Thursday, April 30, 2009

Cannes International Film Festival 2009


In just 2 weeks there will be released the 62nd Edition of the Cannes Film Festival. From 13th May to 24th May the cream of the big screen will meet in this small French town. As a great novelty at the festival, it will open with a Diseny-Pixar animation film: Up. Still, this is not the first time that an animation movie participates in the official section of the event.

The jury is made up of big names of the world of cinema: the famous French actress Isabelle Huppert will preside the table and she'll be accompanied by the Korean writer and director Lee Chang-dong, the Italian Asia Argento, the U.S. actress Robin Wright Penn, the Taiwanese actress Shu Qi, the Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, the British novelist Hanif Kureis and the U.S. director James Gray.

This year Asia and Europe have more presence than United States, which is the great absent from the festival. These are some of the names that compete for the Golden Palm: Michael Haneke with Le ruban blanc; Marco Bellocchio with Vincere; Ang Lee with Taking Woodstock; or Tarantino with Basterds and Antichris (he will be the only North American filmmaker in the festival). From Asia comes the Chinese director Lou Ye, the Filipino director Brillante Mendoza or Johnnie To from Hong Kong.

Spain will be very well represented in Cannes due to two important nominations: Pedro Almodovar with 'Los abrazos rotos' and Isabel Coixet with 'Mapa de los sonidos de Tokio'. Alejandro Amenábar will participate "out of competition" with Agora.

There are some directors who repeat nomination such as Tarantino, who had participated with Pulp Fiction or the Danish director Lars von Trier with Antichris. Other awarded directors are the British director Ken Loach with Looking for Eric and the New Zealander Jane Campion, the first woman who won the Golden Palm in 1992 with 'The Piano' and who this year is presenting the film 'Bright Star'.

Do you love cinema? Would you like to see on live one of the best festivals of the international cinema? Travel to France and discover The Cannes International Film Festival 2009! And while you are there, why not take advantage and visit the city of lights, too. Rent Paris Apartments and find the best accommodation.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Discover the Purest Neighbourhood of Valencia - The Carmen's Neighbourhood


Valencia is the third largest Spanish city in population and importance, after Madrid and Barcelona, and therefore one of the most surprising of the country. It has a wide range of events, monuments, festivals, etc. to see: the City of Art and Sciences, the America's Cup Competition, extraordinary beaches, and one of the most important festivals in Spain, Las Fallas. The bohemian Carmen neighbourhood is one of its many treasures. It extends from the River Turia to the north of the Central Market and has an interesting combination of modern cafés and historic buildings that give it a very peculiar atmosphere.

The Carmen's neighbourhood is thousand-year-old quarter and part of the the historical centre of the city that has developed between three walls: a Muslim one from the Eleventh century, that limited the East side; the Christian one from Fourteenth century, that limited the West side; and the wall that covered the suburbs. Therefore, a system of portals was created to solve the problems of communication that having so many walls presented.

The person who has not visited the Carmen's neighbourhood, can not really say he knows Valencia, as it is the purest district of the city. The Central Square is the heart of the area and the leisure center. The neighbourhood takes its name from the Carmen de Calzado Church, around which the population was settled centuries ago.

The traveller should not miss the Valldigna Portal, the Serrano's Towers and the Quart's Towers, the Round Square, the Beneficencia Cultural Centre, the famous Carmen's Church and several museums scattered around the area.

Furthermore, the Carmen's neighbourhood is one of the best choices to go party. All the bars, restaurants and pubs have a bohemian atmosphere are full of people. Calle Alta Street and the Virgin Square are both much appreciated areas in the quarter.

What are you waiting for? Take the first fly to Valencia. Rent the best Valencia Apartments and enjoy your stay in the city.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Asian Film Festival of Barcelona - BAFF 2009


Once again, Barcelona hosts one of the most interesting cinematographic festivals of the current panorama, the Asian Film Festival of Barcelona - BAFF 2009. From April 30th to May 10th, the city will witness the largest showcase of Asian cinema in Spain. The event, directed by Carlos R. Ríos and Amaia Torrecilla and organized by 100,000 retinas, celebrates its eleventh edition with more acceptance than ever and looks to Japan as the new Asian cinema promise.

This year the festival presents many innovations: for the first time the NETPAC prize will be granted to the best Asian movie presented in other festivals such as Venice, Cannes, Rótterdam or Berlin. A new section will be created for the novice directors - who are the future promises of Asian cinema, and their works and the "Guest Country" has been removed to promote new sections that will focus on all cities, directors and film themes.

The awards will be divided into the following sections: the Durián de Oro Award for the best film, which is given by Asia House with a prize of 6,000 euros to the director whose filmography does not exceed three movies; the D-Cinema Award, for the best movie made in this format; and the Cinematk Award, that will distribute throughout Spain the awarded film and its exclusive showing on the Cinematk TV channel.

