How to find a Gay Bar in the Gay Eixample in Barcelona?

Well, just ask anyone:  “¡Hola! Buscamos Café Dietrich. ¿Sabeís donde esta?”

Have you ever heard of Gay Eixample, or “Gaixample”?

Well, my friend had not and I was eager to discover the hot Gay area of Barcelona, situated right in the middle of the city, in Eixample to be more precise. The word comes from a conjunction of ‘Gai‘, which means gay in Catalán, and ‘Eixample“, which is Catalán for extension (the name of the neighbourhood).

Actually, the Gaixample (strictly) is bordered by the following streets: Balmes, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, Comte d’Urgell, and Aragó.  If you go to the area of C/ Diputació between C/ Aribau and C/ Villarroel, you’ll find the most heavily populated gay area of Barcelona (the heart of the ‘gaybourhood’, if you will), where it’s common to see rainbow flags hanging from shop and bar windows.

They say that during the Franco period Barcelona was always one of the most gay friendly cities in Spain, and today is no different.  Over 150,000 gay travelers come to Barcelona each year just to check out the scene.  In short, Barcelona is extremely liberal and more than welcoming to the gay community.  Tolerance is nice, isn’t it?

Our first venture to find a ‘gay ol’ time’ in Barcelona started with the cute staff half-hidden behind their reception desk at the famous Hotel Axel.  They looked at me with bright smiles and told me to be patient for a second as they checked on their computer and nicely printed a map for me. It was 10pm, on a cold Monday at the end of January, 2010, and my friend and I wanted to explore Gaixample.

For those who love history, like me, the Eixample (pronounced “Eshampla”) was built at the end of the 19th Century following the concept of rationalized urbanization and public health that developed at this time in all international and quickly growing cities. Paris had Baron Haussmann, London had the Metropolitan Board of Works and Barcelona had Ildefons Cerdà.  He designed the square block/grid structure with parallel streets and wide avenues crossing at 90° angles in order to ease traffic, air circulation and sun light penetration in what could have otherwise been as disorganized an effort as the old part of the city. Also influenced by the Modernista architects like Gaudí (see the Gaudí Tour post soon to come out on SuiteLife website), Eixample has become an expansive, safe, and in places, a very posh area. It is the biggest neighbourhood in the city and is home to lots of commerce and residential living.  It also has one of the most active gay districts in Barcelona.

Indeed, Gaixample is full of Gay and Lesbian bars and clubs…

which welcome everyone with open arms: Gays, Lesbians, Trans and Hetero.  A few of them, depending on the day, are stricter on entrance (the only one coming to my mind happens to be the well-known club Space on Sundays, or Gay Day, during which only sexy tanned boys are allowed in…). Just follow the rainbow flags hanging here and there: yes, you are in Gay Barcelona!

One of the well-known Gay bars is called BCN Punto where my friend and I finally ended up after having established that Café Dietrich’s pink floodlit doors were closed on this specific Monday (but they usually open every day from 10pm till 4am and welcome the crowd who’s always excited to see their unprecedented music-hall performances).

We were greeted by a panel at the entrance, reminding clients that they were the Gay and Lesbian Community’s welcome guests. We entered a large, clear and not yet full room that had a long bar on the right and huge mirrors on the left, climbed some wooden stairs and sat at a table on the billiard-table mezzanine floor. The waiter brought us our drinks and with each one a free entry ticket to one of the Arena Gay clubs.

Now look here:if you want to meet young sexy guys in hot pants, with great grooming habits, and the hottest asses in Barcelona, you definitely have to check out one of the Arena clubs.  Your chances of scoring will be better if you are actually male, but your chances of having a great time are high no matter what gender, race, creed, or colour you happen to be.

One evening was of course not enough to explore all of the Barcelona Gay bars, but I will definitely keep you posted on exceptional events and adventures to find in the Gay Eixample! And by the way, Gaixample is not the only Gay area in Barcelona: there’s a little town called Sitges (Sitges blog article coming soon to the SuiteLife site) and it is world famous for its Gay beach, the Platja de la Bossa Rodona. See you there in summer!

Yours!

A.

