| ...WEEKEND..ACTIVITIES |
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In additon to language exchanges
(intercambios) we organise weekend activities (usually Sunday
afternoons) to take advantage of the great cultural and social events
that this great city has to over. We might meet up for a festival, a chococolate
tour, tapas, exhibitions, visit a market or go on a walking tour.
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| HOW
DO I PARTICIPATE IN WEEKEND ACTIVITIES? |
| Simple!
Send us an email
introducing yourself (name, nationality, industry in which you work, interesting
facts about yourself etc). We will send you an email informing you of the
time and place of our next event. |
| COST:
The good news is that for those who attended intercambios the same week,
the weekend activity is between FREE and two euro. If you
have not attended an intercambio that same week it is the standard: 4
euro. |
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OUR
NEXT ACTIVITY...
...sign up to be the first to know! |
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| Keith
Haring Exhibition: Saturday 10th May 2008 |
| Keith
Haring , was the creator of some of the most popular, enduring images of
late 20th-century art. Had he not died from AIDS in 1990, this year would
be his 50th birthday. over 200 of his works were exposed at Caixa Terrassa's
"Obra Social". 22 of us braved the wettest weekend of the year
to visit the exhibition. There was a near even split of English and Spanish
speakers so the lunch which followed was a very bi-lingual affair. Great
day out despite the bad weather!. For more info visit Keith
Haring's official website |
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| I
snapped some shots of the exhibiton before getting into trouble with security...I
didn't even use flash!!!! |
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Above,
classic Keith Haring. |
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| After
the exhibition all 22 of us enjoyed a huge cheap lunch...the best was the
conversation. |
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| Cosmo
Caixa - Sunday
19th April |
| Cosmo
Caixa is a fantastic interactive Science musuem. I am not big on museums,
but this one is definitely worth a vuist and thanks to San Jordi celebrations,
entrance was free. There was much too much to see in one day as we missed
seeing the planetarium show, the "toca toca" and a zillion other
things! A good day out, well worth repeating. |
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| Interacting
with the Music and Science exhibit, the Sunken forest and some of the the
group. |
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| Sunday
Brunch - Sunday
06th April |
| Our
first Sunday brunch back in February was so successful, everyone wanted
to repeat it. We met again at Milk at 11:30am, had brunch, went for a coffee
at Gilda, cocktails at Ample 32, cheese cake at Born Cooking and finally
to the Ciutadella Park to enjoy our cheesecake. Finished at around 5pm.
Good day, great company, thank you all! |
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| In
the photos: Pilar, Montserrat, Maria and Ele. Group photo. Massimo, Teresa,
Germaine |
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| Sunday
at the Movies - Sunday
30th March |
| Just
back from the Easter weekend, (needed something easy to organise) repeated
Sunday at the movies. A combination of poor movie line-up, Easter re-entry
blues and daylight saving confusion meant fewer people gathered than last
time. Ten people gathered and we saw a movie and then discussed the movie
and other topics for 2 hours at a cafe afterwards. |
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| EXCURSION
TO MONTSERRAT:
Saturday 08 de March |
| Octavi,
one of our members and an outdoor enthusiast, took 7 of our members on an
excursion to Montserra. They had a great time...he was the only Catalan
of the group! |
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| TERRASSA
JAZZ FESTIVAL
- Saturday 1st March |
| The
Terrassa Jazz Festival is Catalunya's best known Jazz Festival. 19
of us boarded the FCG train for Terrassa, a 40 minute trip where
we met one of our members from Terrassa, Adrian who acted as our guide around
Terrrassa. We then had a huge lunch and continued our walk, finally going
to the famous Amics dels Arts cafe at about 6pm for coffee. |
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| Terrassa's
27th Jazz Festival, huge set lunch for just 13euro and in front of Masia
Freixa. |
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| CALCOTADA
- Sunday 24th February |
| The
blurb: A
paper bib is indispensable if you wish to leave a calcot restaurant looking
anywhere respectable. Our maximum of 20 people signed-up
for our 2008 Calcotada. “Calcot” is a variety of spring onion
which is cultivated in the Tarragona region and every year, at the beginning
of Spring (Feb, March) Barcelonians organise a Calçotada, a huge
meal of Calcots, grilled artichokes, escalivada, pan amb tomaquet as starters,
butifarra (porc sausage) and lamb as a main, dessert, and copious amounts
of wine (drunk from a porron). |
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| Calcots
are dipped in the famous Romesco sauce and eaten somewhat like a fire eater
swallows flames...then of course we had to try drinking red wine out of
a "porron". |
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| Calcots
and pan amb tomaquet in the foreground, after stuffing ourselves silly with
all that food and wine, a walk along the Carreterra de les Aigues to enjoy
the fresh air, views of Barcelona and a stroll with the Tibadabo looking
down at us from the top of Mont Juic. |
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| MOVIE
CRITICS' SUNDAY Sunday
17th February |
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| We
had the choice of meeting at 4:30pm for Drinks + Movie + Drinks or at 5:30pm
for simply a movie and a drink. In all about 26
people joined us. About 10 people chose to see Jumper and in the Valley
of Eliah but by far, the preferred movie was Juno (first two photos are
the "Juno" gang). Afterwards we went to a local bar for drinks
(3rd photo). |
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| SUNDAY
BRUNCH - Sunday 03rd February 2008 |
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| All
23 places were taken for our Sunday BRUNCH at Milk!
