Barcelona is the target of tourist from around the globe. In fact, Barcelona has a special flair. But this also goes for the surrounding regions, which are still an insider tip.

Few visitors use the transport system of private bus companies. With them, you can explore the surrounding cities and landscape, such as the Costa Brava that offers beautiful Mediterranean atmosphere. South of Barcelona, the Costa Dorada = the golden coast - offers wonderful golden beaches and historic small cities.

Having an apartment in Barcelona or a hotel in Barcelona let you use train or bus services directly from the Barcelona city center. The cheapest way to do so is by train. For instance, fares are only 4 Euros reaching Sitges, which is an hour and a half. Of course, there are several destinations available as well. Fares are oriented towards the type of train you use.

Exploring Catalonia by bus is very easy. Sagalés is one of the bus companies. One of its destinations is Sabadell, a small city in the catchment area of Barcelona. There are also other numerous destinations. Visitors from Barcelona can easily explore the region, the people and particularly the breathtaking landscape.

Another bus company is Sarfa. With them, it is possible to reach destinations like Roses, Lloret de Mar and Tossa de Mar. Both bus companies use the Estació del Nord, which is located at the city center and can easily be approached by metro using line 1 (Arc de Triomf) and line 2 (Tetuan).

In general, the bus fares are higher than the train fares. Therefore, it is more comfortable to travel by bus. Also, the bus can reach destinations that cannot be reached by train. Tossa de Mar, for example, can be reached better by bus, because Tossa de Mar does not have an own train station. So, the travel method depends on the destination you have chosen. 

At park Güell, you can find numerous impressions, such as stylish stone constructions, lavishly created buildings and ornate pottery artworks. Your holidays in Barcelona should absolutely include a visit in this stylistic park.

At the beginning of the park, there are two lodges with its distinctive gatehouse roofs. After following the huge stairs down to the main terrace, you will find a lot of small artworks, such as the mosaic dragon. Down at the huge plaza, there are usually a lot of musicians and artists, as well as other visitors.

Actually, the park has been planned to be an estate next to the city. Due to financial problems, it was not able to be put into practice. However, only a few houses have been built. Those are the former house of the Güell family (today: a school), Gaudi's house (today: museum) and another house of an other architect.

The plaza at the centre of the park measures 3000 m² with wavy boundaries that can be used as a bench..It is full of little mosaics and small pottery stones. But not only there, the whole park offers a couple of other recognizable artworks.

Arriving with the metro (line 3), you will have to walk about 25 minutes, One part of this way are stairs, which are quite steep. To avoid this, you can also take a bus or a taxi to reach the entrance. More information about the departure times can be found at Barcelona's public transport site or at the Plaza Catalunia. 

Today, Gracia is a cosy part of Barcelona with a lot of restaurants and bars. Additionally, you can find there plenty of Barcelona apartments and Barcelona hotels. But this has not always been the case. In the 16th century, Gracia has been an independent village that was connected to Barcelona through the Passeig de Gracia.

Therefore, the district still has its small-town character. The difference between the planed neighbourhood of Eixample and the small and winding alleys is obvious. There are also small places within these alleys that emphasize the village atmosphere.

Artists and students have been moving to this area during the last couple of years.All of them have a great advantage. They live next to the most beautiful park of the city - the Park Güell by Antoni Gaudi. Reaching this area is easy with the metro line 3. Step out at the Fontana or the Lesseps metro station.

Extensive scouting expiditions is making some people very hungry. Therefore, there are some interesting restaurants nearby. The restaurant Betron is known for its good cuisine, good service and low prices. This place can be found next to the Fontana metro station. For those who are more ambitious, you can visit the Can Xurrades. This restaurant offers traditional Catalan and Spanish cuisine a t its best. It is also known for its hospitality and great variety of wines. You can find this place at the Carrer de Gran Gracia 57.

In conclusion, Gracia is an area that is worth visiting. With the Park Güell, the cosy little alleys and traditional restaurants, this part of town is one of the most beautiful of the city.    

For young people, these are the current music genres of interest and at the same time expression of their lifestyle. It also requires as much talent and discipline as a classical dance show. The Brodas Company took this to heart and created this show that has already been touring around the world.

Because of the huge popularity of hip hop music and dance at the moment, the Teatre Victòria has decided to offer this show to the public of Barcelona. Entry prices vary by 19 to 25 Euros per ticket. Children under the age of 16 will have to pay only 15 Euros in all areas.

Not only the popularity of T V shows and box office hits like "Step Up" have shown that hip hop dance is on everyone's lips. The Brodas Bros dance show will be performed until March 14th, 2010.

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Travellers who are interested in architecture will recognize the appealing charme of the houses across the district. Visitors are not only able to admire this architecture; they are also able to live in one of the numerous hotels in Barcelona, especially in the neighbourhood of Eixample.

The architecture is characterized by its square blocks of houses and bevelled angles that are called "Chaflanes". Also, Eixample is characterized by its modernistic architecture that has been developed in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Eixample's genisis begins with the tear-off of the old city walls. At that time a lot of immigrates came to the city. The government in Madrid and the local government in Barcelona considered it necessary to build a new part of town. Therefore, they assigned the Catalan architect and builder Ilderfons Cerdà.

He wanted to create a part of town, where the people have enough place to live, as well as offering some natural corners, such as little parks. However, the city government rejected this idea. They rather wanted to ensure the building of new apartments. Only little of Cerdà's ideas have been realized.