Sharing my first cultural experience in a Jazz Bar in Barcelona, a cultural and exciting city with several Jazz Bars and Jazz clubs and restaurants. After having a tasteful Spanish dinner at a tapas bar in the centre of Barcelona we wanted to go to a Jazz Club to extend our evening of pleasure and cultural delight with a visit to one of Barcelona’s JAZZ CLUBS, but where to go? After having consulted our waiter for the evening, who happened to be a “golfo” (someone that goes out on a continuous basis) we were recommended to go to Jazzsí, a small cozy place at a stone’s throw from mercat sant antoni at calle Requesens 2, where different days different types of live music are preformed and our Wednesday evening happened to be the Jazz evening of Jazz club Jazzsí. We were told to go straight away because the place would be packed at 20:30.

We arrived at the Jazz Club and there were already around 20 people waiting outside for this small venue of which the doors would open in half an hour. The entourage was great, to be honest I don’t think the performers of the evening were well known but they made the evening buzz. The tiny and cozy place made the atmosphere even more jazzy probably the reason why the called the place Jazzsí, anyway the guy with the trumpet was appearing to be in another world or at least another state of conscience something took over him and he played so naturally you could see how it affected everybody there. The crowd was amazed, it was the kind of evening you will never forget.

So if you are in the city and looking for a great evening in Barcelona with Jazz or flamenco or a night of Jazz or Rock jam sessions it’s a must to go and experience a night of live music at Barcelona Jazz bar Jazzsí. You have to be early at 20:30 it opens and then be patient because the music starts at 22:00 and the place will be packed, you won’t regret it. There happens to be other Jazz bars in Barcelona similar places on which I will tell you more later, very recommendable because those are not the type of places to meet tourists, making it a more Spanish cultural experience like a true traveler that avoids musea and touristic attractions and looks for local areas to get a taste of the culture. On another occasion I was at the Barcelona jazz club Jazzsi when there was a flamenco performance. We were waiting patiently when I noticed a typical Spanish worker a hardhead drinking his beer and eating a tapa and shouting something in southern Spanish to the guy behind the bar making the waiter laugh. Then he got on stage and started singing this raw Flamenco straight from his gut, while another guy was playing the guitar accompanying his singing, this seemed so unreal because usually the performers are dressed up like the well known groups of flamenco artists that came from the conservatory or like the gypsy dressed southern style flamenco performers. Another unbelievable event took place at Jazzsí.

The entrance fee differs from 5 to 8 euro including a consumption, 5euro for the Jazz Jamsession 7,50 for the Jazz evening and 8 euro for the flamenco evening. After having such a great night out I wondered whether if there are a lot of other places like this and apparently there are some others to be found worth mentioning.

How to get there: metro Purple line 2 stop mercat sant antoni, as soon as you come above ground you will see Els Tres Tombs, at the left side behind it you take a right and you’re at the street c/ requesens number 2 at your left hand side you will find Jazzsí.

Besides the Barcelona Jazz bars and jazz clubs there are the Jazz festivals of Barcelona worth mentioning, autumn is the best time of the year to visit Barcelona if you love jazz, the months of October and November the organisation Jazzvrienden offers an event with an interesting international line up. Another organisation that offers great performances is Voll Damn that had its 41st edition of the international jazz festival in December of 2009. The 28th of October there was a concert of the sax player Wayne Shorter, who in the ‘60ies was part of the group of Miles Davis, one of the many binightt not only the artists as well as the venues are impressive. Jimmy Cobb for instance played in the breathtaking Palau de la Musica one of the icons of Catalan modernism.

Jazz bar Jamboree is one that has been around for over several decades, a small and cozy place where you have to be in time to be able to get in. Next to las ramblas there is placa real if you have your back to placa Cataluña and you’re walking down las ramblas it is on your left hand side and you will find it at number 17 of placa real.

Jazz club Terrassa, just outside of Barcelona in the village called terrassa the Jazz club is a well known place with Jazz evenings all evenings it is open and it has been in business for over a couple of decades, it has hosted great artists such as Chet baker, Ella Fitzgerald and many more.

Harlem Jazz club a well known Barcelona Jazz bar in el bari Gotic in the street comtessa de sobradiel number 8 that does not only have jazz but flamenco or blues or salsa evenings to, entrance differs between 3-5 euro and the evenings start at 22:30.

