It seems that we are having the last warm days before winter, so today could be a perfect day to visit El Puerto de Santa María and Cádiz, and to enjoy a beautiful boat trip between the cities.

Cádiz Bay lives very close to the sea and works as a guiding thread, essential to understand people and towns of the Europe’s south peak.

So what’s our plan to enjoy this sun and the beautiful Cadiz’s Coast?

Take the “Catamarán” from El Puerto de Santa María to Cádiz!
This is a perfect alternative to taking the bus, same price but much more emotions! You can even take your bike in the boat. Go to El Puerto’s harbor and enjoy crossing the bay. In less than half an hour you will be in Cádiz, where you can walk for hours enjoying every tiny street, full of history, smells and tradition. Cádiz needs a post on its own, because it is an amazing town…

So take the most of the last sunny days and enjoy!!

We’re talking about the Bayona’s much-anticipated film ‘The Impossible’.  It was released a few weeks ago in spanish cinemas after wide acclaim at Toronto, San Sebastian and Sitges.

The results in the box office couldn’t be better.  In the first four days the movie just smashed all records by drawing 1.4 million admissions on just 633 screens in only four days. In the spanish market that means the greatest opening in history.

The main starring cast of the movie is Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. Based on a true story, the movie deals with the experiences of a British family holidaying in Thailand for Christmas where they are caught up in the aftermath of the devastating tsunami of 26th December 2004. The film has met with almost universal critical acclaim, while in terms of box office appeal in Spain it has already supplanted The Da Vinci Code and Pirates of the Caribbean as the biggest box office opening weekend with sales around $13.3 million for the opening four days.

Also most national and international reviews support Bayona’s movie. In words of ‘The Hollywood Reporter’: As intensely concentrated as its title, The Impossible is one of the most emotionally realistic disaster movies in recent memory.

We couldn’t wait to enjoy this movie phenomenon in Spain, and went to the cinema too. We felt terrified, thrilled and touched by this epic story of survival.

The best: that it is a true story.

The worst: Nothing. Just the pressure in the chest that comes during almost the whole movie. Thrilling.

The movie also opens in the USA, but on 21st December

Today is raining as hell in Barcelona, so we want to suggest a possible option during the weekend. And you can have fun and satisfy your curiosity visiting the MiBa MUSEUM, the innovation and ideas museum of Barcelona.

The miba has three sections: Limitless Society, Reflectionarium, Corner of the Absurd (we definetely love the third one), and have an admission price of 7 € (cheaper if you’re younger than 12 ). There is also a children area in the MiBa with a little inventors contest – which is a great way to stimulate their creativity. And don’t forget to get pictures and buy original stuff in the museum shop, you can find really cool souvenirs.

So avoid rain and boredom and get inspired!!

You can find other places to go when it’s raining in Spain here.

Now, directly from Spain comes likely the most surreal and risky interpretation of the story in the film: ‘Blancanieves’. We love the synopsis from the film’s website:

BLANCANIEVES is a gothic melodrama inspired by the Brothers´ Grimm tale. Once upon a time there was a little girl who had never met her mother, and she grew up being hated by her evil stepmother. She learned her father’s art, a famous bullfighter, and one day she ran away to become a legend. Set in 1920s south of Spain, BLANCANIEVES is a tribute to silent films.

We have to admit that we LOVED the movie. We felt touched and fascinated with this free version of the story. For us, the main factors of this success are the following:

1) The wonderful Maribel Verdú (Y Tu Mama También, Pan’s Labyrinth) as the evil stepmother. Great Performance.

2) The beautiful Macarena García, the most beautiful Snow White ever performed. We fell in love with her eyes and sweetness. She also won the Golden Shell at the 60th San Sebastian Film Festival.

3) The striking images of bullfighting and flamenco in early 20th century Andalusia. People may think it is kind of a cliché (and it is) but it matches perfectly, and we surprisingly loved it!  Satire is an inevitable characteristic of the silent movie medium.