Nevertheless, the district of Eixample is a beautiful place that offers a unique architecture. The Casa Milà and the Casa Matiló are two artworks created by Antonio Gudi. Both are part of UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage and gems of Barcelona's architecture.

Those who would like to visit the city have the opportunity to live in one of the Barcelona hotels or Barcelona apartments to discover the history of the city, and especially the history of Las Ramblas.

In 1860 the people began to tear down the old city walls because the city was growing rapidly. Before that Las Ramblas was the central street of the historic city. It starts at Plaça Catalunya and leads down to the harbor. The name "Las Ramblas" comes from the Arabic word "ramla", which stands for "sandy ground".

Anything but sandy is the promenade nowadays. The Ramblas consists of five parts that have a different character. Flower sellers, for example can be found in the Rambla de Sant Josep. In the following paragraphs ww will have a closer look at the different parts of the promenade:

The first part is quite next to the Plaça Catalunya. This part is called "Rambla de Canaletes" and is famous for its fountain. People say that everybody who drinks from Font de Canaletes will come back to Barcelona. It is also a popular meeting place for the fans of the FC Barcelona football club.

The Rambla dels Estudios got its name from the numerous university buildings that used to be there long time ago. Today, there is only the Academy of Science at house number 114.

Further down the promenade, we can find the Rambla de Sant Josep. As already mentioned the area is famous for its flower sellers. Therefore, the people from Barcelona call this the Ramblas de les Flors. Also, you can find here the world famous market "Mercat de la Boqueria".

The fourth part is called Ramblas dels Caputxins. There, you can find the Gran Teatre del Liceu, as well as the Cafe de l'Opera.. In addition you can take a look at the huge Plaça Reial just a few meters away from the Ramblas.

The end of the promenade is called Santa Monica, named after the patron saint of the Augustinian order. Also, you can find there the statue of Columbus with can be exhibited. A lift can even lead you at the top of the statue, from where you have a great view over the city. 

Even Tony Hawk, the world famous skate star, has spend some days in Barcelona Hotel the discover the city running on rollers. He must have liked the city so much that he included it in his Video game "Tony hawk Underground 2". For all fans of the virtual skate sport was this a landmark in video game history.

Beside virtual sports, real sports offers even more fun! Especially the skates love the city in Northern Spain. Barcelona offers a lot of opportunities, like public parks and places that are perfect for skating. There are also special skate parks in the city. El Raval and the Plaça de Universitat, next to the Museum of Contemporary Art are such places that are very famous.

 For those of you who do not want to bring their own skateboards and inline skates, there are several opportunities to rent a those sports equipment in shops. Even those of you who have never tried to skate or never dared to - this is your opportunity. One of those shops is called Inercia located not far from the beach. Prices range from 5 Euro per hour, 15 per day or 25 per weekend.

Whether you rent your skates or bring your own, Barcelona will offer you perfect conditions to live your lifestyle. Barcelona does not only offer skating but also a lot of activities and culture.

This celebration orients oneself by the curch calender and is especially know in the gay community. This year the festivities start on 11 February 2010, Thurday before Ash Wednesday. The people from Sitges at the Costa Dorada expect many tourist from around the world, that usually live on one of the Costa Dorada Hotels or Costa Dorada apartments.

The reason for the "Carnival de Sitges" was the midwinter that the Romans had already celebrated many years ago. Between the late 30s and eyrly 80s, the carnival has even been forbidden by the Spanish government. Meanwhile, the festivities have returned to the Costa Dorada without losing its unique allurement.

The solemmities are known for the colourful and fancy costumes. It reminds some people even of the famous Carnival de Rio de Janeiro. The parade usually passes the whole city with its unique congeniality caused by the masks and costumes.

At the beginning, ther is a huge party in the middle of the city to celebrate the arrival of king "Carnestoltes". In addition to that, there is a separate gay carnival that offers special event such as the Tourist Night, Miss Organic, Glamour Night, Carnival Bingo, Cabaret/Roman Circus and the Prizes Night.

The dragqueens, in particular, are the eyecatcher during the celebration. Besides celebrating and disguising oneself, there is also the Spanish cuisine, which attracts a lot of tourists and local citizens. A lot of bars and clubs will be open during the carnival celebartion. Moreover, there will even be laser shows and fireworks.

The carnival de Sitges ends on Ash Wednesday with the historic fight between the king and his queen against the "Ghost of the Lent". Part of that historic ritual is also the transport of the defeated king and his queen to the beach, where they will rise from the dead the next year. In the end, there is the celebration called "El Entierro de Sardina", which symbolizes the end of the "good times". 
 

If you want to visit this exposition you should book your Barcelona hotel soon because a lot of people from all over the world are staying in the city during this period of time. The other thing you should be aware of is to book an accommodation in Barcelona that is near the congress in order to avoid problems with the public traffic. So you can save time. The 3GSM itself is the world´s leading conference in this sector. Last year the fair was visited by more than 47000 visitors. For the next year 1300 companies are coming and presenting the latest innovations for products and technology that will define the mobile future. Beside the normal exhibition there will be an award ceremony that will highlight the most important innovations. The most important leading companies in the mobile industry from 182 countries will be represented.
So it is definitely the place to be in February. It doesn´t matter if you just want to have a look on the latest products on the market or if you take the chance to do one of the best businesses of the year. Just come to Barcelona and take advantage from this exhibition!

The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday and the entrance fee is about 9 €-
But if you are in the city on a first Sunday of the month, you can go in for free.

Adress: Montcada 15-23
08003 Barcelona