As some of you might know, I no longer call Barcelona home, having left in April for literally the greener pastures of Holland. It was a bittersweet decision because when I look back at all the places I've lived, Barcelona was the city I stayed in the longest - eight years! So, why did I leave?
As with any major decision there were a variety of factors, most of which was brought about by the arrival of our daughter about a year and a half ago. The economy was of course one. Even in the boom years, the salary to hours worked ratio was never one of the city's top selling points, with ten hour days being the norm and 1,500 a month classified as well-paid. When we were just a couple, this didn't seem so important. We could live in a place without an elevator, go out with friends, travel, and enjoy all that Barcelona had to offer (concerts, beach, festivals). But without having any type of family support, this type of work schedule and wage makes raising a child there difficult and expensive. Plus, what's the point of having a kid if you're working and stressed all the time?
The whole nationalist debate played a role too. We want our daughter to be proud of her mixed heritage, and unfortunately that's not the easiest thing to do in Barcelona given the political climate. The sad truth is: she'll feel more Spanish living in a small city in north Holland than a region of Spain. But, hey, that's why I don't live there anymore, because as Lou Reed sang, "I do believe, when you don't like things you leave for some place you've never gone before."
So, after six months away, is there anything I miss? Absolutely, the beauty of the city and the people I'd met both in person and through this blog, the anarchic quality of the streets, the fish, those crazy Barcelona nights that end the next day. I don't miss the noise, though, or the congestion. It's nice having a tiny backyard even if it's the only place in Holland where grass doesn't want to grow.
Would I recommend Barcelona? Sure, why not. Just do your own thing and try not to work for the man. There are worse locations to pass the time, but I can't think of many better cities to live in if you're single or with a significant other. It's stimulating and creative and just a special place. There's a reason why the city is called "that great enchantress" and I lived there so many years.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Part Time Work in Barcelona
I don't know if it's like this in other countries, but finding part time work in Barcelona is probably harder than landing a full time gig. Part of this has to do with the current economic environment, but mostly it's because the concept of flexible, part time jobs based on hourly wages, doesn't really exist here.
Sure, companies offer part time contracts, but they're usually for twenty-five hours a week, the choice of afternoon or evening shifts being your only option. You will be expected to work these set hours regardless of work load and sometimes more because there's no time sheet to monitor when you arrive and leave, and thus no overtime. To avoid paying summer vacation, employers will often only offer these contracts for periods of less than a year, say from September to June, so you'll be responsible for saving money from your 500-600 euro-a-month paycheck for a summer, winter vacations.
One of the problems I've had working on contracts, whether part time or full time, is that employers will often fiddle with the tax percentage, especially if you're hired during the year. This is often done without your knowledge and during the year it seems you're earning more, until April rolls around and you get a bill from the hacienda (tax department) saying you owe. Also switching jobs or going from part to full time or vice-versa will almost surely see you pay. It's almost enough to make a person decide never to file taxes ever again.
But if you're only planning on staying a short time, part time contracts do offer the chance of a steady income that will leave you free in the mornings or evenings. Most of the part time job market requires Spanish and is concentrated on sales, promotions. If you don't have knowledge of the language, there are call centers and English schools that offer part time work. The best place to find out if a place is hiring is through the Metropolitan Magazine available in many English pubs or on Loquo.
As I wrote in an earlier post, becoming an autónomo is also an option because it allows you to earn a decent hourly wage. But going through the process and paying the taxes really isn't worth it if you don't plan on staying for the long term. So what to do if you just want to earn enough to pay for your Barcelona adventure?
Personally, I think the best option is to go black. I mean economically speaking, not in the choice of your clothes' color. I think I read somewhere the underground economy constitutes a fifth of the Spanish GDP and there's a reason; it's the only way to make a decent living for many people.
Vast and covering almost every service sector, if you're fresh to the city and don't speak the language, there's the option of passing out fliers for one of the hundreds of bars competing for customers. I'm not sure how payment works, but people seem to get by and if often leads to other under the table promotional, bar work. Some restaurants might take you on and pay cash during peak months, as will smaller English schools but if all depends on how legal they are. If you like working with your hands, there is always boat work at the marina.
But in all honesty, I still think your best option for working part time is to discover you inner entrepreneur and do you own thing.
