Archive for January, 2012

“Calçots” time in Barcelona!

Published: January 30, 2012Posted in: UncategorizedTags: , , , , ,

Calçots

Calçots

The word “Calçots” refers to a typology of sweet onion typical in certain areas of Catalonia. Traditionally, they are supposed to be cooked with a grill. A complete “calçots” meal includes a special sauce that will provide the “calçots” with a delicious taste.

 

It depends on every person’s appetite but normally, one can eat between six and twelve “calçots” per meal. This kind of food joins families and friends around the table, while sharing a very popular tradition followed around the Catalan locations.

The “calçots” tradition was born in Valls at the end of the XIX century. This is why currently, this city celebrates every year the “Gran Festa de la Calçotada”, an entire event devoted to this food.

Although it is a genuine countryside meal, nowadays we can enjoy this gastronomic treasure almost everywhere in Catalonia. Also in Barcelona there are plenty of restaurants offering special menus and dishes with the “calçots” as the main character. One of them is the “Restaurante Castro”, placed in the Casanova Street, 85.

We recommend you to try these excellent vegetables during your stay in Barcelona. For your accommodation, we strongly suggest you to check our range of luxury apartments placed in the centre of the city (Les Rambles, Passeig de Gràcia, etc) or by the beach. All of them are luxury short term rentals with kitchen, perfect in case you decide to prepare the “Calçots” by yourself.  

The Santceloni restaurant. Luxurious cuisine in Madrid

Published: January 27, 2012Posted in: UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , ,

It was born in 2001, with a young team coming from the Catalan restaurant “Can Fabes”, the first one in Catalonia to win a Michelin star, managed by the internationally known cooker Santi Santamaria.

The cuisine of the Santceloni restaurant is a mix of the different tastes and traditions around the Spanish territories. The best of each one becomes a delicious character within this gastronomic masterpiece.

Santceloni Restaurant Madrid

Santceloni Restaurant Madrid

The Santceloni Madrid’s restaurant is placed in the basement of a hotel, in the “Paseo de la Castellana, 57”. The space owns a very strong personality, which combines luxury with a modern simplicity. Silver dishes, Baccart crystal for the water… this way, one can feel the exclusivity not only through the menu, but through the whole atmosphere.

The place has also a private room with capacity for among 6 and up to 20 people. If you are looking for the best place to celebrate a special occasion in Madrid, this could be a very good option!

Otherwise, you can also organize important meals and events in a luxury holiday apartment in Madrid. You will have the privacy 100% guaranteed, freedom, flexibility and comfort, without need to move from your accommodation to the restaurant!

The Brandery Winter Edition in Barcelona

Published: January 25, 2012Posted in: UncategorizedTags:

The next 27th, 28th and 29th of January, you will have the opportunity to discover the Brandery world in Barcelona. It is considered the festival of urban fashion and it has a very tight program already waiting for you.

 

Among their content, you will find conferences and speeches about fashion, presentations of new trends, brands and music. Actually, the existing categories are: Laundry (containing talks by professionals, coolhunters, etc.); Brandtown (the space for the fashion brands participating in the event, which will transmit their particular brand culture to the visitors); Catwalks; Live Concerts; and Workshops.

The Brandery Winter Edition

The Brandery Winter Edition

The huge amount of activities requires the program to have several simultaneously events, so the visitors will need to choose where they prefer to go, with no time for boring!

Fortunately, you will have more than enough time to attend as many activities as you wish. All along the three days the Brandery will long, you will have the opportunity to learn, interchange opinions and trends and enjoy discovering new brands or listening to the most modern music bands.

The Brandery Winter Edition

The Brandery Winter Edition

 The schedule of the festival is expected to be from 10h to 18h, except the last day, which will end at 17h. The access price for a single day is 30€ and for the three days, 50€.

We strongly recommend you to move to Barcelona and take part of this festival, especially if you love the fashion world. In that case, you will also appreciate staying in a luxury touristic apartment, like the ones in our Rent Top Apartment range. This kind of accommodation gives you plenty of freedom and intimacy at the same time: no schedules, no control… Just glamour in the coolest city of Europe!

ASVOFF Barcelona

Published: January 23, 2012Posted in: UncategorizedTags: , , , , ,

This week Barcelona will hold the ASVOFF event, a cinema and fashion festival that will take place from the 24th to the 27th of January 2012 in the CaixaForum (Avinguda Ferrer i Guàrdia, 6-8).

All along these four days, there will be time for documentaries, short movies, films made by students, etc. Besides the projections, the festival will give, up to 7 awards focused on both the cinema art and the fashion art in the movies.

Moreover, ASVOFF also counts with the participation of workshops and speeches by important personalities within the artistic world, such as Glenn Adamson, director of investigation in the Victoria&Albert Museum of London.

The category of films shot with mobile, shows the introduction of a new cinema and a new way of understanding the motion pictures, born with the digital era.

If you fancy attending this fascinating festival in Barcelona, take a look to our accommodation offer. Our top rent apartments in Barcelona will help you spend a week surrounded by fashion, art and luxury, as all our top rentals in Barcelona are exclusive apartments, full of glamour.

