Leeds en Barcelona...

When you think of Barcelona, the next city to pop into your head wouldn’t necessarily be Leeds, but a group of influential movers and shakers from both cities are determined to show you why it should be.  This May in Barcelona saw the second ‘Leeds in Barcelona’ event, created by collaboration between Marketing Leeds,  the UK city’s strategic marketing organisation, Hebe Media, a Leeds based company, and LeLook, which is arguably Spain’s most influential fashion and style website.

Discussion panel - photo courtesy of lelook.eu

The two day event began on Friday 21st of May with a talk and Q & A session at the European Institute of Design (IED) in Gracia. The panel was headed by Lee Hicken of Hebe Media and Jurgen Salenbacher, the director of the institute, joined by technology expert Imran Ali, Barcelona fashion designers Juan Antonio Avalos and Chidy Wayne, Leeds designer Dom of Dom, Dick and Harry and lead singer Guiseppe de Luca of Leeds band ICS (I Call Shotgun). It was fascinating to hear the panel’s thoughts on the similarities and parallels between the two cities, and the qualities that all felt were going to be necessary for either city to grow in the future.  The current economic climate and the important role of new technologies, as well as environmental concerns and the influence of music on fashion, were just some of the issues that were discussed. The Leeds contingent did an excellent job of selling their city to the audience during the discussion, although Barcelona had the last word by making sure that everyone was well fed after the discussion ended with a selection of tapas and some macaroons from the popular Vioko,washed down with plenty of Cava and beer.

Vioko macaroons - photo courtesy of lelook.eu

After all the focus and discussion on Friday night, Saturday was all about fun and celebration. The Hotel Me on Diagonal was the perfect venue for a night of music, fashion and style. The lobby was a maelstrom of beautiful people being treated to a performance from the band ICS, makeup artists preparing the best dressed from the crowd for a photo shoot and a catwalk show of fashion by the Leeds designers James Stewart, Dom Dick and Harry and Nicholas Deakin, with glasses provided by RETROSUPERFUTURE®.  As if all that wasn’t enough, upstairs on the sixth floor we were treated to DJ sets from DJ Mustache representing Barcelona, and Dave Beer and Tristan da Cunha from Back to Basics representing Leeds.

Tristan da Cunha and Dave Beer of Back to Basics - photo lelook.eu

As someone with a good knowledge and love of both cities, I hope there are many more opportunities for collaboration between Barcelona and Leeds. As mentioned by members of the panel on Friday night, neither one is Paris or London, but they are both known for punching well above their weight when it comes to industry, the arts and the vitality of their citizens. The event made me very happy that I live here in Barcelona, but when it gets really hot in August, I’ll be seriously considering heading to the cool surroundings of Leeds for a short getaway and some Theakstons Old Peculier Ale.

Audience members - photo courtesy of lelook.eu

You can also find some photos of Saturday's event on Le Look. 

United Jumble: First Flea In Public

Yesterday, as well as visiting Plaça Catalunya to see how the protests are progressing, we also paid a very quick visit to El Flea, the really good market I covered in one of my previous posts. Here is a link to their blog with some photos from yesterday's event behind the Maritime museum in the Raval. This is the first time they've held it in the street and it seemed to be a success from what we saw, so here's hoping they'll get permission to do more. Sadly I'm on a buying ban till June (nearly here!) so didn't do any shopping, even though there were bargains galore. Definitely at the next one!

United Jumble: First Flea In Public

I'll be back soon with some longer posts and some photos, including a visit to a street full of second hand shops. I'm starting a new job so it's all been a bit mad here, but routine and order will soon return (well, as much routine and order as there ever was, anyway).

Anthony Llobet Hair Salon, Barcelona

I’ve been putting off getting my hair cut for ages, for a number of reasons. Not only have I been trying to grow out quite a short bob, which I had dyed a bit too dark, but I’ve also been anxious about finding a hairdresser here that I’ll like as much as my London one. I have very annoying hair; it’s the bane of my life. It’s fine but there’s lots of it so it looks quite thick, it’s wavy and it takes any bit of moisture in the air and uses it to puff up and frizz in quite an alarming way. 

Phil Spector (or me on a really bad day)

However, recently I’ve been losing the daily battle with it more often than not, so it was time to take action. I’d heard very good things about the Anthony Llobet salons here, they’re a small chain owned and run by the aforementioned Anthony, who is of Anglo-Catalan descent. He actually grew up and trained as a hairdresser in West London, finally making his home in Barcelona in 2000. I’d been looking at his Facebook page and thinking about making an appointment for a while, and luckily managed to win their 10 year birthday competition for a free cut. So it really would have been rude not to check it out.