Sure, companies offer part time contracts, but they're usually for twenty-five hours a week, the choice of afternoon or evening shifts being your only option. You will be expected to work these set hours regardless of work load and sometimes more because there's no time sheet to monitor when you arrive and leave, and thus no overtime. To avoid paying summer vacation, employers will often only offer these contracts for periods of less than a year, say from September to June, so you'll be responsible for saving money from your 500-600 euro-a-month paycheck for a summer, winter vacations.
One of the problems I've had working on contracts, whether part time or full time, is that employers will often fiddle with the tax percentage, especially if you're hired during the year. This is often done without your knowledge and during the year it seems you're earning more, until April rolls around and you get a bill from the hacienda (tax department) saying you owe. Also switching jobs or going from part to full time or vice-versa will almost surely see you pay. It's almost enough to make a person decide never to file taxes ever again.
But if you're only planning on staying a short time, part time contracts do offer the chance of a steady income that will leave you free in the mornings or evenings. Most of the part time job market requires Spanish and is concentrated on sales, promotions. If you don't have knowledge of the language, there are call centers and English schools that offer part time work. The best place to find out if a place is hiring is through the Metropolitan Magazine available in many English pubs or on Loquo.
As I wrote in an earlier post, becoming an autónomo is also an option because it allows you to earn a decent hourly wage. But going through the process and paying the taxes really isn't worth it if you don't plan on staying for the long term. So what to do if you just want to earn enough to pay for your Barcelona adventure?
Personally, I think the best option is to go black. I mean economically speaking, not in the choice of your clothes' color. I think I read somewhere the underground economy constitutes a fifth of the Spanish GDP and there's a reason; it's the only way to make a decent living for many people.
Vast and covering almost every service sector, if you're fresh to the city and don't speak the language, there's the option of passing out fliers for one of the hundreds of bars competing for customers. I'm not sure how payment works, but people seem to get by and if often leads to other under the table promotional, bar work. Some restaurants might take you on and pay cash during peak months, as will smaller English schools but if all depends on how legal they are. If you like working with your hands, there is always boat work at the marina.
But in all honesty, I still think your best option for working part time is to discover you inner entrepreneur and do you own thing.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Catalunya's Beaches & Barcelona Festival List
The arrival of June has already seen the temperatures rise and the humidity start. With air-conditioning in short supply here, the best way to escape the heat is to pack the sunscreen and towel and head to the beach. In Barcelona there are three main places to layout and bake before hitting a chiringuito. Starting with Barceloneta near the port, you can walk north to la playa Icaria by the Hotel Arts and Manfre buildings. Just beyond it is la playa Marbella, where you'll find the only nudist beach in the city. Not natural beaches, they were created as part of the Olympic games to offer those staying in the city easy access to the water, and on summer days they are often packed to capacity, so get there early. Also remember to be careful with your belongings.
If you're looking for something more relaxing, thirty minutes north are las playas de Maresme. You can get there by train from Plaça Catalunya and the fares aren't that expensive. In fact up to Montgat Nord, you can use a standard metro pass. They'll still be crowded on a hot summer's day, but less so than the ones in the city, and you can be a little less paranoid about your belongings. Of these I particularly enjoy Cabrera de Mar and Caldes d'Estrac for a quick day trip, while Santa Susanna is a quaint little beach town that's perfect for a weekend out of the city.
Further north is La Costa Brava. To get to there, you'll need to catch the bus from the Arc de Triomf metro station, and it'll run you about an hour or two, depending on where you're heading. The first of these beaches are Lloret and Tossa del Mar, which are particularly popular with the British so be warned, while further north are Palafruguell, L'Estartit and Roses. As you can see, the water is crystal blue and the settings awe-inspiring, but there is little in the way of space to sunbath due to the rocky nature of the coast. Still, it's well-worth a visit and a great place to snorkel or scuba-dive, especially las Islas Medas.
South of Barcelona also offers some fantastic places to layout and enjoy the sun. Different than the rocky coast of la Costa Brava, they tend to offer lots of space and sand. The most famous of these is Sitges, which is just under two hours away. A typical Spanish beach town with white houses and tiny streets, its wide sandy beachs and the shallow water are perfect for those of you with small children. Further south are las Playas of Tarragona, with the most popular being Salou, which personally reminds me of Benidorm. To get to either of these, you'll again catch the train, while all along the coast are more natural and wild beaches such as La Playa Waikiki or Altafulla that'll require renting a car.
