Tagged With "Barcelona"
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Dec. 21, 2014: Tapas Bar Delights
Ready for opening (in late evening), here's a well-appointed traditional tapas bar in Barcelona, although one with a twist: Irati specializes in Basque flavors. It's self-service at the bar; when you're done, you pay by the number of plates or skewers...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Feb. 21, 2015: Fitness Reminder
This one speaks for itself on the beach at Barcelona...and with tongue in cheek.
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Dec. 7, 2014: Bench or Art?
Barcelona's Moderniste heritage is not limited to the famous and flamboyant buildings of Gaudi, Domenech i Montaner and Puig...it spills over into public facilties and street furniture, such as this bench at a bus stop on Via Laietana just...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, September 15, 2014: Festa Major de Gràcia
Every year, several Barcelona neighborhoods have summer festivals, drawing visitors from all over the city, and beyond. Festa Major de Gràcia is the biggest; it's an annual 5-day street party that draws more than 1.5 million each year....
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Marveling at La Sagrada Familia
Being perpetually surrounded by the ordinary things of everyday life made me a bit unprepared for the reaction I had when I experienced my first man-made marvel. Never had I felt in awe of the “genius” behind a calculator, or the...
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Where in the World was Gumbo #51 - Park Guell Barcelona
Congratulations to PortMoresby for recognizing that this market place is in Park Guell in Barcelona. The park was designed by the famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. He is best known for designing in the Modernisme style. One identifying...
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Spain Index
BLOGS Sept. 5, 2013 PHeymont Barcelona's "Other Architect" Feb. 18, 2014 PHeymont The Alcazar of Jerez: A Window into History Feb. 20, 2014 PHeymont Six...
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Spain worries about too many tourists and not enough
Spain worries about being swamped in tourism as other countries lose business, and also worries that the visitors are not spending enough.
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Nov. 19, 2016: Lionfish, Barcelona Science Museum
PHeymont finds the lionfish intriguing: its bright colors are quite visible here, but not against corals...and even its shape is hard to define.
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Catalonia crowds call for secession, despite splits
As Catalonia's secession movement continues to grow, discord among secessionist parties may be a roadblock.
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Norwegian and WOW add routes, sale fares
Two low-cost carriers, Norwegian and WOW, are opening new U.S.-to-Europe routes for next summer, at discount prices...and fees.
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Barcelona gets serious about 'over-tourism'
Barcelona is enforcing rules on holiday rentals with fines on offending agencies. It's also banning Segways and groups in crowded spaces.
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Sagrada Familia School (Escoles de la Sagrada Família), Where Gumbo was #183
Gumbo was visiting Sagrada Familia Schoolhouse. Built more than a century ago to educate the children of the construction workers who were building Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia Cathedral, it is a excellent example of simple yet beautiful design that was the hallmark of much of the Modernisme architectural movement.
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January 9, 2017: Cafe Granja Viader, Barcelona
DrFumblefinger shares a lunch-time visit to a grand old cafe in Barcelona.
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Barcelona gets a beach for dogs
Barcelona has set aside a section of beach with full dog amenities as a pilot project.
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La Boqueria Market. 2) Produce
We continue our visit to the fabulous La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, this week looking at some of it's tempting fruits and vegetables.
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La Boqueria Market. 3) Meats and Seafood
Our final visit to Barcelona's fabulous La Boqueria market focuses on the meats and seafood so popular with Spaniards.
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Dec. 22, 2013: Fantastic Skylight in Barcelona
http://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/architecture The fantastic skylight of Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica Catalana (Palace of Catalan Music) is a highlight of a building full of highlights. Built at the turn of the 20th century by...
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Paris-Barcelona Now Linked by High-Speed Train
Paris to Barcelona has been a difficult trip by train, requiring at least one change and some slow trains. Now, the two cities have been linked by a direct French TGV train that makes the trip in 6h25m, challenging the airlines, when you count out the...
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Bari reclaiming seafront for people, not cars
Bari is about to transform its waterfront to open it to pedestrians and cyclists and reduce motor traffic. Copenhagen and Barcelona are its models.
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'Uncomfortable memory' tour faces Barcelona slave history
Barcelona, and other cities, confront the 'uncomfortable memory' of slave-built fortunes that paid for many of their famous sights.
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Barcelona's bookstores re-invent to survive
Fighting to stay alive, Barcelona's bookstores find new ways to draw customers in, including food, meeting space and tournaments.
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Catalunya: What to Know Before You Go
Despite eras of repression, the Catalan language and a strong feeling toward independence persist in Catalonia and its capital, Barcelona.
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Stormtroopers (and Wookies and Jedis) invade Barcelona
Barcelona loves parades and the world seems to love Star Wars−especially this year, with a new movie opening just before Christmas. Put that all together, and you've got Barcelona's annual Star Wars parade, bigger than ever. This...
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Ticket Desk Helpers
Two familiar faces, Einstein and Darwin, sit in at Barcelona's science museum.
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Is Spain becoming a Drone Zone?
Spain's local governments are finding innovative uses for small drones, but Madrid's new city government cancelled its order.
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Santa Caterina Market, Barcelona
Not as touristed or busy as the La Boqueria market, Santa Caterina is a great place to watch Spanish people go about their shopping and eating.
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June in Spain: Festivals all over
Spain has a bit of something for every taste in June, including a huge book fair, a Bosch anniversary, and fire-walkers. More inside...