4) The Flamenco Soundtrack. Calm, strong, nice and beautiful. – Black and White & silent aesthetic. It is going to bring comparisons to The Artist (that is not necessarily a bad thing) but this one evokes the German expressionism. The director, Berger, said: “When I heard, about a week before the start of filming, that a film called The Artist was a success at the Cannes film festival, it was a blow.”

5) The critic success  in Toronto’s and San Sebastian Festival. Also, it has been selected as the  Spain’s contenders for the Best Foreign Language Film at next year’s Academy Awards.

If you have the opportunity to watch it, believe us, it is well worth giving a chance.

The park also offers spectacular natural landscapes, upon which elephants, hippos, ostriches, camels, tigers, zebras, giraffes and other species live in a semi-wild state. Spaces has been created so that the animals can live in the conditions that are as similar as possible to their original habitats.

We love this one: Camels – old church in ruins. We don’t know if it’s natural wild habitats for camels, but sure we love the combination!

Cabárcenos is home to the largest reserve of brown bears in Europe, with around 70 living in the park!. Also, there is a herd of 15 African elephants, many of which were born here, and thats make up one of the largest populations of this species in the world outside Africa.

We cannot forget speaking about gorillas, the park’s most popular residents. Their enclosure is the largest of its kind in Spain, and features a 800 m2 home complete with large windows so that their daily life can be observed (we’re still little bit afraid of them )

As you can imagine, the park is ideal for a family day out. Perfect formula: wild animals + picnic and recreational areas + lakes + botanical trails + cafés + restaurants + play areas.  And don’t forget to enjoy the exciting daily performances in the seal and sea lion enclosure and the bird of prey flights.

Do you need more? We don’t.

1. We <3 la Gran Vía

This is Madrid’s most famous street, full of people 24/7. Gran Via is a home for Michelin-starred restaurants, cafes, and high-end boutiques. But a stroll down the street also leads past some great examples of classic Spanish architecture, and never forget to raise your eyes to the rooftops: Breathtaking.

2. We <3 el Rastro

El Rastro is another example of Madrid’s quirky local culture. A huge and crowded flea market, it offers great chances for cheap souvenirs (for people who are skilled at bargaining). However, this buzzing market is fun to visit even if you don’t want to make any purchases. It is one of the best places in Madrid for people-watching and mingling with locals. The market is open on Sundays and also on Spanish national holidays. Don’t forget having some Cañas and Tapas with some friends in the nearby Latina.

3. We <3 Going Out

Madrid nightlife is a world reference. It is one of the world’s liveliest cities, a city that never sleeps. It goes on all night until the sun rises, and Madrid clubs and pubs are open all year, all week around. Madrid’s nightlife has something for everybody, whatever your preferences, age or nationality.

4. We <3 Madrid’s Museums

A vitalist like Ernest Hemingway stayed away from museums. He liked to meet the living, not the dead. The Prado was many times an exception to his rule. It wasn’t like other museums. You don’t need to be an art enthusiast to appreciate the sometimes-dark, sometimes-whimsical works of these painting and sculpting masters.

5. We <3 Madrid’s Parks.

You can find a distinctive indoor garden in Atocha Railway Station with 4,000 square meters of tropical plants. Atocha station has become a hothouse destination in itself for plant lovers, with more than 500 species of plant life and ponds with turtle and goldfish in, as well as shops and cafes. It’s a nice place to visit on a cold or wet day with its even temperature of 24 degrees Celsius, or even on a scorching summer day as a retreat from the heat.

And don’t forget the huge Casa de Campo: 1700 hectares of mediterranean forest, built by Felipe II to be his hunting grounds. Nowadays you can find Madrid’s Zoo, Waterpark and Fair, and get there with a nice Cable Car called Teleférico.

6. We <3 getting lost in Madrid’s quarters.

Depending on which barrio one currently is, one will know Madrid from a completely different side as expected. While Malasaña is famous for its sweet hippy scene, Salamanca for being for the rich and famous, Argüelles for its animated university atmosphere and Chueca for the colorful gay scene, La Latina is probably the most charming place to chill out and enjoy a drink in Madrid.