My appointment was with Kelly (from Manchester!) in the Gracia branch. It was reassuring having someone that I could explain what I wanted to, without struggling over the translation. I’m sure I will feel more able to tackle that someday, but as I find it tricky to explain what my hair’s needs and issues (oh, such issues!) are in English sometimes, I think it’s best to leave that for a future date.  I had a bit of a comedy moment trying to get into the salon at first, there are 4 locals joined together and they all have doors but only one opens. Cue me trying all of them like an eejit till I got to the proper door. The salons have a great retro vibe with proper old school barber chairs and vintage style wall posters. Right up my street.

I wasn’t after anything too drastic, my main concern was not losing too much length while getting rid of the darkest dyed bits, and having something that I wouldn’t have to blow dry straight, as I’ve had enough of wrestling with the hairdryer, especially in this warm weather. Kelly got what I wanted straight away; she was lovely and friendly and had some great tips for me as well. She was quick too, I hate spending too long in the chair and love it when someone can get straight to it but still give you a good cut. I’ve popped in some photos so you can see the results. (No before shots, they’re censored). I’m very happy as I think it’s a good transition style to get me to the longer hair I want, as well as getting rid of the blunt fringe that I’ve had for ages. Excuse the terrible quality of the photos, I need to get a tripod so I can do better timer shots.

Bizarrely it also turned out that one of my neighbours from my building works in the same branch; I hadn’t even known she was a hairdresser. I thought she looked a bit familiar when I walked in but as she had her back to me I wasn’t sure at first. I’ll try not to harass her too much for freebies now that I know…

 Anthony Llobet have made another convert in me and I’d recommend them if you’re looking for a haircut while you’re here. They have branches in pretty much every corner of the city, so wherever you are, they should be easy to find. I’m going to leave my colour for a bit, as I want to go lighter and still need to grow a bit of the darkest brown hair out, so I’ll post another review when I go back for that.

Good Times, Barcelona

This weekend I visited the Good Times shop on Carrer Petritxol. This street is one of my favourites in Barcelona, leading from the Plaça del Pi to Carrer de la Portaferrissa in the Barri Gotic. It’s a narrow street of 17th and 18th century buildings, which are decorated with tiles depicting the businesses and trades that have flourished along this thoroughfare. Traditionally it’s been the home of craftspeople and artisans, and continues this today as well as having the excellent gallery Sala Parés which is currently exhibiting the work of Alejandro Quincoces, a Basque artist whose work I really like. 

I first heard about the Good Times shop through their group on Facebook. I was immediately drawn by the fact that their aim is to provide innovative and flattering clothes for women of all ages, and their philosophy that there is an affordable alternative to shopping in the big chains. Right up my street, in other words. The owners are Boyd Baten and Mina Manrubia, who also design everything in the shop.

The shop itself is very pretty, with every available space covered in lovely items. I like the maximal approach to decoration myself, so this gets top marks from me. His Nibs was very taken with the art nouveau style furniture which is hand  painted and lacquered and also designed by the Good Times guys themselves. You can buy the furniture also, so I think I have an idea what a certain someone may get for a future birthday if he plays his cards right.

As for the clothes themselves, there are so many items in here that I want to buy. I can’t decide if my favourites are the wrap dresses which have a real retro 40s feel, or the dresses made from old silk sarees. Decisions, decisions. That’s before we even start to look at the polka dot blouses, pin-up dresses and vintage inspired clutch bags. I can tell this place is going to be dangerous for me…

There are two branches of Good Times in Barcelona, the above in El Gotic and the second in Raval. The other good news is that if you can’t get here, you can still indulge by visiting their online shop and Etsy store. I think the prices are more than reasonable considering that you won’t see lots of people wearing the same outfit as you, not to mention the lovely fabrics they use. 

By the way, make sure that any domestic goddesses among you check out the adorable retro aprons, almost enough to get me cooking and baking just to wear one (almost, let’s not get carried away).

Subur Shoes, Barcelona...

One of the many things I love to do in Barcelona is just to stroll around the winding narrow streets of El Gòtic, just to see where they'll lead me. A recent wandering led me down Carrer de Boqueria and to this amazing shoe shop, which apart from a small section of large leather bags, sells a huge selection of ballet flats.

If you know me, you'll know that I love my flats. I like to look at high heels, and have even been known to venture out in them now and again, but due to a Morton's neuroma in my right foot I can't really wear them for more than an hour or two. I get very excited, therefore, when I see anywhere that sells a big selection of flats. I almost hyperventilated at the choice of colours and fabrics available here.

The shoes here seem to all be from a brand named Kokua. I can't find any information on them anywhere so if anyone can shed any light for me that would be great. I will say that the quality of the leather seems really good and they seem very well made. I'll try to find out more and let you know. The prices aren't horrendous, varying depending on whether they're leather, suede etc. The priciest pair I saw were 50 euros which I'd happily pay. I like a bargain but comfort is the clincher for me when it comes to shoes and I don't mind paying more for it.

