Barcelona Travel Guide by Hostal Residencia Australia

The Labyrinth of Horta

Our barcelona hostel tip of the day is to visit the romantic gardens and labyrinth of Horta. Prices adults: 1,90o. Children under 6 free Opening hours: From 10.am until sunset XVIII century construction Architect: Doménico Bagutti

How to get there: Line 111, the green line, exit at Mundet Have fun.

The Labyrinth represents a journey to our own center and back again out into the world. Labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools.

This is cool tip and it is a good opportunity to get a nice view of the city as it is located in the top part of the city next to the mountain of Tibidado.

Barcelona starting the day

Barcelona Hostal Residencia Australia things to do

I feel fortunate to be able to have a cofeee o the beach everymoring before work.

It is hard to believe that just 50 meters away you have the city with almost 2 million people starting their day also.

Why don´t they come down and say hello to the mediterranean ?

Look at a stone and feel the past

La Rambla del Borne.

This rambla can be considered the heart of the bohemian district of “el
Borne”, next to the main ramblas, full of nice bars and cafes to enjoy the
Barcelona night.

You would never guess that this rambla was before the grounds for medieval
tournaments. At certain times of the year they would decorate this rambla
with flowers and flags with the nobel´s emblems , build wooden seating
arrangements so that the town´s folk could attend in mass numbers to witness
the brave combats.

The Montcada family was known for the bravery of their Knights, ( the
museum Picasso is located on the street named after this family) who also
fought along side Roger de Lauria in the crusades of the Holy Land.

Where does the Camino de Santiago start in Barcelona?

Barcelona Travel Guide, Where does the Camino de Santiago start in
Barcelona?. The Church of Sant Jaume.

Located on calle Ferrán, ( Rambla´s area), opposite the old jewish
quarters. During the medieval times it was a meeting point for converted
jews, a church that the rest of christians tried to avoid.

Once inside the church check out the altar , a reproduction of the Pilgrim
of Santiago with the shell and walking stick. The church is considered the
starting point in Barcelona for the Camino de Santiago.

UPdate on concurso

I am receiving excellent replies.

We have decided  to add new questions every 15 days for new comers. No one has answered incorrectly yet,

Do not worry all questions  will  be very easy

Estoy recibiendo unas respuestas excelentes al concurso de las cuales me siento muy orgulloso. Con el fin de mantener una fluidez en el concurso y en su objetivo cada 15 años iremos renovando las preguntas .

Gracias a todos.

The questions, Las preguntas. The quiz, El concurso

The first stage , the questions

If you get these right you will be able to move on to section 2 of the contest. The collage
Please send the replies to info@residenciaustralia.com

In what year ( approximately )were the walls of the city of Barcelona torn
down coinciding with a general strike and the death of of 6400 people from
cholera ?

What was the approximate population of Barcelona in 1920 and in 1492?

In what year was the inquisition abolished in Spain ?

In what palace was Columbus received by the kings of Spain in Barcelona?

In what year did the construction of the barrio de la Barceloneta of Barcelona start ?

Who was Tete Montoliu and what big band did he record with in Barcelona?
The collage

La primera fase. Las preguntas

Porfavor envien la respuesta a estas preguntas a: info@residenciaustralia.com

Si aciertan podrán pasar a la segunda fase del concurso.

¿En qué año, aproximadamente, fueron derruidas las murallas de la Cuidad de Barcelona , coiniciendo con una huelga general y con la muerte de 6400 personas por cólera?

¿Cuál era la población aproximada de la Cuidad de Barcelona en 1920 y en 1492?

¿En qué año se abolió la Inquisición en España?

¿En qué palacio de Barcelona fue recibido Colón por los Reyes ?

¿En qué año comenzó la construcción del barrio de la Barceloneta?

¿Quién fue Tete Montoliu y con qué big band grababa en Barcelona?

Gane un viaje gratis a Barcelona

Hostal Residencia Australia y  Barcelona Music celebran el último  trabajo discográfico  de Thomas Lorenzo Spanish Breeze.

Con la colaboración de:
Bruce Sugar: Productor de Ringo Star  y “Grammy award nominee “.
Alphonso Johnson: Bajo eléctrico y contrabajo , “Grammy award nominee”.
Walfredo Reyes: Bateria ( Santana)
David Garfield:  Piano( George Benson )

El concurso comienza el  15 de Febrero.

El ganador será anunciado el día 23 de Julio

El premio consta de un viaje gratis a Barcelona  para dos personas  en Octubre 2010 desde cualquier país de la unión europea cubriendo solo el coste del vuelo  de ida y vuelta en low cost  a Barcelona , desde un solo punto de origen, y el alojamiento en en Hostal Residencia Australia. No se cubrirá ningún otro gasto.( Respecto al punto de origen , las dos personas partirán desde el mismo punto y regresaran al mismo punto de origen

El concurso se divide en  dos partes:

La primera parte consta de una serie de preguntas culturales sobre Barcelona.

Si aciertan pasan a la segunda parte. El concursante entonces recibirá varios ficheros mp3 de segmentos de 30 s del ultimo trabajo discográfico de Thomas Lorenzo.

