Hola

This edition of Barcelona Travel will give you a brief overview to the main events at Barcelona's biggest festival that is taking place from the 22nd - 25th September - La Mercè

I’ve also included feedback from one site visitor's visit to Barcelona that you may wish to use to build your itinerary for your visit

But first an announcement of the launch of our new site
http://www.girona-tourist-guide.com

Many visitors to Barcelona take advantage of the low-cost airlines that offer budget flights to Girona airport. Although Girona is approximately 100km north of Barcelona
it is well connected via an express bus service and a train service that operates from Girona Centre to Barcelona .

We often receive questions from site visitors about Girona and in response to these questions we have now created a brand new site. If you're thinking of flying into Girona Airport then take a look at our new site and let us know what you think. Here's the web address again:

http://www.girona-tourist-guide.com

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We welcome your e-mails telling us what a wonderful time you had in Barcelona and how much you enjoyed using our site to plan your trip :-) One site visitor Richard Watson sent in a detailed review of his holiday which we thought would form a good basis on which to produce your own itinerary. We've added links to Richard's e-mail that will help you find the information you need to plan your trip. Here is the link
to Richard's Barcelona holiday review:

Richard Wilson's Barcelona Holiday Review

We welcome your feedback - especially reviews of restaurants that you enjoyed. We can't guarantee we will post up your submission but we do read all correspondence, so if you had a wonderful experience here in Barcelona that you'd like to
share with us here is the link to submit your review:

http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/feedback.html
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Barcelona's Grandest Festival - La Mercè

Each year, usually around the 22nd - 25th September, Barcelona celebrates with a huge, extravagant festival called La Mercè. The celebration's official roots were to celebrate one of Barcelona's patron saints - The Virgin of La Mercè.

Today La Mercè.is a major event and over 800 activities are planned throughout the city. Many roads have been cordoned off and stalls put up - so if you were thinking of hiring a car to drive around Barcelona city centre - think again!

The town council have put a website outlining the activities of La Mercè. However it is only in Catalan and Spanish. Therefore to help you at least know what the main activities are I’ve include a brief overview here:

Friday 22nd - Plaça Sant Jaume 19:45
Giants statues will parade through Plaça de Sant Jaume with
accompanying music.

Friday 22 22:00 Plaça dels Angels to Plaça Sant Jaume
Another Giants parade, more music and dancing in the
streets.

Saturday 23rd 20:30 Francesc Cambó (Near Santa Caterina Market) to Via Laietana
Correfoc - Fire Run.

Children (and adults who wish they were children) dress up as devils and are generally all out quite scary. There are lots of bangs, fire, fireworks and generally
the aim is to scare the living daylights out of the bystanders. The town council recommend that you take long-sleeved clothing and glasses to protect yourself from
possible burns! You've been warned - little ones may also find this event quite scary.

Sunday 24th 12:30 - Gothic Quarter / Barri Gotic area
Human Castles
Have you ever seen a human Castle? If not this could be quite an experience. Teams of people build a human tower and then when the tower is several stories high a small child climbs to the very top to finish off the creation. It is an amazing site to see and you can't help but watch with your heart in your mouth as the final Casteller
climbs to the very top.

Sunday 24th 18:00 Plaça Catalunya To Avinguda de La Catedral
Large street parade with figures from around Catalan countries.

22nd / 23rd / 24th Barcelona International Fireworks display 22:00
On the Beaches of Barcelona.3 consecutive nights of giant firework displays.

Monday 25th 22:00 Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina
Musical fireworks Display.

A host of musical events are also occurring around the city the best place to learn about this is the Barcelona music association website:

http://www.bcn.es/bam/english/index.html

For more information you can visit the Town council website
http://www.bcn.cat/merce/catala/home.shtml

I'll be out with my trusty Single Reflex Camera this weekend capturing the events and will post up a photo gallery soon of the La Mercè.and I'll post the link
in this newsletter. Stay tuned!