7. We <3 Madrid’s Tapas

Going out for tapas is clearly the madrilenos’ favorite hobby and a major part of their lifestyle. This quirky custom, now part of the rich Spanish culture is enjoyed all over the world, but nowhere better than in Madrid. The secret, however, stands in the habit itself, not in the quantity of the food that comes with the drink. The lovely Mercado de San Miguel or the new Mercado de San Antón are two musts to have some tapas.

We have more than this seven reason, but we hope we have already persuaded you!

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The Donostia prizes in this 60th Edition of the contest come to five world famous movie stars: Oliver Stone, Dustin Hoffman, Ewan McGregor, Tommy Lee Jones and John Travolta. But also will be presented leading movies of the spanish cinema, such as the new movies from directors Pablo Berger, Sergio Castellitos, Fernando Trueba and Eduard Cortés among others.

Also screening out of competition will be McGregor’s latest film “The Impossible”, which we totally want to see. It is a drama based on a true story of a family’s fight to survive during the 2004 tsunami by Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona.

The trailer, which you can see here, let us shocked when we first saw it…

Back to the city itself, if you’re planning to travel to San Sebastián, don’t forget enjoying the restaurant experience of the city, there are more Michelin Stars per capita in San Sebastian than anywhere else in the World and it has been voted as the greatest gastronomic destination in the World. If you are a food lover and a sybarite, visit for example the famous “Restaurante Arzak”, which offers a 180+EUR menu which actually has “eating instructions”!

Well, this is just another excuse to visit our wonderful country! We finish this post with a beautiful picture of the “Playa de la Concha”, the most famous beach of the city and one of the most famous of our country.

Reblogged from saving.for.cuba:

So it’s September. A completely ridiculous time to be pumping out a blog post about a festival held annually in July. But given it’s in Spain, you may need 10 months to save enough money to get there.

La Fiesta de Santa Marta de Ribarteme, or the Festival of Near Death Experiences, makes an absolute mockery of La Tomatina and Running with the Bulls on the scale of crazy experiences and culture. 

Read more… 125 more words

EuroVegas

Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson announced the decision to choose Madrid over Barcelona for the multi-billion dollar gambling resort project “EuroVegas”.

This gambling complex would have 36.000 rooms and is supposed to be Europe’s biggest gambling spot, which obviously is a very interesting proposition. However, the American businessman announced that Las Vegas Sands was only willing to finance 35% of the multibillion-euro resort, and that it would demand certain changes in local planning laws.

We can’t wait for the following films to come as “Fear and loathing in Madrid”, “What happens in Madrid…” or even “Hangover: Madrid Edition”.

But Barcelona also wanted his candy!

Barcelona World

On Friday, the capital of the region of Catalonia unveiled its own plans for a 4.8-billion euro ($6 billion) “Barcelona World” resort situated beside the existing Port Aventura theme park near the Mediterranean Sea.

Barcelona’s plan would include a casino, six large tourist complexes with 20,000 hotel rooms, shopping centers, a theater and offices, all on land with no planning modifications required. But financing for the resort has not been signed yet.

This macro-complex would attract up to 10 million tourists/year, adding this number to the already huge amount of 8 million visitors in Barcelona.

Ferrari Park

Valencia, already famous because of its F1 competition, may be home to a Ferrari Park, similar to Ferrari World Abu Dhabi.

Ferrari World Abu Dahbi is a huge complex, being the World’s largest indoor theme park. And it’s got the fastest rollercoaster, too.

This proyect is still in development phase, as Paju, a city in South Corea, seems to be a serious competitor. We will keep you informed about the decision.

Would you visit one of this macro-proyects? Answer in our comments!

That reminds us of Planet 51, another spanish animation movie with international aspirations.

This is, in our opinion, a sign of the good health of spanish animation studios, beside the already famous almodovar-like spanish cinema.

More information here (spanish)

Have you watched it? did you like it? leave your opinion at the comments!