Bel luna has Jazz evenings all evenings of the year and opens at 21:00 till 02:00 it’s a specialized Jazz club of Barcelona that offers all kinds of Jazz like jumpin jive, it has a restaurant and cocktail bar to, entrance fee is 12 euro. It is located at rambla Cataluña 5 next to placa Cataluña. We will update this section regularly and will be posting more on Jazz bars in Barcelona.

If you or a friend is looking for a great long term flat rental in Barcelona please check out our website www.SuiteLife.es and get in touch for excellent service.

PortAventura: Family Amusement Park in Barcelona

Last Saturday, I went to the biggest theme park in Barcelona; PortAventura. PortAventura is a major family amusement park that covers around 34.000m2 and 33 attractions. Though it’s not very close to Barcelona, people refer to it as the amusement park of Barcelona. The train from Sants Estació will take you there in 1 hour and 15 minutes for about 9 € roundtrip.

My roommate was smart enough to buy our entrance tickets online, so we could sneak past the immense queue and enter the park immediately. Just to give you a tip: if you plan on going for a one-day trip or a weekend away and want to skip the queue for buying your entrance ticket, check the Spanish version of the website (.es) since there are no one-day or two-day tickets available on the English website (.com).

So, there we were; 10 a.m. on a Saturday, with I don’t know how many other kids, teenagers, adolescents, parents and even grandparents, all standing at the very beginning of the park and not knowing which way was the best to go and avoid long queues for the roller coasters. We just made peace with the fact that we were going to be in long lines for certain roller coasters and we’d just enjoy PortAventura including the queues.

The map, which you can get right at the entrance, showed four intense roller coasters, marked with a black diamond behind the name of the ride. Now, two things you need to know about me: 1) I get carsick very easily and 2) I always try to push my boundaries. That being said, it might not be a surprise that of course I had to try all the four intense roller coasters, no matter the consequences.

The first ride we did was called “Furius Baco”. I now know why it’s called that. It’s the fastest rollercoaster in Europe at 135 km/h or 83.9 mph, which the ride reaches in a brisk 3.5 seconds. As you might think, my stomach was left behind as we took off. Nothing is farther from the truth, though! This roller coaster actually went too fast for me to even get sick. Think about it, only 55 seconds later from when we took off, we were back at the start again. You barely have time to even blink!

We then gradually walked through the park to the second rollercoaster on our list, which was the “Stampida”. This is a dueling wooden rollercoaster and makes a lot of noise. Excited as we were, we walked across the park to get to the ride, only to find out that the waiting line began just a few metres after the entrance. This meant waiting in line for at least 2 hours, so we skipped this attraction and decided to come back later when it hopefully wasn’t as busy.

The third roller coaster we did was called “Hurakan Condor”. What a name and what a ride! The ride consists of four cars that are all able to fit four people around a giant central tower. A giant magnet pulls the riders up to the top of the tower, where a picture is taken just before it releases the car. Then, there’s a freefall of 86 meters (282 feet) at a speed of 115 km/h (71.46 mph). Again, I had to wait a couple of seconds for my stomach to catch up with me. But even this roller coaster didn’t do the trick of making me nauseous.

After having a drink, we walked over to the fourth and last intense ride of our list: “Dragon Khan”. As we approached the rollercoaster, I had to stop and think for a second. This rollercoaster has eight inversions. EIGHT! Just one is enough to turn my stomach, imagine the damage that eight could do. But, as you may know by now, I would regret it if I didn’t take my chances. So, there we went.

After having waited in line for about an hour and a thousand doubts later, it was our turn to go. Apparently there are these “Express” tickets that you can buy so you can skip the queue, but when we found out, it was already too late for us. I was quite confident when I got into the car, but when the safety bars came down I started to wish I that I hadn’t gone through with it. I became less and less excited and more and more frightened as we started climbing the lift hill. The first loop was fine, the second as well as were numbers three, four, and five. But at inversion number six I started to feel a little light-headed and by the time we got off, I could barely walk a straight line. But still, no sign of nausea!

When we stepped out of the car, we had to sit down for a couple of minutes, waiting for the light-headed feeling to pass. After a while, we decided that Dragon Khan was the last of the roller coasters and that we would just walk around the park and go see some of the shows instead. PortAventura is more than just roller coasters and wild attractions.

