Barcelona Apartments - Akaza Holiday Apartments in Barcelona

CosmoCaixa: Science Museum

This amazing museum, which opened in 2005, has been heralded as the finest science museum in Europe. CosmoCaixa Barcelona has an enormous variety of content and an innovative layout, turning it into one of the most modern museums of its kind. The new 50.000 m2 building increases the scientific offer of its predecessor.

The exhibitions are distributed throughout various rooms, including the Amazon Forest, the Geological Wall, Planetarium, etc. Visitors are invited to interact with many of the scientific experiments, making the whole experience richer and more entertaining, particularly for children.

Inside the Amazon rainforest & the Aquarium

Over an area of 1,000 m² a small part of the Amazonian rainforest is recreated here. The larger trees are made of plastic; however this detail goes unnoticed, being combined with small natural plants. All of the animals that you see along the way are authentic. Along with the humidity of the air, which gives an overall impression of 100%, a slightly musty smell and a background noise of birds and running water, it gives you the impression of being in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest. Here, you will find 13 different species of trees, as well as 58 plant and 36 animal species.

On the other side of the museum, it is masterfully shown how we, as human beings, have taken advantage of forms of nature, such as snails and honeycombs. There is also a representation of the origins of the human race. And many other things besides- physics experiments that show the effects of light, the force of gravity etc.

On the upper level of the building you will find the temporary exhibitions. Previous exhibitions have looked at drugs and illustrated their effects upon the psyche, reaction times and the body. Other temporary exhibitions have included the importance of numbers in daily life, illusions of science and an exhibition on Charles Darwin.

On the return walk to the ground floor, you pass by the Planetarium and Toca toca! (Touch touch). The planetarium gives you a virtual tour across the universe, via the creation of the planets, finding ourselves almost in the centre of the Big Bang. Toca toca! allows you to experiment with the environment using all of the senses. There are animals from different habitats, such as water, desert and the forest, and you are also able to touch them. This is the place for those who’ve always wanted to touch a hairy spider, supposedly slippery snakes or tortoises. Both of these attractions are only available at weekends, as during the week only school groups are able to enter.

Barcelona features more than 80 museums. Without doubt there is a lot to see in all of them, but it is hard to find one as entertaining as the CosmoCaixa. In this museum, everybody, young or old can enjoy themselves and learn a lot about Natural Sciences, trying out many things, and even experience tropical rain. CosmoCaixa surprises, not only due to the wealth of information and activities on offer, but also with its affordable prices. Experimenting is not just something for kids to do here, but rather an experience for all of the family. CosmoCaixa has a total area of 30,000 m2, or in other words enough space for exhibitions, a planetarium, a tropical rainforest, conference rooms, a shop, cafe and picnic areas.

• Address: Teodor Roviralta, 47-51
  08022, Barcelona
• How to get there: Bus Lines: 17, 22, 58, 60, 73, 75. Metro & FGC: First go to Diagonal Station (L5), connect with Ferrocarils de la Generalitat to Avinguda del Tibidabo Station, then take the "Tramvía Blau", the Blue Tram.
• Prices: Click the logo to see prices and buy tickets
• Opening hours: Open Tuesday through Sunday, from 10 to 20h. Closed on Mondays (except holidays) and on December 25th and January 1st
• Telephone(s): 902223040
• Nearest landmarks: Tibidabo

Spain storm to victory in the European Championships

 This week, after beating Macedonia to reach the final, Spain conceeded a 98-85 to become Europen champions for the second year running. Carlos Navarro top scored with 27 points, while Memphis Grizzlies star Gasol chipped in with a double-double, adding 17 points and 10 rebounds for Spain. Despite Tony Parker scoring 26 points for France, the Spaniards put up a fight and saw them off in the final quarters. This is the second year running Spain have won the tournament after beating Serbia to reach the final in 2009.

‘La seleccion espanola’ or the Spanish national team is run by the Spanish basketball federation and was formed in 1935. Over the years the teams have enjoyed many successes since then, including second place at the first ever European championships in 1935 and a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. They are currently second in the world FIBA rankings for men and current European champions.