To stay in any of the aforementioned places, you can either stay in a hotel, rent a flat or semi-rough it at a camping ground. Also as requested, here's a list with all the festivals taking place in Barcelona including the neighborhood fiestas
If you're looking for something more relaxing, thirty minutes north are las playas de Maresme. You can get there by train from Plaça Catalunya and the fares aren't that expensive. In fact up to Montgat Nord, you can use a standard metro pass. They'll still be crowded on a hot summer's day, but less so than the ones in the city, and you can be a little less paranoid about your belongings. Of these I particularly enjoy Cabrera de Mar and Caldes d'Estrac for a quick day trip, while Santa Susanna is a quaint little beach town that's perfect for a weekend out of the city.South of Barcelona also offers some fantastic places to layout and enjoy the sun. Different than the rocky coast of la Costa Brava, they tend to offer lots of space and sand. The most famous of these is Sitges, which is just under two hours away. A typical Spanish beach town with white houses and tiny streets, its wide sandy beachs and the shallow water are perfect for those of you with small children. Further south are las Playas of Tarragona, with the most popular being Salou, which personally reminds me of Benidorm. To get to either of these, you'll again catch the train, while all along the coast are more natural and wild beaches such as La Playa Waikiki or Altafulla that'll require renting a car.
To stay in any of the aforementioned places, you can either stay in a hotel, rent a flat or semi-rough it at a camping ground. Also as requested, here's a list with all the festivals taking place in Barcelona including the neighborhood fiestas
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Blogging in Summer
So as with last year, light blogging through the summer months. I'll try and compile a list of neighborhood parties with their dates for anyone interested. There are so many it's by no means easy, so if you know of one, please let me know. In the meantime, enjoy your days wherever you are!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Milk It!
One of the many things I find fascinating about the Spanish language is the importance of the word milk, or leche. It is of course used to describe the white liquid that comes from mammals, but in addition to the literal meaning, such as café con leche (coffee with milk) it's also commonly used either as an exclamation or as part of an expression.
Here are some examples.
Here are some examples.
- importar tres leches - to mind three milks, which means to not care at all. For example, me importa tres leches qué opinas. I don't care at all what your opinion is.
- ser la leche - to be the milk, which means to be unbelievable or great. It can be used literally such as, Soy la leche, he aprobado todos los exámenes. I'm great, I passed all of my exams, or sarcastically, Eres la leche, macho. You're unbelievable, dude.
- de la leche - of the milk, which means more than a lot, as hell. Hoy hace un solazo de la leche. Today is sunny as hell. Hace un calor de la leche. It's hot as hell. (I wish!)
- a toda leche - to all the milk, which means at full speed. Salimos corriendo a toda leche. We ran out at full speed.
- ¡leche! - dammit! ¡Leche! Me he pillado el dedo con la puerta. Dammit! I caught my finger in the door.
- estar de mala / buena leche - to be in a bad / good milk which refers to someone's mood. ¿Estas de buena o mala leche hoy? Are you in a good or bad mood today?
- tener leche en las venas (en vez de sangre) - to have milk in your veins (instead of blood), meaning you show no affection or you lack of drive.
- cagarse en la leche - to shit in the milk, which is what you do when angry.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Boycotting the news
I ran into a friend the other day while out for a drink. She was still buzzing from a great weekend in Barcelona and excited about the eventual arrival of summer. I told her how much I admired her optimist outlook given the news lately, providing a quick review of the world headlines when she asked what I meant. Her smiling face went stoic, she called me depressing and left to find someone more cheerful to talk to.
The moment really crystallized something that I think would make an interesting case study: how much of a person's outlook on life is correlated to their news intake. It seems the less you know or care, the more pleasant the world is. Yes, when it comes to world events at least, ignorance truly is bliss, which I guess makes the opposite true; knowledge is misery. So the question is - what's more important, being knowledgeable or being happy? I think it's time to debookmark the news sites and find other things to read until the weather improves.
The moment really crystallized something that I think would make an interesting case study: how much of a person's outlook on life is correlated to their news intake. It seems the less you know or care, the more pleasant the world is. Yes, when it comes to world events at least, ignorance truly is bliss, which I guess makes the opposite true; knowledge is misery. So the question is - what's more important, being knowledgeable or being happy? I think it's time to debookmark the news sites and find other things to read until the weather improves.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Primavera Sound 2010
It's May which means Primavera Sound will soon be here. Starting the 27th of May and ending the 30th, most of the action takes place at the Forum. It's four days of great music and probably my favorite concert / festival in Barcelona even if I miss the old venue of Poble Espanyol. As with last year, they've got a great mix of bands from oldies but goodies to some up and coming acts. Here's this year's line up based on date. No times available yet. Bold indicates I've heard of the group.