Besides the wild attractions, PortAventura also has many roller coasters and other rides for children and families. There’s a whole children’s area built in the middle of the park and there are attractions like those found at a fair as well. In addition, if you prefer shows instead of roller coasters, then you’re at the right place. PortAventura truly is very appropriate for a nice one-day trip or weekend away from Barcelona and provides activities for the whole family!

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If you’re looking for medium and long-term apartment rentals in Barcelona, Spain, SuiteLife Barcelona has you covered! Please check out our site, www.SuiteLife.es, for great Barcelona Apartments, Insider City Info, and Tons of Great Services.

- Lindsay

La Catederal - La Palma, Mallorca

I couldn’t believe it took me five years of living in BCN to venture off and explore the island of Mallorca but I suppose what I was subconsciously longing for was the opportunity to see it through a native’s eyes.

We jetted off on Thursday quick 1/2 hour flight to Palma the capital.  <try Vueling.com for cheap flights>  The Palma airport parking lot is a jungle of car rental companies so ask around for the best rate <we got a smart car for 50 € for 30 hours at a great budget company called Record>.

We took off and an hour later slammed into the coast.  The lazy picturesque town of  Port Soller is an hour’s delight.  The little rocky beach littered with sun umbrellas splashing children topless sunbathing beauties.  The centuries old town rolls off into the hills in the distance.  A little antique train passes behind the beach bringing a handful of tourists and families to the beach stop.  A bicycle cop stops to flirt with a young girl sitting on a bench. We’re back in the car bathing suits still dripping wet and off on our winding ascent up and over the Tramontana mountains.

Soon we arrive in  Lloseta a little town, nothing special really, and we check into the  Cas Comte Hotel and Spa <A birthday present from my girlfriend’s coworkers> Highly recommended.  As she has a message the next day I giddily run around the spa the whole place to my self.  Jacuzzi wet steam sauna scolding and  ice cold showers Ibiza style club del mar tunes pumping breathing detoxifying.  After an exotic breakfast buffet we jump in the car head on our way.  Drop the car back in Palma where our pal Jaume is waiting for us and we hit the road again.

Snaking our way through the mountains to the coast we arrived in  Cala Figuera a tiny town nestled on two sides of a small bay leading out the ocean.   We threw our clothes at his place.  A great little house with a big terrace out back over looking the water where we drank beer played guitar and shared laughs many times.

During the days we’d head out in his zodiac  and he’d show us coves caves empty beaches with crystal clear water. venga! drop the anchor and we’d flip off the boat and bask in the clear salty water drunk from the sun rays even hotter and dryer than in BCN.

The nights were a blur of end of the summer festivos in all the small pueblos.  Pomada overflowing <a Mollorcan speciality drink> One carnival nearby was a real celebration.  Thousands of locals from near and far a huge all-night concert carnival rides skill testing games for prizes trampolines cotton candy summer dresses and cheap overflowing booze.

The next night was even better.  10 of Jaume’s closest friends and us piled into cars and went to his grandmother’s pueblo to catch a very special yearly tradition, the running of the horses, or Fest dels Cavalls Ses Salines.  After a gluttonous spread at the famous Mollorcan steak house Asador es Teatre we spilled into the streets where the city trucks in thousands of kilos of sand.  Vendors pedal 2 litre bottles of freezing cold Pomada a 25 piece brass band plays veraciously on their make shift grand stand the crowd parts and the horses come two by two galloping through the streets specially trained and prepared horses stop every few meters raise up on their hind legs let out a cry.  Singing dancing running with the horses drunkenly trying to prop them up on two legs ensues sweating sand flying.

Last day wake up hungover big breakfast at a trendy German cafe  Pablo in Santanyi<Delicious but menu only in Deutsch?!> Hop on one of Jaume’s friend’s 8 meter speed boat do some fishing catch the last swim of the summer snorkle a little at a nearby reef.  The 4 day weekend is starting to wrap up quickly now pack the bags bring the boats in the for the winter close up the house and speed off to the airport so Jaume doesn’t lose his flight.  In the airport we hug our new friends goodbye see you soon see you soon half an hour later and we’re back in bcn wondering if the trip was for real in the taxi on the way home.

We highly recommend Mallorca friendliest people delicious food great  ensaimada pastries and a stunningly beautiful language <Mallorcin is very similar to Catalan but with an infectious Italian sounding accent, sexy>. breathtaking scenery picturesque beaches what more could you want out of a long weekend?