This year 14 films will participate in the official section. The movies come from countries such as Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and China / Hong Kong, among others. Standing out is the participation of a great number of new directors, but also some consolidated ones such as Naomi Kawase, who presents her latest film. Furthermore, BAFF is honoured to present in Spain the Oscar winning film Departures, of Takito Yojiro. Other important titles are "Ocean Flame", "Blind pig who wants to fly" by Junji Sakamoto "Chameleon" by Kim Ki-duk ("Dream"), Takeshi Kitano ("Achilles and the Tortoise"). Among so much cutting edge work, it's hard to make a list of the best works at this festival.

These are the official spaces for the festival: CCCB, the Aribau Club Cinema, the Caja Madrid Cultural Centre and the Rex Cinema. The tickets, which can be purchased in advance via telentrada.com and servicaixa.com, cost 6 Euros per individual session, or 25 Euros for 5 sessions, and 45 Euros for 10 sessions.

The BAFF festival has helped Asian movies to gain greater appreciation and shake off its "cult cine" tag. In the past ten years, the festival has discovered great talents who are today's heavyweights of the contemporary film scene. Rent your Apartments in Barcelona now and enjoy the best Asian cinema in the city.

Primavera Sound 2009



The season of festivals and concerts approaches. The spring, besides good weather, brings an endless number of music festivals of all genres. Among them, highlights the festival of festivals of Europe, the favourite for music lovers, The Primavera Sound!

This way, from May 28th to May 30th the Parc del Fòrum of Barcelona will be the incomparable frame where the music, the Sun and the sea will fuse to do of the Primavera Sound the festival of the year.

From 29th -30th May the Parc del Forum in Barcelona will be the amazing backdrop where music, sun and the sea will all fuse together to make Primavera Sound this year's unforgettable music festival. In addition, it presents an excellent line-up.

One of the stars of this year's edition is Neil Young. It also highlights Ezra Furman & the Harpoons, offering rock tinged with folk and punk. From the Catalan territory come El Gremio and the the DJ of the famous musical blog 20JazzFunkGreats. Another group to highlight is of The Faith Healers, who return to the stages. The British band The Horrors is back with a new style that will provide a lot to talk about. Maika Makovski will also present their latest work. The great Tokyo Sex Destruction accompanied by Gregg Foreman, ex-leader of The Delta 72 and component of the live band Cat Power, will delight the public. And finaly, we can't forget to talk about The Bats.

As has happened other years, the Sidecar and Apollo concert halls will recieve several showcases in the days previous to the festival. The guest artists are Dälek, Reigning Sound, The Intelligence, Zu, or Half Foot Outside, among others.

On the other hand, there will be celebrated some concerts taking place at L'Auditori: Michael Nyman, My Bloody Valentine, Joe Henry, Damien Jurado, Bad Plus, Alela Diane, The New Year and Extra Life. Suitable for all tastes!

Once again there will be the "Primavera Sound goes into the Metro Station", with Mujeres Centella, QA´A y Gúdar.

The tickets cost € 155 for the three days or € 70 for just one day. You can buy them at internet Ticketmaster (Tick Tack Ticket), the CD stores Drome in Barcelona and Madrid, the RIFT stores in Barcelona and Sitges, Entradas.com, FNAC France, UK Seetickets and PayPal via the web festival.

Take the first flight to Barcelona and come to this great music festival. For the best accommodation, rent Barcelona Apartments. Enjoy your stay!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Literary Barcelona


Barcelona is a captivating city. Perhaps that is why for centuries hundreds of writers have let themselves be taken in by its beauty. Therefore it has become a literary city: its magic, its charm, its different cultures... Who has not ever read a text inspired by Barcelona? Already in the nineteenth century the city was a worship center for many writers. The French writers Carce, Bourget, Pieyre de Mandiargues and Genet, and the Catalans writers Narcis Oller and Antoni Altadill gave us the first Barcelona's ideologies.

There are so many books based on Barcelona, thtat people don't distinguish the where begins the real city and where ends the imaginary one. It has been invented so many times between pages and ink! It is a network of past and present, glories and miseries, rich people and poor people, hapless and artists, suburban prostitutes and exquisite high class escort girls...

The greatest writers have chosen Barcelona as the basis for his novels: starting with the unique Miguel de Cervantes, who presented Barcelona as the unique urban setting in Don Quixote; it was exalted to the highest level in the verses Joan Maragall and Jacint Verdaguer; even Orwell wrote about it as a revolutionary frame; Josep Pla related the details of its daily live; Jean Genet looked after its dark side and Eduardo Mendoza, Vázquez Montalbán, Carlos Ruiz Zafón or Juan Marsé gave it a international prestige.

The city has stolen the heart and the pen of the greatest writers. Therefore, most novelists do not have enough to live in the city, but they have had to reinvent it with their pens.