Thursday May 27th: Alado Sincera, Aspe, Bis, Biscuit, Broken Social Scene, Circulatory System, Chrome Hoof, Crocodiles, Delorean, Edredón, Emilio José, Fuck Buttons, Guadalupe Pata, Half Foot Outside, His Majesty the King, Macaco Bang, Mission of Burma, Moderat, Monotonix, Pavement, Pony Bravo, Seefeel, Sic Alps, Sleigh Bells, Superchunk, Surfer Blood, The Big Pink, The Books, The Fall, The Smith Westerns, The XX, Titus Andronicus, Tom Cary, Tortoise, Ui, Wild Beasts.
A strong first day lineup with a definite a nineties influence. Aspe is like Tool except the leader singer has a falsetto. Circulatory System produced one of my favorite albums last year and Pavement is one of my all time favorite groups, although I'm a bit ambivalent about their reunion. In my opinion, Mission of Burma was one of the more overlooked bands of the grunge era for lack of a better word, while Surfer Blood, a relative new comer, takes the nineties sound and adds a bit of pop and rhythm. The Fall is a great band and I hope the sound system works this time. The XX received numerous awards last year, but I can't really get into them unlike the Wild Beasts which I enjoy immensely. The influnce of the Clash is what I hear when I listen to Titus Andronicus, but that's not a bad thing. There are worse groups to copy.
Friday May 28th: A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Autoramas, Beach House, Beak, Best Coast, Black Math Horseman, Blackbird, Boat Beam, CocoRosie, Cohete, Cold Cave, Condo Fucks, Delco, Diplo, Fuel Fandago, Ganglians, Harlem, Here We Go Magic, Holy Water, Japandroids, Hope Sandovals & The Warm Inventions, Joker featuring Nomad, Junip, Leda Tres, Les Savy Fav, Major Lazer, Marc Almond, Nueva Volcano, Oscartienealas, Panda Bear, Pixies, Scout Niblett, Shellac, Spoon, Standstill, The Bloody Beatroots Death Crew, The Dallas Guild, The King Kahn & BBQ Show, The New Pornographers, the Nu Niles, Thee Oh Sees, Wilco, Wild Honey, Wire, Yeasayer.
A night of musical heavy weights with the Pixies, Wilco and Wire. It'll be interesting to see what songs each picks for their set given the wealth of material to choose from. Japandroids and Les Savy Fav remind me too much of other groups but without the enthusiasm of say Titus Andronicus who play on Thursday. Spoon are quality but not something I listen to much. Panda Bear should be interesting to see live while I wish just for once Steve Albini would bring back Big Black instead of Shellac.
Saturday May 29th: Atlas Sound, Ben Frost, Bigott, Boy 8-Bit, Built to Spill, Camaron - La Leyenda del Tiempo, Dinero, Dr. Dog, Dum Dum Girls, Endless Boogie, Fake Blood, Grizzly Bear, HEALTH, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Matt & Kim, Mujeres, Nana Grizol, Niño y Pistola, No Age, ODDSAC, Orbital, Pet Shop Boys, Polvo, Real Estate, Roddy Frame, Sian Alice Group, So Cow, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Bundles, The Charlatans, The Clean, The Drums, The Psychic Paramount, The Slits, Thelematicos, Trigger, Van Dyke Parks, Za!
If I had to pick one day to go, this would be it. Atlas Sound's last album still gets a lot of play in the house, while Built to Spill is a great band live. Dum Dum Girls, HEALTH and No Age all hail from L.A. and offer a taste of the different musical sound Lala land is famous for: sunny pop, in your face aggression, and sonic experimentation, sometimes in the same song. Mat & Kim take synth pop to a whole new level. Grizzly Bear is similar to The XX - they won a slew of awards last year but I'm not sure why, while Sunny Day Real Estate is one group I could never get into depsite many people, whose opinion I respect, telling me they were great. Pet Shop Boys is a group I admire but would never pay to see and the Charlatans is what my older brother used to listen to.
So that's it more or less. There are smaller groups and different stages including Parc Joan Miró, so it's difficult to give a more detailed account. Check out the official website for more info and enjoy the festivities! Some videos for your listening pleasure to get in the mood.