No online links for these, I'm afraid, it looks like you'll have to come here if you want to buy from this shop. If you do, the address is Carrer de Boqueria 30, 08002 Barcelona. You may want to google that too as it's not far from La Rambla, but in El Gòtic it's quite easy to get lost.

Baluard Bakery in Barceloneta...

Today I was struck by the thought that I haven't covered my absolute favourite shop in Barcelona yet. Very remiss of me as it is the shop that I go into every day almost without fail. It's our local bakery, Baluard, and I can happily say that it's the best bakery I've ever been to.

The owner, Anna Bellsolà, comes from a family of bakers from Girona, and brought her considerable skills to Barceloneta about four years ago. The shop is deceptively small from the outside, hiding a huge baking production behind the scenes, where they work through the night to make sure that there's enough fresh bread and goodies for the ravenous hordes who descend each day. People here eat bread with pretty much every meal so they need to stock up regularly. 

The best thing about the bread they bake, apart from the amazing taste, is the fact that it's made using 100% natural flours, some organic, and prepared with yeast in a traditional way. The loaves are rolled out one by one and placed on a linen cloth directly on the floor of the kiln, rather than on a tray, to ensure an even crust. This process carries on throughout  the day, so whenever you go in, you're ensured that there'll be something coming fresh from the oven. The smells that come from here, as you can imagine, are divine.There are 20 varieties of loaves available and we've worked our way through them all; I will say my favourite is probably the Pa de Cereals which is packed with delicious seeds and grains, but still really light with an amazing crunchy crust. 

There are scrumptious cakes available too. We try to limit those to weekend treats but sometimes we do succumb during the week. The trick is not to look to your left when you're in the bakery as once you spot those magdalenas, pastries and cheesecakes displayed so beautifully, you're done for. I can't believe my luck having this bakery so nearby, I know some people travel from other parts of town to shop here.I'm not so sure my waistline will thank me but I'll just have to make sure I keep up the long beach and mountain walks to make up for it.

Juego De La Liebre en Barcelona

Spring has sprung here in Barcelona. We may still have a bit of rain ahead, but this weekend has been full of sun, bird song and blossom on the trees. His Nibs is away in London at the moment, which has been a shame as we probably would have made the most of this weekend by planning a trip up to the mountains outside the city or maybe somewhere along the coast. As it it, I've been left to my own devices so I've entertained myself by, guess what, going shopping. (I know, what a surprise.)

First port of call each day has been to the Rosa Canina ice cream shop for a scoop of their delicious organic ice cream. Rosa Canina is actually a Berlin based company, but they have a branch right here in the main square in Barceloneta. It's actually right across from our flat which means I have no chance of resisting the temptation. I'm doomed! It's absolutely delicious and the flavours are really natural, not at all like some of the more synthetic ice creams on offer all over this city. 

The market event After Tea Barcelona was on today, I've previously blogged about it here. I think the venue they used previously has shut down so they held today's event in a function room at the Husa Oriente hotel on La Rambla. I popped in really quickly as I also had another vintage hunt planned, but my eye was instantly drawn to the stall run by Frederik Garcia. His screen printed white t-shirts are right up my street with their animal headed silhouetted characters in black. He also has an online shop if you're not in Barcelona, which you can check out by clicking on his name above. I bought a paper print of his hare figure which you can see in the picture above, I'm going to frame it later. I picked the hare as it is the season for him (I'm more of a fan of  the pagan march hare than his fluffy Easter rabbit Christian counterpart). Sadly hare coursing is as popular in this country as it is in my birth country, Ireland, so I want to show some love for our long eared friend. 

My final stop today was to a vintage shop that is only actually open this and next weekend. It's called the Grand Mercadillo over in Raval and is being organised by a couple of guys who run an art workshop and work in the theatre here in Barcelona. It's more of a clearance sale of items they've collected through the years and is worth a visit if you're in the city next weekend as it really is a little treasure trove of all kinds of goodies. I immediately gravitated to a traditional tuxedo jacket which had a Barcelona tailor's label in it, but sadly it didn't fit. Sometimes it's a real pain being curvy as it was beautifully cut but didn't sit right on me. Such a shame as it was a really well made jacket. All was not lost however as I did manage to nab the handmade cotton nightie in the photo above. It doesn't look like much on the hanger but the stitching is really well done and the lace at the top is in perfect condition. I'm going to cinch it in with a belt and wear it as a summer dress. They weren't sure of the age of it as it's been handmade and had no label, but I think it may have been made as a costume item as it's in such good condition with no stains or signs of wear. 


I've actually got a couple of more shops from this weekend to tell you about, but I think this post is long enough for now. I also got my hands on a book about tailoring techniques which I'm going to give away to one of you so keep your eyes peeled for that. Thanks for reading and as always, any (nice and clean!) comments or suggestions you have would be really appreciated. Hasta luego!