What would have been of the Raval neibourhood without the famous detective Pepe Cravalho (by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán)? And what about the Gracia quarter without the books of Mercè Rodorera? Who has not shared the exploits of the characters of Eduardo Mendoza? Thanks to all these writers Barcelona has a strong literary web woven with threads of ink. For the literature lovers it will be a real pleasure to walk the main streets of the city through the "literary tours" that some agencies offer...

Would you like to go on with the story of The Shadow of the Wind (by Carlos Ruiz Zafón) or La Catedral del Mar (by Ildefonso Falcones)? Come to this beautiful city and rent Barcelona Apartmetns.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Tattoos - An Art As Old As Man


Are you one of those who think that tattoos are just a passenger fashion? If so, you are wrong. The tattoo art is as ancient as the human race. Even a mummy of the Neolithic period with 57 tattoos in his back has been found! Surprised? Polynesia was the first region in the world to practice the art of tattooing, as well as the pioneer in using it as something purely aesthetic.

For centuries, various cultures have used tattoos in many different ways: some of them considered it an art, as Japan; other used them as a way of social stigma, as the ancient Rome and Greece; others as a symbol of maturity, as North America; and even there were some cultures that have attributed supernatural powers to them, as Egypt. Over the years its function has changed and today, the tattoos are used exclusively as a body ornament. The techniques have been refined to the point of turning it into an art-form. Now the tattoo artists have become masters of drawing and they design beautiful images with the skin as canvas. The tattoos have become a real boom!

The tattoos have been gradually integrated into society and today they are standardized among all social sectors. Increasingly there are more tattooed bodies around the world. So it is not strange that every year various tattoo conventions are held across the globe, such as the "Berlin International Tattoo Convention", one of the largest in the world (celebrated since 1991). There participate the best tattoo artists of the world. In fact, Berlin is considered one of the tattoo cradles in Europe.

To many people to get tattoo represent a way of worshipping the body; on the other hand, to others they represent a form of expression and a way of life. The tattoos show off many own styles. They tell people that they belong to a code, a tribe or a group.

Today there is a regulation to which all the tattoo studios must adhere: single-use instruments (syringes and needles); they should be unsealed in the presence of the user; they should be perfectly sterilized; obligatory vaccination of staff against hepatitis B, tetanus and diphtheria; they will have to certify the completion of a training course on hygiene and health of 30 hours amongst other things.

Tattos are setting trends! Travel to the German capital and discover why. Rent the best Berlin Apartments and enjoy a pleasant stay in the city.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Most Fashionable District of Barcelona - El Born


El Born is undoubtedly the most charming district of Barcelona. Every corner is full, pleasant and charming surprises. From its small streets, passing through its majestic Rambla, the Ciutadella park, the beautiful Santa Caterina market or the solemn cathedral of Santa Maria del Mar, nothing in the Born district will leave you indifferent.

El Born was formerly known as the Ribera (the Bank) district, due to a huge irrigation ditch that crossed the quarter and brought water in from the Besós River. In the Ribera neighbourhood merchants and sailors used to live together but as time passed by palaces were built some museums: the Textile and Clothing Museum, the Barbier-Mueller Pre-Columbian art Museum or the famous Picasso Museum.

Today, Born is the most fashionable district of Barcelona. One of its greatest charms is that it still preserves its medieval structure almost intact. It offers a wide range of culture and leisure: the best design bars and restaurants, unique boutiques, museums, galleries, theatres...

El Born is situated between La Barceloneta Quarter and Via Laietana Street. Its main street is the famous Paseo del Born, a charming street lined with restaurants, bars and shops topped off by the jewel of the district, the Gothic church of Santa Maria del Mar.

One of the side streets to Paseo del Born, Montcada Street, houses one of the most famous museums of Barcelona: Picasso Museum. The other nearby streets have an intense medieval air and are filled with shops and incredible restaurants.

The Palau de la Música Catalana, designed by the architect Domenech i Montaner, is another mandatory stop in el Born district. This is an amazing modernist building and one of the jewels of Catalan architecture. The Santa Caterina Market, is located just a few minutes walk from the Palau. It is the last market built in the city, but a mandatory stop too. It was built by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue amd it is famous thanks to its corrugated and colourful ceramic roof.

Finally, the Parc de la Ciutadella is the lung of the district, and one of the most beautiful green areas of Barcelona. Formerly it housed a military citadel which still retains some military installations as the arsenal, the governor's palace which is now a school, and the chapel. In addition, this park houses: the Geology Museum, de Zoology Museum, the Barcelona Zoo, the Hivernacle (today it houses a café) and the Umbracle (a beautiful greenhouse made of brick and wood). There is a lake where you can hire small rowing boats. Every year from April 1st the Spring Festival is celebrated here. There are workshops organized, shows, festivals, performances and games for all the family.

Rent the best Apartments in Barcelona for the best accommodation in the city. You'll enjoy it!
 
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