The Spanish national team has been described as one of the best Spanish teams along with the national football team and people gathered in apartments all over Barcelona to watch the game and celebrate the victory. Many of Barcelona’s bars showed the game, as well as the final of tennis’ Davies cup, another face off between France and Spain.

President Zapatero has even congratulated the team on their performance, saying ‘you showed a great example of sportsmanship and your spirit of clean play and not being afraid of any team will remain in Spain for many years’

Both France and Spain have now qualified for the London Olympics next year and both have high medal hopes.

On the 29th of September the multilingual international comedy festival (Festival Internacional de Comedia Barcelona) will hit Barcelona for the fourth time. Still the world’s only multilingual comedy festival will last all the way until the 16th of October. The festival will offer comedy shows in four different languages; English, Castellano, Catala and Dutch.

Past years have shown that the festival is not only about stand-up comedy, but it features the full range of different sides in the art of comedy. Before this year the festival has seen physical comedy, clowns and also shows for kids. To give you a peak of what to expect, check out how the shows looked last year in 2010.

The official programme will be published soon on the website of the festival. You will also find the information about all the different artists who are going to perform. 

One of the main performers of the Barcelona Comedy Festival will be Des Bishop, an Irish comedian. 

The performances will take place in several venues all over Barcelona and prolong the lives of hundreds of people in the audience.

Dear Akaza Blog readers,

This week, as the summer starts showing signs of slowly making way for autumn, it is a good time to share some information about the upcoming concerts in Barcelona. Naturally the music scene of Barcelona is extremely diverse, and therefore you can see pretty much every kind of an artist at any time of the year. Nevertheless, let’s take a look at some gigs that have been selected through a sophisticated screening process (meaning: myself) and revise what is about to go down in this amazing metropolis of ours. 

On the 15^th of December one of the most famous bands of all time, Red Hot Chili Peppers, will be set loose in Palau Sant Jordi –arena in Barcelona. Even though the band has lost such a talent as John Frusciante, it remains to be one of the most exciting rock bands in this hemisphere. They have just released a new album and they can’t wait to introduce it to us. What we shall expect is some virtuous guitar and bass ingeniousness featuring top notch vocals. Who can resist this offer?!

Roxette, which many of you might remember from the days the world used to be a better place, is coming to Barcelona. Be sure not to miss this Swedish invasion of Barcelona on the 19^th of November. Catchy tunes played with raw energy is the main ingredient in this mix.

The Kooks is coming to the famous club Razzmatazz in Barcelona on the 23^rd of October. This British rock band that doesn’t rely on the TOP-40 radio-friendliness will bring us the light from Brighton! This autumn they will release their 3^rd studio album “Junk of heart” and they need you to celebrate the quality of it with them. 

If you are anywhere near Barcelona, or thinking of spending your holiday here in the 2011 autumn, do not allow yourself to forget the musical talent Barcelona has to offer!

When autumn arrives to Barcelona, it brings a unique event with it; the fiesta de la Merce. The festival used to be a religious happening, but nowadays it is a popular fiesta with not much to do with religion. However, the name Merce comes from the patron saint of Barcelona.

If you happen to be in Barcelona during one week in the late September, you definitely shouldn’t miss La Merce. One part of the popularity and tradition is that the festival itself was forbidden in Catalunya during the Franco time.

One part of the festival is the “giants” who walk in and around the city. They are several meters tall figures with large heads. If that is not enough for you, be sure not to miss the castellers, which means people who gather together to build big human towers. That’s right, a tower made of people, many meters tall. Also you can spot dragons and people with firecrackers so don’t forget to be aware of the fire! Although, if you are not afraid, you can join the party.

A more “normal” side of this festival is the various musical performances which will take place on many of the town squares. Finally, to conclude the week there will be a fireworks opera, which means shooting some spectacular rockets to the air while the speakers play different songs to accompany the light show.

Where will all this take place? All over the city. What’s the price? Free. When will it happen? The dates for La Mercé 2011 are Thursday 22^nd September until Sunday 25^th September.

For more information, check out the official website: http://www.bcn.cat/merce/en/index.shtml