Top Things to Do in Barcelona

1. Try all the tapas in a tapas bar. My recommendation is Quasi Queviures adresi Passeig de Gracia 24.
2. Watch the show of live statue in Las Ramblas.

3. In Eixample, lose yourself shopping. Vincon and Habitat really nice options for household goods.

4. Drink a hot chocolatte in a Jamaican Coffee Shop.

5. See all the city in a open-top bus and tourist attractions in a few hours.

6. Getting lost in the narrow streets of old Barcelona.

7. Take a picture in mosaic bench in Parc Guel. Enjoy this park designed by Gaudí. Especially on days when the sun shines on mosaics.

8. Definitely see Miro museum and the Picasso Museum!

9. Climb Montjuic.

10. Trip to Montserrat. There's a famous monastery. Mountain climbing is also very suitable to do.

Costa Brava, the wild coast of Catalonia

Tossa de Mar medieval village

Costa Brava is the Catalan shore, that runs through 255 km (158 miles), from Portbou, France, to Blanes, Spain. It is composed of five regions that are Alt Empordà, Baix Empordà, Gironès, Pla de l’Estany and Selva. 

The name of "Costa Brava" - wild coast - was first used in 1908 by Ferran Agulló, a poet inspired by the wild beauty of the shore. 

As Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays in Spain, we almost all decided to escape Barcelona and get a change of air. After looking for A LOT of potential destinations, we finally chose to go to Tossa de Mar, municipality in the province of Girona, in Selva.

Tossa is a village of 6,000 inhabitants that have lived principally from tourism since the movie Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (staring Ava Gardner) was shot there. Formerly, the population depended on wine, cork and fishing.

After about a 90-minutes bus journey, we finally arrived at the Tossa station, on top of the village. While going down, we could see the Roman villa of Ametllers (1st century BC - 6th century AD) that belonged to the Roman province of Tarraconensis. The villa was discovered in 1914 by Ignasi Melé and is made up of two distinct parts: “pars urbana” - urban part -, and “pars fructuaria” - rural part. The first one, on the top, was the noble part of the villa, were we can still notice thermal baths, a mosaic, a swimming pool, and marble sculptures. The other part, more in the bottom, was the place where the products like wine or grains were stocked.

Our spirit of adventure pushed us to first explore the “Vila Vella enceinte”, that dates from the 14th century. On the very top of the fortifications, that gives an amazing view of the shore, you can find a lighthouse that was built in 1917. But until the 19th century, the Santa Maria de Ripoll Monastery Abbot's castle actually standed there. The place has been a national historical monument since 1931. While bringing back down, you can enjoy the steep, narrow and charming streets of the historical centre.

After admiring the wonderful panorama, we decided to go to the beach and enjoy the sunshine. You should know that Tossa counts three main beaches:

- The Tossa Beach (Platja Gran), that faces up to the city centre and ends up at the foot of the castle

Platja Gran

- La Mar Menuda, on the other side of the shore, that is the most touristic one

La Mar Menuda

- El Codolar, behind the fortifications

El Codolar

On a side note, we spent the whole afternoon there, ignoring the dangers of the cloud-covered sun, having lunch, taking a nap and playing volleyball, and we finally almost all turned beet-red: the very first rays of the spring sunshine are always the worst ones!

The sunburned interns

Tossa del Mar, where beautiful beaches and culture meet

Located on the Girona coast at half way between the city of Barcelona and the French border, Tossa del Mar is an ancient fisherman's village with an important cultural backgroud, that has become more and more an emblematic touristic destination with its unique beaches and landscapes. In fact it is considered one of the best summer destinations in Costa Brava.

On this Easter holidays some of us went there to spend some good time and sunbathe, and at the end we discovered a real beautiful village that can offer more than beautiful sea and beaches, it is a concentrate of culture too, from prehistory until the 20th century.

Tossa del Mar is the only village in Costa Brava that has protected and safeguarded its old defensive wall and castle, built in order to protect its people from the attack of Moors pirates. The original structure dates from the 13th century, composed by walls with four large towers and three cylindrical ones. Among these the best-known ones are Joanàs Tower overlooking the bay, the Clock Tower at the entrance of the parade ground (there was the only public clock in the city), and Codolar Tower, overlooking Codolar beach. Moreover very beautiful is the Villa Vella, with its narrow cobbled streets and typical houses. In the 15th and 16th century, age of splendor, the town was composed only by 80 houses, then it started to expand beyond the walls until it became the village of today. Inside the Villa Vella there are many late-Gothic 15th and 16th century buildings like the old church of Sant Vicenç, substituted by a new one in 1755 built in Plaça de la Iglesia, or the beautiful Chapel of Mare de Déu del Socors. However, as I already said, in Tossa del Mar you can find some prehistoric and roman remains like Els Ametllers, one of the most importants villas in the ancient Roman province of Tarraco, discovered in 1914.

At the same time, Tossa is a good choice even if you're just looking for some beautiful beach with crystal clear water, or if you just want to spend a day in contact with nature. In late Spring in particular, when it isn't too crowded, you can enjoy the silence of nature, appreciate areas of great natural beauty, and have a really good time doing some picnic on the beach or sunbathing.

In Tossa there are four different beautiful beaches: the biggest one is Platja Gran, from the promontory of Villa Vella to Gavina Joan memorial. Then there are Platja del Reig and Platja del Mar Menuda where you can even do scuba diving, and last but not least there is Es Codolar, where old fishermans usually fix their boats.

So, are you ready to go to Tossa? Enjoy the photos below and don't waste more time!

Las Fallas - Beating Chilling Wind with Paella and Sangria

1GLOBAL TRANSLATORS MARKETING PICTURES PRESENTS

LAS FALLAS

OR

BEATING CHILLING WIND WITH PAELLA AND SANGRIA

STARRING: 

DANIEL RIBEIRO, PHILIPPINE LAROCHE, CARLOTTA NEUENSCHWANDER, SIMONA HOMRULAKOVA, AGATA OLESZCZUK, FEDERICA MERALDI, GIULIO BATTAGION

Las Fallas

A group of intrepid guys, all interns in a translating company, an improbable timetable (alarm clock at 4.30, not even on military service), a 25-hours trip and no rest.

This team of heroes, lead by enthusiasm hidden behind a comatose façade, will have a great adventure in the crowded streets of Valencia, for the festival called Las Fallas. 

They will face huge human crowds, quarrelsome elderly, evanescent buses, flash-forwards – such as maps for tourists claiming that it is the 16th when it is the 15th, insistent  and deceptive restaurateurs,  and fake Valencian paellas.

But the worst enemy, the monster they have to fight with, has name and surname: Chilling Wind. This 3-degrees cruel adversary will torture the fellowship during their voyage, and only with some beers as faithful companions, with their carefree youth as a guide and with the vigorous help of Sangria, a local goddess who assists the braves, they will be able to survive throughout this never-ending day.

They have to manage to enjoy the feast, discovering beautiful places and ending up dancing among real Spaniards (free, with cheap chupitos and nice music), escaping from an empty club in which the evil bouncers want them to pay.  

They have to find the way back to the bus, with the aid of travellers’ divinity, known as Google Maps. 

They have to find some rest, overcoming backache, stiff neck, sore feet and snoring people. 

Will they be able to do this, and even more? Will they arrive at the starting point, tired but victorious, dirty but shining with glory, when the sun is dawning on Plaça de Espanya? Will they be brave enough to defeat the very last enemy, the Metro on Monday Morning? 

The braves

IN THEATRES ON MARCH 15TH