Barcelona city hall bans badges that portray city’s seedier side | World news | The Guardian

The badges they don't want you to buy

The souvenirs on offer in Barcelona’s gift shops range from tasteful reminders of local artists and architects such as Picasso, Gaudí or Miró to tacky, wide-brimmed Mexican sombreros and posters of footballers such as Lionel Messi.

But the latest souvenir is a set of lapel badges and fridge magnets deemed so subversive by the city hall that they have been banned from municipal museum shops.

The badges depict local scenes that are familiar to both city residents and visitors. They show bag-snatchers, prostitutes, street alcohol vendors and, in a reference to the brutality with which recent demonstrations have been treated, the local riot police.

via Barcelona city hall bans badges that portray city’s seedier side | World news | The Guardian.

Compare and contrast with this item from the City Council website and news feed – City Council launches proceedings against the Museu d’Història’s bookshop for selling badges that promote anti-social behaviour – how shocking!

Strange Random Prohibition Quote:

Why don’t they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on Earth. – Will Rogers

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How to cook perfect patatas bravas | Life and style

Image via Wikipedia

As part of their series on New Europe and in particular, Spanish Life and Culture, this article analyses the iconic dish of patatas bravas, in the search for the perfect recipe. Try them at home or make your own variety!

I’ve never really got patatas bravas. Spuds in tomato sauce will never set my world on fire like crisp calamares fritos, or delicious morsels of morcilla, yet they’re as inevitable an order in tapas bars as egg fried rice in a Chinese; just when you think you’ve got away with it, someone in the party always chips in – if you’ll pardon the pun. Upon cross-examination, the guilty party will cite the superlative bravas they once enjoyed in a particular little bar in Logrono, or the incredibly clever interpretation of the dish in some Michelin-starred restaurant in Barcelona, blithely ignoring the fact that we’re about 900 miles from either of those places on this particular evening.

via How to cook perfect patatas bravas | Life and style | The Guardian.

Strange Random Cooking Quote:

Give a man a fish and he has food for a day; teach him how to fish and you can get rid of him of the entire weekend. – Zenna Schaffer

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Vayable – get the local travel experience (or offer your own)

Vayable.com is a new site (in beta, of course, aren’t they always?) that offers unique travel experiences in many countries, whether artistic, adventurous, rural, or for social good. So for example you can go walking or biking with a native guide in Paris, New Orleans or Cologne, see gorillas in Uganda, go fishing with the Tui Laucala (the King of Laucala district) in Fiji or for the ultimate pampering experience (IMHO), you can have a professional photoshoot (3-4 hours) in “Paradise”, also known as the north shore of Kauai. No money? No problem – why not offer a personalized tour of your own city for a modest price?

Anyone for a skiing tour of Barcelona? Only €100 …

Strange Random Tourism Quote:

I would like to spend my whole life traveling, if I could borrow another life to spend at home.- William Hazlitt (1778-1830) British essayist.

 

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Bad times for frogs in Barcelona

Image by Istvan via Flickr

From yesterday’s La Vanguardia, an article about the problems facing the pond maintenance crew at the Mossèn Jacint Verdaguer Gardens.

El mantenimiento de los estanques de los jardines de Mossèn Jacint Verdaguer obliga a rescatar los anfibios antes de vaciarlos.

via Salvar las ranas de Montjuïc.

Literal translation: The maintenance of the ponds in Mossèn Jacint Verdaguer Gardens makes it necessary to rescue the amphibians before emptying them.

No comment. Bad times for frogs, indeed.

Strange Random Frog Quote:

“Never try to catch two frogs with one hand” – Chinese Proverb

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BBC – Travel – Barcelona

Image via Wikipedia

Explore at Lonely Planet.

Barcelona is Spain`s most cosmopolitan city and one of the Med`s busiest ports. With its panoply of art, architecture, music venues, festivals, nightlife, sports and museums, it is a must-see city.

via BBC – Travel – Barcelona.

Yes, we know that you know this already, but it’s a good opportunity to see what others are saying about our dear old city … The BBC travel site recently spent a week talking about Barcelona, including articles like A Perfect Day in Barcelona, The Surreal World of Art and The Ban on Bullfighting. Compare and contrast, or learn and wonder …

Strange Random Barcelona Quote:

I’d love to be popular in Barcelona. That sounds like a fun job.  – Bobby Heenan

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