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Building Big: huge arena projects for Barcelona and Verona
A new stadium for FC Barcelona, built around the existing field, and a competition for design of a removable retractable roof for Verona's ancient arena.
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Barcelona declares itself 'veggie friendly'
Barcelona's signed up to be a veggie-friendly city, and to promote Meat Free Mondays, but the famous jamón and other meats won't disappear.
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Where they're going: NY, Paris top Airbnb New Year list
The recent terror attacks in Paris apparently haven't put off its lure for visitors; Airbnb reports it's the top New Year holiday booking in Europe, and second only to New York world-wide. The vacation rental company says it has 45,000 people booked in Paris for the holiday, and 47,000 in New York. The rest of the top 5 are London with 35,000, Sydney with 25,000 and Barcelona with 24,000. The figures indicate a quick and solid comeback for Paris's tourism industry; immediately after the...
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Barcelona Shoebox: the rest of the story
Beyond the most famous sights and names, Barcelona has a lot more to see and visit. Have a look!
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Palau Güell, Barcelona (Where Gumbo was #170)
Gumbo was visiting on of Gaudi's first home projects, Palau Güell, in Barcelona. See the fine architectural details of this interesting home.
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Barcelona Cathedral (Where Gumbo Was #309)
Gumbo was visiting the historic Gothic Cathedral in Barcelona, built between the 13th - 15th century.
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Re: Happy No-Border Birthday! Schengen celebrates 20 years
I don't share the nostalgia for border crossings, having experienced some of the worst crossings in the world in the late 80's And while Schengen said it wiped out land borders for travelers throughout most of Europe, I've still experienced controls in those countries . On one such occasion ,I took a bus from Brussels to Paris and the bus was stopped twice in France. ID was checked and people questioned. Even bags were inspected for people from Romania and Bulgaria.
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Re: Happy No-Border Birthday! Schengen celebrates 20 years
Interesting, given the history of prejudice against Romany, that those countries were singled out. At the time they were not yet Schengen members, either, although they are now in the process of joining, leaving only Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland and UK out among EU members. The non-EU members of Schengen are Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
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Re: Happy No-Border Birthday! Schengen celebrates 20 years
From a historic perspective, I think it's still a little early to know if this was all good for Europe or not. The border crossings are definitely easier and faster, and I, too, miss the passport stamps no longer on my pages. For me the greatest convenience is the common currency -- not having to change money so often, usually at a loss. Of course, some would argue that the Euro is the greatest weakness of the EU (will it survive?), so I'm not sure in the long run how this will all play out.
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Re: Happy No-Border Birthday! Schengen celebrates 20 years
Another part of the agreement is of interest to US travelers. We can only spend 90 days in the Schengen country for every 180 day period,without having to contend with Visas . I haven't heard too much about the consequences of overstaying the 90 days ,until I saw this comment online about getting a $500 fine for overstaying. http://www.latimes.com/travel/...-20150405-story.html More info on the 90/180 day rule http://www.latimes.com/travel/...20150329-story.html#
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Re: Santa Caterina Market, Barcelona
I love local markets, and bought my lunch at them almost every day when I visited Barcelona a few years ago.
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Re: Sagrada Familia School (Escoles de la Sagrada Família), Where Gumbo was #183
I love this building!
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Re: Norwegian and WOW add routes, sale fares
Trans Atlantic flights have been a rip off for many years. So I welcome the new kids on the block. Competition will improve the travellers choice of affordable destinations.
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Re: January 9, 2017: Cafe Granja Viader, Barcelona
I love the artwork in the ceramic floor tiles. So common in Spain and Morocco where they originate but a disappearing art throughout Europe. Restricted here in the UK to buildings of the 19th Century and under a preservation order.
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Re: January 9, 2017: Cafe Granja Viader, Barcelona
My favourite collection of ceramic floor tiles in St Georges Hall Liverpool. UK. The floor consists of 30,000 hand crafted tiles. It’s known as the Minton Floor because the hand-crafted tiles were manufactured by Minton Hollins in Stoke in 1852. There are Minton tiles in the White House.
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Re: January 9, 2017: Cafe Granja Viader, Barcelona
That's a truly impressive floor, Garry. I wonder how long it took to get it all planned and laid out properly.
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Re: Bari reclaiming seafront for people, not cars
My wife's grandfather was from Bari. Now she'll have another reason to go visit it!
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Re: Barcelona Shoebox: the rest of the story
The Joan Miro Foundation was one of my favorite places to visit in Barca!
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Re: Barcelona Shoebox: the rest of the story
I have never been to Barcelona -- it was just added to my short list!!!
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Re: La Boqueria Market. 2) Produce
An absolute feast of colour. It's what cameras were invented for. Much better than candy.
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Re: La Boqueria Market. 3) Meats and Seafood
There are so many things there that I wouldn't eat. Many because I don't know what they are. But just looking is an amazing journey into the unknown. Many cheaper meats - like pigs feet and tripe - are now more "fashionable". But hold memories of my youth. I didn't like them then. But broadening the imagination is a must - unless we just stand still and stagnate.
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Re: La Boqueria Market. 3) Meats and Seafood
Thanks GarryRF! Excepts for brains and eyeballs and a few internal organs, I'd be game for most of these cuts. But am especially attracted to the fresh seafood