BarcelonaThe capital of the Mediterranean Union
Barcelona is the capital of the Mediterranean Union. On 4 November 2008, the countries around the Mediterranean Sea area decided at a meeting in Marseille that the headquarters of the Mediterranean Union would be in Barcelona. The Mediterranean Union consists of the member states of the European Union, plus the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. All together it involves 43 countries. This makes Barcelona the meeting place for Europe and North Africa and West Asia!
World city
Barcelona is a world city. If you choose a course in Barcelona, you will not be bored for one moment. Barcelona is a city with a record number of hours of sunshine, a city where you can walk around and shop for hours on end and then relax on one of the many terraces on the Ramblas to enjoy a delicious tapa with a nice glass of wine.
Architecture
On the way you will enjoy a unique sampling of architecture through the ages. From the medieval Barri Gòtic, to the modernistic Eixample with hundreds of buildings by Antoni Gaudí and his contemporaries, to the hyper-modern and spectacular Torre Agbar by Jean Nouvel.
Museums
The museums are distinguished by this rich diversity. So much to choose from: Romanesque, modern giants like Miró and Picasso, the most uncompromising contemporary art in the MACBA, and not least of all the innumerable galleries in the trendy district of ‘El Born’.
Beach
Before Barcelona very successfully hosted the Olympic Games of 1992, the city lived ‘with its back to the sea'. The marina was even blocked off by a high wall, which spoiled the view of the sea from the shore. Nowadays, the beaches of Barcelona are in full use again. The sea water is clean again. They even built a shopping centre on a man-made island in the extension of the Ramblas, the imposing Maremagnum.
Nightlife
If, after a day of intense studying, you feel like a night out to practise your newly acquired language skills, you can go for it in the many tapa bars, bodegas, discotheques and nightclubs you can find all over Barcelona.
22@Barcelona
Barnsdale Barcelona is located at 22@Barcelona, the brand new high tech district right in the heart of the historical area of Poblenou, adjacent to the Vila Olímpica and Mar Bella, the most beautiful beach of Barcelona. During the sixties of the previous century, Poblenou’s small-scale nineteenth-century industry collapsed. In 2000, it was decided to convert it into high tech centres. A compact city is now growing all around it, with new homes, offices, parks, hotels, restaurants, etc. right in the middle of the historical working-class area, whose old centre, with its convivial Rambla de Poblenou, has come back to life.
You are very welcome at Barnsdale Business Language Training in Barcelona for our courses in Business Spanish & English, General Spanish and Goodwill Catalan.
GironaCity without haste
Whereas Barcelona is a dazzling metropolis, Girona is the ‘city without haste’. The historical centre exudes an kind of dignified atmosphere and is an oasis of peace according to Spanish notions. Even the tourists behave more subdued among the breathtaking historical decor of the medieval alleys than they do elsewhere.
Open air museum
Actually, the historical centre of Girona is like one large open air museum. A few of its highlights are:
The cathedral, where various styles come together (from the 11th to the 18th centuries).
Banys àrabs, or Arabian baths, in fact a roman construction from the 12th century.
El Call is one of the largest and best-preserved medieval Jewish districts of Europe.
The city walls offer a spectacular panorama of Girona and its surroundings. The oldest part goes back to Carolingian times.
Devesa
On the edge of Girona is La Devasa, which is the largest city park of Catalonia, with its 2500 plane trees. The park is situated between the two rivers that run through Girona: the Ter and the Onyar.
Tertulias
Girona nightlife is not so wild, but it does have many excellent restaurants and pleasant cafes, where there are always discussions going on in tertulias (the characteristic Spanish variant of our regular table discussions).
You are very welcome at Barnsdale Business Language Training in Girona for our courses in Business Spanish & English and Goodwill Catalan.
Figueres
Dalí
The most famous descendent of Figueres is without a doubt Salvador Dalí. He was born there on 11 May, 1904 and died there on 23 January, 1989. There are two museums in Figueres that are completely dedicated to Dali's work: the spectacular Teatre-Museu Dalí and the intimate Dalí-Joies, where his jewels are on display.
Gala
There are two other museums, located at the places where Dalí and Gala used to live. In Púbol there is the Castell Gala Dalí, a beautiful little castle that Dalí decorated especially for his wife Gala, and in Portlligat there is the enchanting Casa-Museu Salvador Dalí, a dream house on the Mediterranean Sea, near Cadaqués.
Cadaqués
Cadaqués is worth a visit at any time. Many Figueres residents flock to this seaside resort on the Costa Brava, during the hot season. Dalí also spent his summers there during his youth and wrote about it with great enthusiasm in his diary. Cadaqués really is one of the most beautiful coastal towns of Spain, which has been barely touched by mass tourism.
Gastronomy
The Alt Empordà, the region that Figueres is the capital of, is known for its extraordinary gastronomy. Hans Christian Andersen already praised Fugueres cuisine in his Reise durch Spanien (1862). It is for good reasons that the Alt Ampordà, five-star chef Ferran Adriá’s restaurant, El Bulli, was named best restaurant in the world by the prestigious gastronomic magazine ‘Restaurant’, in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
You are very welcome at Barnsdale Business Language Training in Figueres for our courses in Business Spanish & English and Goodwill Catalan.
Masies
As mentioned earlier, there are innumerable, beautiful farms all over Catalonia, which have often been renovated for so-called ‘rural tourism’. They are ideal for groups of five to twenty people who want to concentrate on formative and/or group-strengthening activities, in a rustic environment.
Barnsdale Spain is open to all suggestions. Do you want only language instructions and take care of everything else yourself? No problem. Do you want us to provide you with a first-class cook, do you want to go to the beach, to the mountains, to the museum, visit businesses. Just let us know. Horseback riding, golf, even a trip in a hot air balloon; the sky is the limit. We will do our very best to make sure that a course at Barnsdale Business Language Training in Spain will be an unforgettable experience!