Atlas Sound & Panda Bear
Wild Beasts
HEALTH
Pixies singing Spanglish
Thursday May 27th: Alado Sincera, Aspe, Bis, Biscuit, Broken Social Scene, Circulatory System, Chrome Hoof, Crocodiles, Delorean, Edredón, Emilio José, Fuck Buttons, Guadalupe Pata, Half Foot Outside, His Majesty the King, Macaco Bang, Mission of Burma, Moderat, Monotonix, Pavement, Pony Bravo, Seefeel, Sic Alps, Sleigh Bells, Superchunk, Surfer Blood, The Big Pink, The Books, The Fall, The Smith Westerns, The XX, Titus Andronicus, Tom Cary, Tortoise, Ui, Wild Beasts.
A strong first day lineup with a definite a nineties influence. Aspe is like Tool except the leader singer has a falsetto. Circulatory System produced one of my favorite albums last year and Pavement is one of my all time favorite groups, although I'm a bit ambivalent about their reunion. In my opinion, Mission of Burma was one of the more overlooked bands of the grunge era for lack of a better word, while Surfer Blood, a relative new comer, takes the nineties sound and adds a bit of pop and rhythm. The Fall is a great band and I hope the sound system works this time. The XX received numerous awards last year, but I can't really get into them unlike the Wild Beasts which I enjoy immensely. The influnce of the Clash is what I hear when I listen to Titus Andronicus, but that's not a bad thing. There are worse groups to copy.
Friday May 28th: A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Autoramas, Beach House, Beak, Best Coast, Black Math Horseman, Blackbird, Boat Beam, CocoRosie, Cohete, Cold Cave, Condo Fucks, Delco, Diplo, Fuel Fandago, Ganglians, Harlem, Here We Go Magic, Holy Water, Japandroids, Hope Sandovals & The Warm Inventions, Joker featuring Nomad, Junip, Leda Tres, Les Savy Fav, Major Lazer, Marc Almond, Nueva Volcano, Oscartienealas, Panda Bear, Pixies, Scout Niblett, Shellac, Spoon, Standstill, The Bloody Beatroots Death Crew, The Dallas Guild, The King Kahn & BBQ Show, The New Pornographers, the Nu Niles, Thee Oh Sees, Wilco, Wild Honey, Wire, Yeasayer.
A night of musical heavy weights with the Pixies, Wilco and Wire. It'll be interesting to see what songs each picks for their set given the wealth of material to choose from. Japandroids and Les Savy Fav remind me too much of other groups but without the enthusiasm of say Titus Andronicus who play on Thursday. Spoon are quality but not something I listen to much. Panda Bear should be interesting to see live while I wish just for once Steve Albini would bring back Big Black instead of Shellac.
Saturday May 29th: Atlas Sound, Ben Frost, Bigott, Boy 8-Bit, Built to Spill, Camaron - La Leyenda del Tiempo, Dinero, Dr. Dog, Dum Dum Girls, Endless Boogie, Fake Blood, Grizzly Bear, HEALTH, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Matt & Kim, Mujeres, Nana Grizol, Niño y Pistola, No Age, ODDSAC, Orbital, Pet Shop Boys, Polvo, Real Estate, Roddy Frame, Sian Alice Group, So Cow, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Bundles, The Charlatans, The Clean, The Drums, The Psychic Paramount, The Slits, Thelematicos, Trigger, Van Dyke Parks, Za!
If I had to pick one day to go, this would be it. Atlas Sound's last album still gets a lot of play in the house, while Built to Spill is a great band live. Dum Dum Girls, HEALTH and No Age all hail from L.A. and offer a taste of the different musical sound Lala land is famous for: sunny pop, in your face aggression, and sonic experimentation, sometimes in the same song. Mat & Kim take synth pop to a whole new level. Grizzly Bear is similar to The XX - they won a slew of awards last year but I'm not sure why, while Sunny Day Real Estate is one group I could never get into depsite many people, whose opinion I respect, telling me they were great. Pet Shop Boys is a group I admire but would never pay to see and the Charlatans is what my older brother used to listen to.
So that's it more or less. There are smaller groups and different stages including Parc Joan Miró, so it's difficult to give a more detailed account. Check out the official website for more info and enjoy the festivities! Some videos for your listening pleasure to get in the mood.
