Welcome Apartments

Five alternative reasons for a visit to Barcelona.

Welcome Apartments 5 alternative reasons for a visit to Barcelona.

Numero Uno

Mullets! An amazing combination of short hair on top and long hair at the back, these hairstyles are populously represented in the European capital of follicular atropcities. Barcelonans commit more hair atrocities per square metre and per annum and per capita, than any other European citizenship.

Numero Dos

Do nothing! Nowhere is the art of doing nothing more truly exploited than in Barcelona, where mañana truly is mañana, where work only begins after a few carajillos (coffee with brandy) and a perusal of the day’s newspapers and only resumes in the afternoon after a three course meal and two hour snooze.

Numero Tres

The Catalan language! You can learn it for free if you enrol on a course at the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall).

Numero Quatro

Go to the beach! Barcelona has miles of golden sand beaches.

Numero Cinco

The Blog apologises. He’s off to the beach.

As always we will be glad to help you with any information about Barcelona and will be happy to fit you and your guests into one of our great Barcelona Hotels/ Accomodations. We will do all to ensure that you have a great stay with Welcome Apartments and a memorable time in Barcelona.

What is Modernism?

More widely known by the term Art Nouveau, in Barcelonese art modernism is intrinsically tied to notions of both Catalanism and spirituality, in Gaudi’s case the Christian faith.

Where as Art Nouveau in its European form, was a purely decorative, aesthetic style, Catalan modernism was a complex movement, imbued with a certain mysticism, and demonstrating a flagrant naturalism in form and design.

Between 1890 and 1915 the Catalan Bourgeoisie, growing rich on a tidal wave of industrial production and keen to maximise its powerful political role within the Spanish state, financed a adventurous plan of urban growth in Barcelona, the product of which was the Eixample (Expansion).

This neigbourhood became the playground for a generation of extraordinarily gifted architects- Lluis Domenech I Muntaner, Josep Puig I Cadafelch, Josep Maria Jujol, Gaudi- who pioneered the Modernista movement.

It is in Example where we find the Hospital de Sant Pau by Domenech I Muntaner, the Casa Amatler by Cadafalch and the Sagrada Familia Cathedral by Gaudi.

For more info about modernism or Barcelona don’t hesitate to contact us at Welcome Apartments, not only do we host you in a great hotel/ hostel style accommodation but we help make your stay in Barcelona a memorable one.

Barcelona Destinations, Cadaques

To the north of Barcelona the Costa Brava is recognized as one of Catalunya’s foremost areas of natural beauty and is also one of Spain’s most popular holiday destinations. Cadaques is perhaps the most charming of its mainy sleepy fishing towns.

In the 1950’s tourism boomed in Cadaques, owing largely to its reputation as a chic hang-out spot for important artists; luminaries such as Dali, Picasso, Matisse, Duchamp, Man Ray, Max Ernst and Andre Derian.

Today the cobbled streets of Cadaques’ old town offer numerous art galleries, boutiques and artisan’s workshops. Indeed for lovers of art, among whose cultured ranks the Blog includes himself, Cadaques is home to Casa Dali, the extravagantly moustachioed genius’s house, which today holds a museum.

Buses for Cadaques can be caught at Plaza Catalunya and the ride costs 18 € (with a discount for students).

In the whitewashed backstreets of Cadaques there are a number of affordable hotels, while in the upper reaches of the town there is a campsite. Bookings should probably be made in advance, especially in summer as the crowds flock to Cadaques.

If the Blog has whetted your appetite for more information about Cadaques or other destinations around Barcelona give us a shout at Welcome Apartments. Welcome apartments hotel/ hostel style accommodations offers a home away from home in convenient locations around Barcelona.

Who the Catalans Are

If Spanglophiles among you find yourself shaking your head and wondering why the lady in the supermarket says ‘adeu’ instead of ‘adios’, why street signs say ‘carrer’ and not ‘calle’, in short why Catalans persist in developing and protecting their minority language, get your heads round this- back in those medieval old times when Barcelonese merchants dominated the trade routes of the Mediterranean, Catalan was one of Europe’s most important tongues.

Following the alliance of the Aragonese and the Catalan ducal families in the 12th Century, the Catalan lingus spread far and wide- to the Balearic Islands, to Sardinia, to the coast of mainland Italy and even as far as Athens, when Catalan mercenariy troops known as algomavers stopped on their way to the holy wars in Byzantium and settled there for half a century.

Now for the difficult bit. Catalan is an East Iberian branch of the Ibero-Roman branch of the Gallo-Iberian branch of the Western sub complex. Which is basically an irritating way of saying that Catalan historically is an Indo-European language with a small dash of Celtic and a big splash of Latin.

At the last count over 10 million speakers of the language were counted worldwide, in areas such as Andorra, Catalunya, the Baleraic Islands, Valencia and Murcia (Spain), Alghero (Sardinia) and Rousillon (France). It is modern-day Spain’s second official language.

3GSM 2007 in Barcelona

After the enormous success of the first annual Worldwide 3GSM Congress in Barcelona word is the organizers have decided to hold it here all over again. Between the 12th and the 17th of February 3GSM 2007 will hit Barcelona, giving further credence to the city’s burgeoning reputation for Trade Fairs, Conferences and Exhibitions.

If you need further information about the Trade Fair or about Barcelona don’t hesitate to get in touch.

If you need a place to stay Welcome Apartments offers a personal kind of barcelona accommodation/hotel service with a range of apartments available all over the centre of the city, including near the Trade Fair Centre.

All our apartments are close to rail and metro links. Each apartment has its own kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and lounges with television, air-conditioning and all mod-cons. It’s a home away from home.