El concursante seleccionará  uno de estos segmentos y realizará un collage o simliar que refleje la sensacion que produce el segmento seleccionado.

Por favor les invitamos a ser creativos

Nos han de conceder permiso para mostrar este arte en nuestra web.

El ultimo día para presentar el collage es el día 1 de Junio.

Un equipo de 4 personas formadas por representantes culturales catalanes seleccionar´50 finalistas.

Colgaremos  los collages de los finalistas en nuestra web.

Cada concursante podrá emitir un voto por correo electrónico.

El collage que consiga el máximo numero de votos ganara

El ganador será anunciado el día 23 de Julio

Toda información que compartan con nosotros será tratada en función de la legislación vigente y bajo ningún concepto compartiremos sus datos con nadie.

Como participar :

Para apuntarse envíenos las repuestaslas preguntas que pondremos en nuestro blog : http://www.residenciaustralia.com/blog por email.

Pueden seguir el concurso en face book

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Barcelona-Spain/Hostal-Residencia-Australia-Barcelona-Spain/302552708968?ref=ts

Y a través de nuestro blog

http://www.residenciaustralia.com/blog

Gracias

Thomas Lorenzo

Hostal Residencia Australia , time for some food

Residencia Australia wishes you to have a nice lunch today, to savour the typical cuisine of the catalan traditional “mercat”.

We would like to suggest having lunch at the restaurant called Market, Comte Borrell 68.

The menu for lunch is about 10 euros for a three course meal . Choose from three starters and three second courses. You might be able to find a pear and “rocafort ” salad, a turkey chocolate stew, salmon with vegetables etc

Have fun

I forgot , remember lunch time is from 1.30 to 3.30 aprox.

My cat the fat sausage and the lonely traveller

What is hospitality?. What is hospitality? A guest recently stated we were an establishment for the non-anonymous. This is an interesting statement. Since we are very small and there a re few places like ours I must conclude that the majority of travellers like to be anonymous even though every one can see them, hear them and smell them, Big hotels are for the anonymous. I wonder if this is true or deep down every one would like to stay in a place where they feel at home. I have also been pleasantly surprised by a number of very special guests that we have had this week. None of them are famous but each of them is unique and a little gem that helps add a grain of hope to this society. A guest from France that lives in a city that was populated by Spanish republicans and refugees from the Spanish war. These republicans fought later for the French resistance and they were the first troops to liberate Paris at the end of World War two. France does not recognise such but here we have a French citizen that has come to the city to pay tribute to the freedom fighters of her country, This is nice. We also had for a week a very very old lady in her 80 s travelling a lone around the world. When you get to that age and your are fit to enjoy life then the no worries sign pops, stays up and you never see worries where they are not. We must learn form the elderly, true wisdom. She saw my cat and called her fat sausage. True Wisdom. The cats loves this name.

Win a free trip to Barcelona, but you have to be creative

Hostal Residencia Australia and Barcelona Music is teaming up  to celebrate Thomas Lorenzo’s , the international award winning Australian composer, latest CD, Spanish Breeze. Produced by Ringo Star´s producer,Grammy award nominee Bruce Sugar  and featuring  Alphonso Johnson on acoustic  bass( Grammy and Academy award nominee, Weather Report ) Walfredo Reyes  on Drums ( Santana, ) and  David Garfield ( George Benson, Toto)

The contest will be launched on February 15th. The winner will be announced on July 23rd.

The prize will be a free trip for two  to  Barcelona: including airfare and lodging at Hostal Residencia Australia in October 2010.

The contest will consist of  two stages. a cultural stage and a creative stage

Stage 1. Culture

A Barcelona History Trivia Quiz

If you get these right then you will be sent 4 mp3 files (30s segments)  of Thomas Lorenzo’s latest CD , Spanish Breeze.
Stage 2. Be creative

You will select one of the 4 mp3 files.

You will make a collage, a drawing, a painting , a  static visual recreation of what that music means to you. All the art work we receive may be placed on the web and the contestant must grant us license to make that collage of similar public.

The final date for receiving the contestants artwork will be June Ist.

A team of 4 representatives of Catalan Arts will select 50 finalists.

These will be placed on you tube and the one with the highest votes via email, one per contestant,  will win on July 23rd> 

The rules

The prize will be for 2 guests travelling together at the same time. They will stay at Hostal Residencia Australia for  three nights in one of our suites and we will pay the airfare roundtrip but on a  low cost flight from within the U.E.  No other expenses will be covered.

The contest is controlled by Hostal Australia  legal representatives.

All information shared with us will be protected by Spanish legislation. All contestants will be informed of their rights and obligations in relation ton the information we receive.

HOW TO SIGN UP?

1 ) Send us an email with your full name and address.

The quiz will be posted on http://www.residenciaustralia.com on February 15th

2) Become a fan of our face book page to see updates and extra info. This info will also be placed as we go on

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Barcelona-Spain/Hostal-Residencia-Australia-Barcelona-Spain/302552708968?ref=ts

This info will also be placed  on http://www.residenciaustralia.com/blog



Let’s go and be creative..

Regards

Thomas Lorenzo