A great way to start the day. Eggs Florentine, pancakes, fry-ups, smoothies
and so much more!!! We then went on to "La Luna" for drinks and
then at around 4pm...as people got hungry again, about 10 of us went for
pizza!!!....and then coffee at Dos Trece...the day ended around 6pm. |
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| ENGLISH
GUIDED TOUR OF BARCELONA'S TOWN HALL
- Sunday
20th January 2008 |
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Getting people up on a Sunday morning for a cultural tour
was always going to be challenging...still 12 made it. The tour traced
the history of the building which is clearly reflected in the names of
the major streets of Barcelona: Consell de Cent, Almogovers, Roger de
Lluria etc...probably not amongst our most exciting activities...but...well...we
all came out feeling very cultured...and in desperate need of caffeine!!!!
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| SANTA
LUCIA'S CHRISTMAS MARKETS
- Sunday
09th December |
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| The
group slowly gathers in Plaza St. Jaume as 4 o'clock approaches...the group
waits outsite the Antiquari bar for it to open... |
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| Typical
Barcelonian Christmas ornaments: Caganers (pooping boys), Caga
Tios (pooping logs)....and Caganers of the rich and famous...no one escapes:
Mossos d'esquadra, riot police, Tin Tin, Gaudi, bishops, Castellers, Barça
footballers, George Bush, Rajoy and so many more...hmm...if you don't understand,
best get a Catalan person to explain it! |
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| Over
20 people attended our Christmas market visit |
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| Some
of our attendees in the Antiquari...ok...Joseph, Mary and co. did not attend...bet
they would have liked to though!!!! |
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| GRACIA
WALK- Sunday 24th November 2007 |
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The blurb: Gracia was annexed to Barcelona in 1897...the
legacy of this separateness is still palpatable in the Gracia´s distinctive
village atmosphere. We organised a short walk around Gracia sharing our
hitorical, gastronimic knowledge of Gracia with everyone. |
| The
day started...well...COLD...we waited for 15 cold minutes for everyone
to arrive. I gave a brief history of gracia and our 30 minute walk began.
I shared the history of Plaça dels Diamants, Plaça de la Virreina,
Plaça de la Revolució and Plaça John Lennon with everyone...showed
everyone good places to get italian panini-pizzas, portuguese delicacies,
good pubs etc... |
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| Yes...it
was a wee bit COLD...a few photos of our walk: Plaça Virreina...everyone
freezing as we waited for everyone to gather before we started our walk
and plaça John Lennon. |
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| Everyone
was happy to arrive at "La Cigale" and the warmth and coziness
of the attic-like room...nice warm sofas, armchairs, drinks, food...and
many cocktails... |
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| WORLD
PRESS PHOTO EXHIBITION - Sunday
11th November 2007 |
The
blurb: World Press Photo aims to support professional press
photography on a wide international scale. This year 4,460 professional
photographers from 124 countries entered 78,083 images in this prestigious
competition for press photography.
The
day: Around 35 people
attended. We gathered at the cafe's outdoor courtyard, viewed the exhibition
for about 45 mins - 1hour and re-group at the CCCB's cafe for more tha
2 hours! A most enjoyable day, thank you to everyone who came and made
it so enjoyable.
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The
group slowly gathers in the museum's cafe's courtyard... |
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| Some
of the photos: Record breaking diving without
breathing equipment (F. Seguin, France), the tragedy of illegal immigrants
arriving on Canary Island beaches in makeshift crafts (A. Rodriguez, Spain),
Surfing the waves (S. Christo, Australia) & Breakdancing (D. Darzacq,
France). |
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| MEDIEVAL
MARKET (St. Caterina - Born) - Saturday 27th October |
The
blurb:Once a year, Santa Caterina market turns medieval! About
fourty "medieval stalls" are set up around the market selling
everything from armour, to swords, bow & arrows, clothes, medieval
remedies and of course...food!
The day: About 25 of us gathered first in the nearby Palau de
la Musica, visited the market and then re-grouped for tapas.
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Regrouping
after the medieval market... |
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| Medieval
giant squid, medieval pedal-powered dragon merry-go-round & medieval
dancers! |
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BEST
OF THE BORN & BEST MOJITOS WALK
Sunday 14th October |
The
blurb:This idea emerged from an innocent comment during an intercambio...I
said I knew where to get the best mojitos in Barcelona and...well...
The day: it turned out to be a great success with some
people staying till 11pm!
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| Relaxing
with mojitos after a stroll through the Born neighbourhood. |
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| MERCE
FESTIVAL's CIRCUS IN THE PARK- Sunday 23rd September |
| The
Merce Festival celebrates Barcelona's patron saint and the Generalitat organises
various activities during the week-long celebrations. Taking advantage of
the good weather, the opportunity for a picnic and entertainment...we visited
the open-air circus. |
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| PICNIC
IN THE CIUTADELLA- August 2007 |
The
burb: To mark the last day of the English Oasis before the summer
break, we gathered for a picnic in the park...food, drink, friends...and
a game of bilingual pictionnary.
The day: A perfect day for a picnic. With home-made Welsh
pastries and other snacks and drinks + a challenging game of bilingual pictionary.
We started easy, and nice...dividing into two teams. Then we grew increasingly
competitive...increadibly people kept on guessing the ever more complex
sentences! They actually guessed sentences such as "Ronandinho cooking
a Spanish omelette in Bernabeu stadium as Rickhart watches"!!!! Incredible...and
great fun!!!! |
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| SAN
JORDI + EASTER BILINGUAL PUB QUIZZES |
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| Pub
quizzes are great fun, and, as questions are read out alternatively in Engish
and Spanish, you need to consult with your team to ensure you have understood...and
then...deciding on the correct answer is something to debate...very social,
great fun and excellent language practice!!! |