitions for free. What’s more, there will be talks on some of the museum’s works and live music.

From 7 pm to 12 am, visitors will be able to see for free both its permanent exhibitions and the temporary exhibitions, Guests of Honour and The Wise Princess. The Santa Caterina de Seu d’Urgell Paintings, organised by MNAC and the Museu Episcopal de Vic.

In addition, the museum will also be offering live music by the Rino Dixie Band, from the Taller de Músics, in the Sala Oval. And there will be talks on the most important items in the permanent collection.

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya – www.mnac.es
C/Mirador Palau Nacional, 6 – Sants-Montjuïc

Next Page »