Mecal 2010 is back to barcelona year after year to give you the best is made in “ short feature film “. the twelfth edition comes with spring time and you can watch it untill de end of the week ( had already started and finish at 18 of april ). This year the festival recieve incredible 3500 films , and tryed to do the best selection for the festival. You will be able to enjoy the best is made around the world , splited in diferent environments and giving you different ways of the city ( “CINES MALDA”,”RESIDENCIA D`INVESTIGADORS”, “LOUNGE CLUB MAU MAU “and “MACBA”) . For a big festival , a big party ! The organisation prepared 2 parties, the first one in JAZZY DOWN FLOOR (calle princesa 53) friday 16 april, and the second on thursday 15 april , starting at 00h30 with disco-funky at CLUB MARULLA ( calle escudellers , 49).
Party , exposicions, culture, music , big parks , good views , nice people, welcome to the powerfull BARCELONA, take some sun and relaxxx...! Barcelona can give you all you are looking for.
Be Happy Here!
Luis Pires, from Portugal, Night receptionist.
SEMANA SANTA, the holy week, a movable feast beginning on Palm Sunday, this year the 28th of March, and runs to the Resurrection Sunday the 5th of April. Though, if it wasn’t for the sumptuous and seductive sculptures of chocolate in the sweet shops it would be easy to miss that we are now entering the most holy week in the Spanish religious calendar.
A group is passing by the window of the hostel attracting attention in the dusty streets of Sunday morning. In these hours the streets are normally mostly walked by the last tired guests of the night before or men with dogs and newspapers.
The parade is neatly dressed carrying small bouquets of palm branches heading for the church. In Barcelona the most important event of Semana Santa is the blessing of the palms on Palm Sunday. Traditionally godmothers present their godchildren with a large palm branch. The palms are taken to mass and blessed by the priest, and then taken home and hung on balconies for the rest of the year to ward off evil.
But in this multicultural city it is easy to forget which strong culture that surrounds this capital of Catalonia. A lot of the local Barcelona residents also leave the town themselves to celebrate the holidays in nearby villages or foreign destinations.
But this doesn’t mean that Easter is not celebrated in Barcelona. If you like to have a look at an Easter parade there will be one starting at the church “La Iglesia de Sant Agustí” in plaça Sant Agustí at 17.00 Good Friday the 2nd of April, and another at the same time at the “Iglesia de Sant Jaume” in Calle Ferran. The Easter is celebrated with processions called pasos which are colorful parades of large decorated floats with statues of Christ, the virgin Mary or other saints. Men carrying crosses are dressed in long tunics, masks and pointing hoods, a dressing that is copied by the Ku Klux Klan.
Though, if for you, as for me, Easter is closer combined with chocolate eggs than mass and palm branches you should make your way to the Chocolate Museum (Museu de la Xocolata, Calle Comerç, 3). The museum takes you through the history of the chocolate and there will be a few special courses available during the Easter period.
No matter how you end up spending your time I wish you a very nice Semana Santa in Barcelona
Ane, from Denmark, morning receptionist
Are you, as I am, a fan of Cuban music, dance and drink? Then you should know that Barcelona has surprisingly much to offer.
Heading up from Placa Catalunya, a couple of stops on the metro or a stroll past Gaudi’s buildings on Passeig de Gracia you’ll reach the enchanting neighborhood of Gracia. This area is full of nice restaurants and bars and quite a few of them have a Cuban theme. Let’s start of with Raïm. This is one of my favorite bars and it’s perfect if you’re looking for a lively place full of atmosphere. The bar used to be an old catalan wine bar, and the name actually means “grape” in catalan. Other than the name and the dusty wine barrels in the corners, everything about the bar is undoubtedly Cuban. The decoration consists of old photographs of Cuban artists and revolutionaries, the music is salsa, rumba and son, and the drink consists of… rum! Even though the beer is quite cheap you should definitely go for a mojito or a cuba libre made with something out of the bars big rum-collection, (try flor de caña). The bar can be really busy on weekends and both locals and not so locals crowd around the bar, however, there is always space for some spontaneous salsa-dancing on the crowded floor. Raïm is also the hang out spot for lots of the local rumba-musicians and if you’re lucky you’ll get caught up in the middle of an improvised concert.
Just a block away from Raïm, you´ll find another Cuban bar. Its called Elsa, named after its landlady. The bar is less known than Raïm but on weekends it will fill up with the usual crowd of Elsa-regulars. The owner of the bar claims she is a famous Cuban bolero-singer and if she is in a good mood she’ll demand everyone’s complete attention, and burst out singing “Guantanamera” or some other classic.
At 2.30am things start to quiet down in Gracia, so if you still haven’t had enough of mojitos, you can always go a few blocks down to the latin night club Mojito and dance salsa until dawn.
Emmy Lindstam, from Sweden, afternoon receptionist
Raïm Bar: Progrés 48
Elsa Bar: Torrent De L'Olla 78
Club Mojito: Carrer Rosellón, 217
© Barcelona Sound Hostel is part of BeHostels.com
Mark, USA
The Sound hostel was a very nice hostel located in a great area almost 1 minute from Para.llel metro station. They have a community kitchen, lounge with three internet computers, wifi, a large TV. The rooms had security lockers with a nice key card system that keeps your belongings safe. [ + ]
26-06-2010Lucas, Australia
Nice hostel, stayed there for 3 nights. Close walking distance to La Rambla. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Thanks for a great stay! [ + ]