Atlas Sound & Panda Bear
Wild Beasts
HEALTH
Pixies singing Spanglish
More Bass and Dubstep
Sala Cream is hosting its weekly Mad Session featuring an array of talented deejays spinning bass, dubstep and break beats, plus I imagine some tunes that are unclassifiable. Here's the lineup.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Gloomy
After hinting at summer last week, the weather took a bit of a turn for the worse right around the time Standard & Poors downgraded Spain's credit rating. This news was followed by unemployment reaching twenty percent and the forecast this week calls for rain so the outlook isn't too sunny right now.
The recent spat of bad economic news was followed by some thoughtful articles highlighting the differences between the Spanish situation and Greece in terms of government debt, pointing out that even while downgrading the country, S & P found little chance of Spain going into default. This is, of course, great news, but it doesn't mean it's hunky dory since public debt is only part of the equation.
Sources: Bloomberg, IMF, European Union Commission Estimates
As the data shows and the related article explains, Spain's problem isn't so much its public debt percentage, which is actually lower than Germany's, but its current account balance, which is a combination of public and private debt. The latter was used primarily to fund the real estate bubble and when it popped, there's been nothing to replace it other than government spending because the economy's been nothing but construction and tourism the last twenty years.
So the one bright spot, its public debt, is increasing as a result of the crisis. At the same time, private sector debt, mostly tied up in mortgages, is increasing due to the housing crash. Meanwhile, the international community is calling for a period of wage deflation as prices continue to rise. Growth isn't projected until 2011 and even then it'll be anemic, which means there's little hope of the unemployment situation turning around anytime soon despite what the Spanish president says. That's the best case scenario.
One of the tragic ironies is, just when Spain has found a way to harness its famous sun for something other than tourism and become a player in the emerging renewable energy market, the subsidies needed to help nascent groups like T-Solar might be cut in the name of austerity. It makes me wonder if there had been less building and more investing where the country would be now. Of course, I've never understood why a French company, Alstom, won the contract to build the trains for the Barcelona metro either. Sometimes is seems the only thing Spanish are the banks and their empty buildings anymore. Actually, that's not true; there's the chiringuito once the clouds pass and summer finally arrives.
The recent spat of bad economic news was followed by some thoughtful articles highlighting the differences between the Spanish situation and Greece in terms of government debt, pointing out that even while downgrading the country, S & P found little chance of Spain going into default. This is, of course, great news, but it doesn't mean it's hunky dory since public debt is only part of the equation.
As the data shows and the related article explains, Spain's problem isn't so much its public debt percentage, which is actually lower than Germany's, but its current account balance, which is a combination of public and private debt. The latter was used primarily to fund the real estate bubble and when it popped, there's been nothing to replace it other than government spending because the economy's been nothing but construction and tourism the last twenty years.
So the one bright spot, its public debt, is increasing as a result of the crisis. At the same time, private sector debt, mostly tied up in mortgages, is increasing due to the housing crash. Meanwhile, the international community is calling for a period of wage deflation as prices continue to rise. Growth isn't projected until 2011 and even then it'll be anemic, which means there's little hope of the unemployment situation turning around anytime soon despite what the Spanish president says. That's the best case scenario.
One of the tragic ironies is, just when Spain has found a way to harness its famous sun for something other than tourism and become a player in the emerging renewable energy market, the subsidies needed to help nascent groups like T-Solar might be cut in the name of austerity. It makes me wonder if there had been less building and more investing where the country would be now. Of course, I've never understood why a French company, Alstom, won the contract to build the trains for the Barcelona metro either. Sometimes is seems the only thing Spanish are the banks and their empty buildings anymore. Actually, that's not true; there's the chiringuito once the clouds pass and summer finally arrives.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Plugs and other Tidbits
For anyone interested in doing a bike tour of Barcelona, Steel Donkey offers an alternative view of the city thanks to some locals who are eager to show your more than the standard sights and streets. Meanwhile, Suite Life offers not only apartments for visitors and locals alike, but also services aimed at making your stay more enjoyable. One way to ensure that is to avoid the pickpockets and speaking of which, I know someone who got robbed in Barcelona is a Facebook page that's recently become quite a phenomenon with over a thousand fans and a write up in La Vanguardia. Dedicated to helping people avoid the latest scams and places notorious for their thieves, it offers maps and updates on local initiatives. Become a fan because it's a worth cause. Finally, Pocket Cultures, where Marta from English in Barna contributes, is a great resource for any traveler offering insider tips and insights so make sure to bookmark it. Enjoy the weekend!
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