Sant Felip Neri

Sant Felip Neri is one of our best kept secrets, although it is increasingly visited by tourists, that are usually surprised when they find this little oasis in the middle of the Old Town.
Sant Felip Neri is one of those places where you can actually breathe the history of Barcelona. The baroque church, the Renaissance house...and the shrapnel marks on the facade of the church.
Do not be fooled: these are not the testimony of executions of priests during the Civil War, as some have tried to make us believe. These scars were caused by the bombs that Franco's National Aviation, with the help of the Italian fascist army launched over Barcelona 75 years ago now. The bombing, which was done in two shifts with the intention of making it more deadly, was one of the first to be made ​​over the civilian population instead of attacking military targets, and caused hundreds of deaths throughout Barcelona. Only in Sant Felip Neri 42 people were killed, many of whom were children who were trying to shelter from the bombing in the basement of the church.
All buildings in the area were destroyed, leaving only the facade of the church standing, and the area was later rebuilt, creating the little square, adapting two Renaissance facades to create two new entrances, bringing parts of buildings that had been sacrificed when the Via Laietana and the Pla de la Catedral was opened.
It is very important that the Sant Felip Neri remains as the oasis it is now, as it also is that we do not forget our history and pay respect to the victims by explaining the true facts of what happened here.

Encants Vells market

It had been a while since I had last been around the market of Fira de Bellcaire, also known as the Encants Vells market, and I have to admit I was surprised by its vitality, especially considering it was a weekday morning. The market was full of visitors, buyers, onlookers and vendors. I have to say, though, that the idea I had in my mind was slightly more romantic than  what I found there.
Anyway, the point is that the market of Encants Vells is still as alive as ever, and the idea is to continue this way when the new Encants Nous is open during this year. This new market will have doubled the area of ​​the fair and will facilitate the access to traders and visitors, and the loading and unloading of goods.
Anyway, the Fira de Bellcaire, which is held since the fourteenth century, is one of the oldest markets in Europe, so there are few things that can be considered more "Barcelonian". 
And by the way...who does not have or had any object from Encants Vells? I remember I bught a foam mattress a few years ago, and for the record, I still have it. I do not intend to change it: when I have guests who sleep at home on it they tell me that it is extremely comfortable!

Skaters at MACBA

Acording to what I have heard, the ideal city for skateboarders would be one with good weather and long hours of sunshine, compact, with a some slope and many items of urban furniture. Does this description sound familiar?
In this great city for the skaters, the perfect square would be quite broad, in order to move freely in it, but also with slopes, stairs, railings, curbs and benches. Oh, and if it is possible, also with a prominent architectural element to make good pictures!
Clearly, the skaters dreams have come true in the Plaça dels Angels of Barcelona, which is located next to the MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani - Contemporary Art Museum), to the point that it has become a meeting point and a world reference for skating enthusiasts.
Besides the coexistence problems that may have arisen due to the presence of the skaters, they have clearly transformed the square into a unique one, different from the rest, with its own character. And that's the point, right?

Tricky floors in Barcelona buildings

When I pay a visit to someone who tells me he lives on the first floor, I usually walk up the stairs. Sometimes there is no choice, since the building has no lift. But then, often, especially on the floors of the Eixample and Ciutat Vella, this first floor easily ends up turning into a third!
The stairs of the buildings in Barcelona are full of semi-floors, mezzanines and main floors (principals). Moreover, in the past the heights of these floors were greater, so it is not strange that you have to climb considerably to get to that "first floor".
Previously, the most wanted floor was the first one, in order both to avoid the discomfort of the street and to not having to climb too many stairs. Up from this floor you could progressively find the families with more limited purchasing power.
This way, it was most prestigious to live on a first or a second floor than on the fourth floor. Naming the first floors as "mezzanine" and "principal", the third floor suddenly happened to be the first, and so gradually. Thus, all social classes could be at the same time in the same building, the city's social hierarchy was translated to the distribution of families in the buildings.

The dancing egg (L'ou com balla)

The main purpose of ​​this blog, as its name suggests, is to collect some things that are really typical in Barcelona. And the truth is that there must be few traditions that are more typical from Barcelona than l'Ou com balla (The dancing egg), held on the day of Corpus Christi. although it is also celebrated in other catalan cities and villages, this tradition has its origin in the Cathedral of Barcelona, and is known at least since 1673.

The idea of this celebration is to make an egg dance. The egg has previously been emptied, of course, and you can see it dancing in fountains of cloisters, courtyards and gardens that are decorated for the occasion with spring flowers and fruits.

If you have never seen it before, it is worth going to see the dancing egg, which moves playfully over the water. It is a simple but very mysterious ritual at the same time, which rememorates the consecrated host and has also clear references to the fertility of the egg.
The tradition was lost for a while and the city recovered it some years ago, so now you can go see the egg dance in various locations in Ciutat Vella, as the cloister of the Cathedral, la Casa de l'Ardiaca, l'Ateneu Barcelonès, the Archive of the Crown of Aragon or the Museu Frederic Marès.

Sunday afternoon at La Ciutadella

Some people compare the Parc de la Ciutadella to Central Park in New York.
I guess they are not thinking about its surface (Central Park is 20 times larger than the Ciutadella) or its origin, but rather about its role in the city.

After the War of the Spanish Succession of 1714, Philip V had a citadel built on the area that the park occupies now to dominate the city of Barcelona, ​​and incidentally, all of Catalonia. The building, which also forced the destruction of the Ribera district, became a symbol that was hated by the locals, until its demolition was decided in the nineteenth century, leaving only some of the interior buildings. One of them was the arsenal, which now houses the Parliament of Catalonia.

Anyway, what I meant is that the Ciutadella Park is now a meeting place for many locals, that go there for a walk, a picnic or just to spend Sunday afternoons.
And...is there anything better than having a nap on the lawn, with the spring sun heating your body?