Asvoff Barcelona

Asvoff Barcelona

Takashi Ochiai: Japanese cakes in Barcelona

Published: January 22, 2012Posted in: UncategorizedTags: , , , , , ,

Today, we want to introduce you a very special shop. It is a mix between a bakery and a coffee shop, where one can find exclusive deserts from Japan. Its owner, Takashi Ochiai, combines his talent making Japanese delicatessen, with a cafeteria service adapted to the Catalan traditional taste: This way, Japan and Catalonia find each other in a place that invites you to experiment and discover. We really recommend you to try the Takashi Ochiai products either taking a coffee in its shops, buying some delicious cakes, or buying some Japanese deserts.

Takashi Ochiai

Takashi Ochiai

But in this article, we want to focus on the Japanese deserts, as they have been the stars of the popularity of this brand:

One of them is the “Daifuku”. They are rice’s flour pastries with soy inside.

If you have in mind the famous “Doraemon” cakes, better ask for “Dorayaki”. They are biscuit pastries also filled with soy.

Dorayaki

Dorayaki

An original cake is the “Fumanju”. It is a rice flour cake with yomogui and azuki, and a very curious presentation. Find it out for yourself!

“Misumanju” is the name of a desert with the appearance of a ball, made by agar agar and water, combined with either green tea or gooseberry.

If you fancy a desert with tea but prefer another texture, we suggest you to try the “Kastera de té verde”, a green coloured desert with the texture of a piece of cake.

Another suggestion to try a genuine Japanese desert is the “Oyatsu de Sakura”, a pastry with Sakura flower, so typical from the Japanese landscape and traditions. It just brings to your palate, the beauty and fragrance of the spring in Japan.

The list of products is huge and the best way to discover all of them is by visiting the Takashi Ochiai shop in the Compte Urgell, 110 of Barcelona. You can ask for a special pack to bring to your apartment and surprise your mates with an original desert for your dinner.

Besides, you have to know that Takashi Ochiai works as well as a provider for most of the best Japanese restaurants of the city, which offer Ochiai’s products in their deserts menu.

And to match with these exclusive products we want to suggest you the most comfortable and luxury apartments in Barcelona. Our Rent Top Apartment flats to rent are placed in the centre (Les Rambles, Passeig de Gràcies, El Born) or by the sea, perfect for a summer getaway. You will love the stylish decoration and the lovely details in every single corner!

 

080 Barcelona

Published: January 19, 2012Posted in: UncategorizedTags: , , , , ,

Three numbers represent the new trends in the fashion world in Barcelona. The 080 has been consolidated through the last editions as one of the greatest fashion festival of the city, thanks to the quality of its invited artists, catwalks and activities.

This year’s program includes names such as TCN, Alexis Reyna, Brain&Beast, Cela Vela, Der Metropol, Josep Abril, Juan Pedro López, Justicia Ruano, Karlotalaspalas and 13 more. All of them will bring fresh ideas to the market to encourage the evolution of this sector, already well established in Catalonia.

080 Barcelona

080 Barcelona

Simultaneously to the catwalks, the 080 will also organize other activities. Here we mention some of them:

In the 25th of January, it will take place the first 080 T-Shirt contest, with the participation of students and old students from the main design schools of Barcelona. The winner T-shirt will be on sale during the next year’s 080 edition.

During the second day, you will be able to enjoy a makeup workshop (11.15h) and a hairdressing work shop (12.30h).  If you are interested in the makeup one, attend the event in advance to ensure you have place.

In the 28th of January, the 080 will hold a Master Class by Pierre Cardin, considered the most visionary, business-talented and cultural producer of our century.

080 Barcelona

080 Barcelona

If you are interested in attending the 080, send your petition through the official website by clicking here. You still have time, until the 23th of January.

And for a perfect experience in Barcelona, reserve one of our top rent apartments placed in Les Rambles, Passeig de Gràcia or the beach. All the flats included in our range of luxury flats to rent are smartly decorated and have a unique atmosphere that will surely love you.

Barcelona in a EF Language’s spot

Published: January 17, 2012Posted in: UncategorizedTags: , , , , , ,

Today, we want to share with you a very inspiring spot by EF Languages, shot in Barcelona. The video’s purpose is to encourage young people to move to Barcelona and learn Spanish in the EF academy. The images are extremely beautiful and achieve to transmit the essence of the city during a typical summer: Beach, hot weather, Las Ramblas, the night life…

We are talking about a way of life that mixes city and nature, the Mediterranean Sea and the frost of the Collserola Hill, the old and the new brand. Color everywhere, delicious fragrances in the air, fruit, entertainment and knowledge… all together may help you understand why you feel so captivated for this city.

But you need to live it in person to feel it completely. And the perfect way to do it is by trusting our top rentals for holidays. You can share them with friends or family and spend your weeks in Barcelona surrounded by the most comfortable and luxury accommodation. Then, everything will make sense in your dream: learning Spanish, living in Barcelona, staying in a top rent apartment in front of the beach, meeting new people and making friends…

We leave you the spot of EF Languages to help you start feeling the magic of Barcelona. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Renting a suite in Madrid

Published: January 16, 2012Posted in: UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , ,

 In our last article we talked about the top four necessary articles you should include in your luggage when travelling to Barcelona. One of them was a smart dress or suite, in order to attend exclusive parties or events in the city. Today, we are going to give you some alternatives in case you travel to Madrid and you don’t want to carry your best dresses with you. Instead, you can rent the clothes in Madrid itself and forget worrying about possible troubles during the journey.

