Barcelona awaits the Three Kings of the Orient Parade

The arrival of Their Royal Majesties, the Three Kings of the Orient will be arriving in Barcelona thomorrow Tuesday, 5th of January, with various street theatre groups and choreographers helping to create a great big moving spectacular that will pass through the city’s streets for nearly three hours.

With over 1.200 participants and almost one kilometre of floats, the Kings’ Parade will start off this year around 5 pm when the Kings arrive on the schooner Santa Eulàlia and the Mayor, Jordi Hereu, gives them the key to open all the doors of the city so they can leave presents for everyone who’s been well-behaved this year.

This is the biggest street show ever held in Barcelona so, as a novelty this year, each King wanted to include a street theatre company with its own choreography on his float, making this five-kilometre procession a veritable moving stage

What’s more, the 2010 Kings’ Parade will have six newly created floats, three brand new mobile elements and more pages collecting dummies because the youngest onlookers will have to hand over their dummies if they want sweets.

This year’s Three Kings’ Parade, which will be setting off from Avinguda del Marquès de l’Argentera, next to Ciutadella Park, at 6.30 pm, has opted more than ever for artistic creation in the city, with the participation of professional companies, scenographers and choreographers who will be recreating the native lands of the Three Kings during the parade.

It will be broadcast live on Barcelona Televisió and go on to Via Laietana (7 pm), then Plaça Urquinaona and Carrer Fontanella (7.20 pm), to reach Plaça de Catalunya and Carrer Pelai at around 7.30 pm.

It will then continue on along Plaça Universitat and Ronda de Sant Antoni (7.45 pm), Carrer de Sepúlveda (8.00 pm), Carrer de Vilamarí and Carrer de Lleida until it reaches Avinguda de Rius i Taulet, which is expected at around 9.00 pm.

Source: www.bcn.es

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

Merry Christmas!!

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.

http://www.vimeo.com/8117624

Christmas in Barcelona with U232 Hotel

Christmas time is here. Come to Barcelona and do your Christmas Shopping, enjoying the advantages that the Barcelona Shopping Line card offers in the most amazing shops featuring the latest trends in the Barri Gotic, along Diagonal Avenue, close to the modernist buildings, in el Raval or in La Roca Village Outlet Shopping. Combine your Christmas gifts with museums, architecture, art, design and fun.

Get an special and exclusive attention in all Barcelona shops with your Barcelona Shopping Line card.

The pack includes:

• Accommodation in a standard room for 1-2 people.
• Welcome drink in the U232 Bar.
• Free entrances for the Casino de Barcelona.
• Barcelona Shopping Line card.

Book now your package or visit U232 Hotel website to find out more about us.

Frozen Rates at Hotel Soho Barcelona

Hotel Soho Barcelona announces that the weather forecast for December and January is -20º.

Save 20% on all reservations staying a minimum of 4 nights.

Rates will be dropping down to discount levels never seen before in the city, so take advantage of this offer for your Christmas shopping or to enjoy our incredible January sales.

Book now your stay at Hotel Soho Barcelona. But don’t worry, despite our frozen rates, Barcelona’s mild winter temperatures will be waiting for you!

Hotel Soho Barcelona exclusive design leaves a distinctive mark on Barcelona’s hotel landscape with its cosmopolitan, minimalist, and imminently urbane character. The Gothic neighborhood and the Cathedral are just some of Barcelona’s most emblematic places well within walking distance from the hotel. Guests can also easily walk to the Picasso Museum, the MACBA, and the CCCB, as well as other tourist hot-spots, including the La Boqueria Market, the Liceu Theatre, the Palau de la Música, Plaza Catalunya and Paseo de Gracia.

Check availability and rates !!

Giant Christmas pasta shells will light up Barcelona

No Father Christmases, sledges or stockings hanging from the chimney. This Christmas season, the city’s lights and decorations will be making more reference than ever before to its own traditions, reflecting Barcelona’s Christmas myths and customs.

Which is why the Galet de Nadal or ‘Christmas Pasta Shell’ will be this year’s most iconic Christmas feature, with 26 city locations chosen to display and light up two-metre-high reproductions of this typical Christmas pasta.

Galets were located at Ciutat Vella: Virreina, Rambla  (final monument Colon), Rambla Raval, Portal de l’Àngel, Plaça Pau Vila); Eixample : Aragó (mercat Concepció), Rambla Catalunya / Provença; Rambla Catalunya (Gran Via), Plaça Goya, Avda. Gaudi  - Provença; Sant Montjuïc: Paral•lel / Plaça Ocellets, Passeig Zona Franca / Plaça La Marina de Sants (mercat); Les Corts: Plaça M. Cristina / Avinguda Diagonal; Avinguda Pedralbes / Bisbe Català;  Sarrià – Sant Gervasi: Plaça Kennedy, Dr. Fleming (Ronda Mitre); Gràcia: Plaça Joanic /Pi Maragall, Plaça Lesseps (banda muntanya); Horta Guinardó: Plaça Nen de la Rutlla (Av. Mare de Deu de Montserrat), Jardins Pedro Muñoz Seca / Pg. Vall d’Hebron; Nou Barris:  Ronda de Dalt / Via Júlia, Rio Janeiro / Pg. Valldaura; Sant Andreu : Plaça del Congrés (Felip II), Plaça Ferran Reyes (Meridiana); Sant Martí: Rambla Poble Nou / Pujades, Meridiana / Aragó

It is about getting back to the idea we have of our own Christmas, while boosting cultural activities in every district. In line with the return to Barcelona traditions, the theme of the lights in Gràcia’s commercial centre will be Christmas trades and it will be Christmas food on the Ronda Sant Pau, Urgell and Gran Via.

In addition, this year will see the streets of 21 commercial centres provided with warmer and more sustainable lighting, with double the number of LEDS, and streets which have never been lit up before will be decorated with lights to give a boost to Christmas shopping.

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

Happy 2009 !!!

Núñez i Navarro Hotels wishes a Happy New Year 2009 to all our customers and blog readers.
Thank you for all this time you have shared with us, and we invite you to continue discovering the best of Barcelona together with our nine magnificent hotels and our blog.

NN Hotels www.nnhotels.com

Barcelona fills with the magic of Christmas fairs

Caganers, Christmas trees, decorations, candles, moss and lots of other items. You can breathe Christmas in every corner of Barcelona at the Christmas fairs and markets.

There are all kinds, from the traditional Fira de Santa Llúcia, in front of the Cathedral until 22 December, to the Fira de Reis de la Gran Via, from 19 December.

Each neighbourhood has its own fair.

For the less traditional among you, there is also the option of going to the Fira de Joves Creadors, Avinguda Diagonal/Gandesa, where they sell designer items. You could also visit Art-Directe, in the Jardins de Clara Campoamor, in Les Corts.

Have a good time at the fairs and happy Christmas!

More inf@ www.bcn.es

NN Hotels www.nnhotels.com

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