Born Centre Cultural

(c) Pep Herrero

It's one of the latest to join the huge number of sights in Barcelona, Born Centre Cultural (Born Culture Center; another one being the new old fleamarket Els Encants Vells). During the first weeks since its opening on September 9, a few hundred thousand locals accepted long waits to be able to visit it.
It's official website is here, the English version has got only one page. The Catalan and Spanish versions give a lot more information on the archeological findings, exhibitions, events, restaurant, bookstore, etc. It's Twitter account (pictures) is here.
The Catalan news agency ACN had this article. Some critics believe it to be a propanda project related to the festivities in memory of the third centenary of the fall of Barcelona in 1714, at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession (1700-1714, Wikipedia article).
The international press has not covered it yet (at least to this blogger's research on google news...). For the (hipster) Born neighborhood consult TimeOut Barcelona here...

(c) Marçal Font

Catalonia: a "human chain for independence"

A presentation of the project from the Wall Street Journal here. Coverage by The New York Times here. More (some might say "biased") information here, an Op-ed in The New York Times by the Catalan president here, coverage of The Guardian here, their special picture page. A comment by Reuters here. Coverage by Press TV here.

Pictures and videos by regional channel TV3 here.

Catalonia: turism promotion via Instagram (June 11-16, 2013)

The regional media informed that the world's most followed photographers on Instagram will be in Catalonia for a few days as guests of the regional tourism agency to promote the country, using the hastag #catalunyaexperiencetrip. This is already the second time for this kind of social media initiative; last year there came especially influential tourism bloggers. Apart from Instagram, the campaign can also be followed on Twitter, facebook or through a web.
One of the participants is Thomas Kakareko from Berlin, Germany, with 340.000 "followers". Another one is the Japanese Hiroaki Fukuda with more than 120.000 followers. He is described as a specialist in relating architecture to people. Another participant is Carol Peña designated by Instagram as the best-known Spanish user.
The ten instagram photographers who sum a total of nearly 1.4 M followers will follow a route from Barcelona to the Ebro delta region, the Costa Daurada ("Gold Coast"), and the Sònar (electronic music) festival.

[The original piece of news was published here.]

Some advice by Fukuda and others for your own instagraming on Conde Nast's page here.

June 11, 2013: 175th anniversary of Marià Fortuny, painter

The battle of Tetuan (source: commons.wikimedia.org)

For more information on Marià Fortuny (1838-1874), please visit the Wikipedia article.

The D.O. Montsant in the New York Times

This article appeared a few weeks ago. It presents the D.O. Montsant wine region, the wines thereof offer an excellent price/quality relation. Geographically it is situated around the D.O.Q. Priorat, whose wines get slightly higher punctuations on the Parker List and are often a lot more expensive.

Barcelona: local craftsmanship from the Born district

The Born district in Barcelona has become a home for those appreciating quality and individual designs, made locally - in contrast to the globalized and cheap fashion offered by the likes of H&M, Zara, ... a few hundred metres away around Plaza Catalunya and Portal d'Àngel.
Three examples for women's accessories were recently presented in La Vanguardia newspaper in an article by Ariadna Alcañiz ("Vivir", Jan. 16, 2013, p. 10):
"About Arianne" are shoes with sober lines, vintage aesthetics, London inspired, with attention to detail, made since 2010 in Spain (Elda, Alicante) from quality leather and other materials. The latest collection is called "Northern Star" and includes platforms. They do small productions; in case they do not have one's size, one can order them individually made within about 25 days. Their website with online shopping is here.
Next to the shoestore one finds "Iriarte Iriarte" that since 2009 has sold leather bags, briefcases, etc. As it is a two-people business, production runs are small, but they also offer custom productions within four or five weeks. Their website with online shopping is here.
The third store presented in this small article was "Après Ski" jewellry. The pieces are described as simple, singular, and hand-made from "poor" materials, such as wood, ceramics, brass, and resin. Their website with online shopping is here.

Barcelona 2013: Primavera Sound, Sonar etc.

Barcelona is a perfect place for music festivals all year round as you have (normally) sunny weather, a beach, and great shopping aside. This page of T ime Out magazine should make it easier for you to choose and plan your stay accordingly. The City of Barcelona offers this guide. This blogger has had good experiences with booking hotel rooms via booking.com.

Advice to keep your brain young

A recent article in La Vanguardia's Saturday supplement Estilos de Vida (Lifestyles; Mayte Rius, Dec. 15,2012) had these "10 commandments" for brain fitness into older age:

1) Eat less!
Fewer calories, few animal fats, a lot of fruit and vegetables

2) Exercise!
Walk or do some type of light physical exercise daily

3) Keep your brain active!
E.g. learn a language or an instrument.

4) Go on journeys!
Travelling causes positive stress.

5) Avoid (negative) stress!

6) Live in community!
Social isolation reduces mental capacity.

7) Adapt and actualize to new circumstances!
Keep yourself informed about new technologies, people of a different age than yourself, etc.

8) Motivate yourself and get involved!
Set yourself aims to reach and enjoy reaching them.

9) Do not smoke and avoid toxics!
Quitting is beneficial at whatever age. And smoking marihuana as a young person affects the brain in later life - so abstain.

10) Sleep in darkness!

To learn more, Rius recommended the following sources:

Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan, The Alzheimer's Prevention Program: Keep Your Brain Healthy for the Rest of Your Life (2012)

Francisco Mora, ¿Se puede retrasar el envejecimiento del cerebro?: 12 claves (2011)