 For this purpose, here you have some companies you may like to know, to reserve your best parties’ clothing:

One of them is Trajes Guzmán. You will find three shops placed in Madrid, in the Serrano Street, 2; Juan Bravo Street, 65; and Alberto Aguilera Street, 16. There, you will be able to choose among different kinds of suite to match with all kinds of exclusive events. You have to be aware that this company works only with men’s clothes.

Trajes Guzmán

Trajes Guzmán

Another company specialized in men’s clothes is Trajes Madrid. They have a range of different complements, shirts, trousers and more, as well as a special category just for kids. You will find this company in Francisca Morena Street, 2.

Trajes Madrid

Trajes Madrid

To find women’s clothes to rent, we recommend you to take a look to 24Fab. Besides being a shop, you can rent a dress and have it at your disposal for five days. Moreover, if your plan is cancelled, 24Fab will give you a voucher to use the service later, without a date of caducity. You can make your reservation by phone, email or going in person to the shop, placed in the Claudio Coello Street, 12.   

24fab

24fab

Finally, another option is Menkes. This company not only offers suites and celebration’s clothes, but also specific theatre and dance customs. Among the available typologies for you to rent, there are females’ dresses, jackets, suites, tails, etc. There are Menkes shops in many cities of Spain, as well as Paris and New York. In Madrid, you will find them in Pedro Díez Avenue, 21; Juan de Olias Street, 21; and Mesoneros Romanos Street, 14.

Menkes Madrid

Menkes Madrid

After choosing your dress, you will only need to wait and relax in your luxury top rent apartment in Madrid, until the event starts.

Things you can’t forget in your luggage

Published: January 14, 2012Posted in: UncategorizedTags: , , , , ,

Some people find themselves involved into a strange fight while doing their luggage to travel. They want to include lots of things but sometimes, the truth is that most of them are not necessary, while others that we have left at home, would be appreciated in specific situations.

This is why we want to give you a few advices to help you prepare your holidays in Barcelona:

1)     If you travel in summer, you definitely have to include your swimsuit and a towel. All our Barcelona’s luxury apartments have at their disposal a swimming pool, perfect to refresh and have a private relaxing time. Moreover, we can’t forget the Barcelona’s beach all along the coast, where you will surely spend a lot of time laying in the sun!

 

Barcelona's apartment with swimming pool

Barcelona's apartment with swimming pool

2)     Barcelona is a city full of colours and urban art. The architecture is simply outstanding and the monuments deserve to be kept in the best photographs and videos. Therefore, we recommend you to come provided with a good camera and video camera, to compose later, a lovely graphic souvenir.

3)     If you want to cook in your holiday apartment in Barcelona, you have to be aware of the possibilities of the city in terms of food. Some specific ingredients of your country could not be found in Barcelona, so if you have in mind cooking a certain recipe, make sure you keep with you the proper ingredients.

4)     Barcelona becomes magic during the night. The possibilities grow while you discover clubs, bars, discos or theatres. Some of them hold high class events where the guests are required to wear smart clothes. So our last recommendation is to bring with you, your best nigh dress or suit, shoes, complements, etc.

 

Night dress in Barcelona

Night dress in Barcelona

 

Finding Italian Food Shops in Barcelona

Published: January 12, 2012Posted in: UncategorizedTags: , , , , ,

Staying some days in Barcelona in your own holiday apartment lets gives you an ocean of possibilities regarding the food. You can choose between going out every night and discovering new restaurants, or staying at your luxury short term apartment in Barcelona and cook something comfortably for you and your companions. Obviously, this last option is the most flexible and adaptable one, as far as you have at your disposal, the ingredients you wish.
 
If you are Italian and need specific Italian products to prepare your meals in Barcelona, we recommend you to visit some of these shops where possibly you will find what you have in mind:
 
One of them is “El Colmadito italiano” (Carrer de Pau Claris, 110). In the lovely district of l’Eixample, this shop offers all kind of wines, liquors and other alcohol drinks, it also has food among their importation products.

El Colmadito Italiano

El Colmadito Italiano

 
 Another shop of this kind is “Da Giorgio” (Avinguda de Sarrià, 67). They have been more than 30 years selling Italian products. In their shops, one can find truly delicatessen, as well as Italian pasta, sauces, snacks, etc.

Da Giorgio

Da Giorgio

 
The third one is in l’Eixample again. Its name is “La Castafiore” and it is considered a good place to get Italian food for an affordable price without neglecting neither the quality nor the customer attention.

La Castafiore

La Castafiore

 
The list of Italian shops in Barcelona is longer but in all the cases, you will find delicious ingredients, able to turn your meals in your Barcelona holiday apartment, into real special tasty celebrations.

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