(Traditional Food 3) La Xampanyeria

Hidden in a small back alley near the Barceloneta stop off the L4 line is a tiny little tapas restaurant with a big name. The name is Can Paixano, also known as La Xampanyeria, and this local tapas bar is known for its cheap yet quality cava and tapas. Literally this place is hidden on a side street and with no sign outside, you'd be lucky enough to stroll by it or know someone who's already been.

 When this place gets busy, like it usually does, it is packed to the brim. You can find mainly locals here and if you want to practice your Spanish or Catalan, it is the perfect place to do so considering they know almost no English. Once you make it into the restaurant if there's a line, you're packed in like sardines, however it is well worth it once you get your food and cava. 

The first time I experienced La Xampanyeria was when I was working on a Spanish video for a class and we had to give a tour of Barcelona through our eyes. A girl in my group brought us here and oh my god....it was phenomenal. I got a botifarra amb cebolla, croquetas, i formatge. They come on small little plates and are finger food, well all except for the huge sausage on a bun. And to wash it all down we had some cava that was probably the least expensive cava I have yet to have in Spain, but still tasted great. Also don't worry about a garbage because once you're done with your napkins feel free to crumple it up and throw it on the ground with all the other napkins that have probably started to pile up underneath your feet!

I would definitely recommend this small hole in the wall tapas restaurant for anyone looking for a great local and traditional experience with authentic tapas. The next time I am in Barcelona, I will be back for the croquetes and cava. Fins a la proxima La Xampanyeria!

(Traditional Food 2) 100 Montaditos

We this is the place to go for lunch every Monday or when you're in a crunch for time. This place is only about 60 yards from IES and it is the perfect place for a quick bite to eat and a beer.

They have so many choices of little sandwiches and I can never decide which one I want even though I have been there over 30 times since I have come to Barcelona. Every single time I go there I try to get at least one new sandwich every time. Sometimes it works out for the best, while sometimes it takes a turn for the worst. 

Since Monday's are 50 cent day for all montaditos, the place is packed with people by 1:00 pm and if you try to go at 2:30, you better have time to wait at least half an hour for your food. But no worries because you can sit back and chat while having some beer or vino de tinto while you wait for them to call your name over the loud speaker. 

This little tapas restaurant is where all the young Americans flock as well as the young locals, so it is a mixture of culture whenever you go there for a bite to eat. They have seating inside or outside, and on nice day's you better get there early if you want a seat outside because the locals will sit out there for hours talking, drinking, smoking, and eating. If any American was to ask me for a quick, cheap, and decent place to eat I would definitely direct them here for all the above characteristics because this place is one place I wouldn't mind bringing back with me to the USA.

(International News) UK Opposes National Ban

On April 13, a United Nations meeting was held to discuss the potential ban of developing "killer robots". As stated by a UK Spokesman, "We do not see the need for a prohibition as international humanitarian law already provides sufficient regulation". The idea of these killer robots is basically that they will have the power to select and execute targets WITHOUT any human input.

To the UK's defense they said that they do not plan to make any drones or planes that are completely autonomous; however, since they didn't agree on banning the law, other countries are allowed to keep or make these such robots.

How is a robot able to tell what threats are dangerous and what isn't? A human brain can see something and for the most part determine whether or not it is a threat. How can we rely on a solely non-human robot which lacks distinctly human traits, such as fear, hate, sense of honor and dignity, compassion and love which are all considered to be desirable in combat? 

In my opinion, I think that this is insane. There is no way that a robot should have total control over the potential to destroy something or someone. The fact that this is even being considered is scary to me. I can't even imagine a world where a robot has more control over my life then I do because if that drone think's I am a threat doing something harmless and wants to kill me it has all the potential to if it wants. And who's to say that it won't just kill me? What are the standards of being a threat? The definition? The components that determine whether or not I am a target and I should die?

 The above chart shows that 272 scientists, robot experts, etc. have called for a ban on the development of fully autonomous weapons. However, 6 countries are known to have researched, developed, and started to test fully autonomous weapons including the UK, China, Russia, South Korea, Israel, and the USA. Also, 44 countries have publicly spoken on fully autonomous weapons since it was brought to the worlds attention in 2013. So even though the opposition of the ban for the "killer robots" is directly pointed at the UK now, there are 5 other places in the world that have these deadly weapons and are most likely opposed to the ban as well. It's a scary world out there.

(Local News 2) Independence for Catalunya

Margallo ve un "tremendo error" en el independentismo catalán

The Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo announced today (04/14) that he did not think that Catalunya becoming independent was a logical idea. He stated that it was almost impossible due to the fact that United Nations and The European Union would have to back them on this and it is "not viable" as an option. He also state that the EU "will never accept secession". 

The book above "Leones contra Dioses" was published this year and Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo helped present the book and used it in his speech about Catalunya seperating. The book discusses the economics of the Spain and features the Madrid stock market and the politicians. Overall, it shows the unequal battle between the two. It also highlights the debt crisis in Europe, mainly in Spain. Jose uses the book to discusses the importance of Catalunya staying a part of Spain and working together to get Spain out of debt. 

After reading through the article I could tell that Jose was a right wing party member before even researching him. I got out of this that he wants Catalunya to stay part of Spain because he wants Catalunya to help pay back the debt Spain has accumulated. It's funny because after researching the ERC so much I learned a lot from their party. A lot of what they had to say was that Spain wanted to keep Catalunya in the loop because they were making such large profits which Spain taxed highly. 

The Prime Minister of Spain, Jose said "relations between the central government and Catalan are "cordial" and that good relations are necessary for political stability, also necessary for economic growth and job creation. "When we say to discuss what is possible and what is not, things will improve even more".

(Field trip 3) El Raval

Today we went on a trip to El Raval which is off La Rambla on the opposite side of the Gothic Quarter. I had ventured down this way a few times but got super lost and managed to find my way back to La Ramblas without finding a lot of the hidden treasures along the way. Below is a picture of another University of Barcelona campus building. This building is for the philosophy, history, and geography majors. 

Next to the University building there is the Museu d'Art Comtemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). This is a famous art museum in Barcelona and was built with an open court yard square in front of it. This is where the young kids and skaters of Barcelona come to hangout and skate. Since kids are outside playing and having fun there is a very low crime rate around this area and has turned into a social area still in the center of the city. 

 Along our walk we ran into a bunch of really interesting street art pieces including the one below. This states that "All together we can stop AIDS" and displays a bunch of people dancing, and holding hands. I really liked this piece out of all the works of art we passed by on that field trip. 

 On our walk we passed by a beautiful public library and on the opposite side of the library stood the old hospital. The famous Antoni Gaudi died here without even being recognized for a few days. A lot of the old architecture still stands and there are new shops and restaurants put in them. I liked how the old architecture was incorporated into the new shops because it leaves the history of it all still there and the city looks even more beautiful that way.  

 As we were coming to the end of our field trip Xavi brought us to La Rambla de Raval. This small replica of the huge touristy area we all know was quite different considering it was much quieter and less busy then the true La Rambla. 

I really liked exploring this part of the city because I hadn't really explored it yet. It was beautiful and had a laid back friendly environment. 

(Field Trip 2) Medieval Barcelona - El Born

Today we went to the Medieval part of Barcelona where we entered the El Born District and took a trip to El Born Market. Here we saw the ruins of the old Catalunya from the 1700's. Originally the ruins were undiscovered, but in the 19th century when doing renovations to the market, the ruins were uncovered. 

From the outside you would never know that a huge chunk of Catalunya's history lies within the massive steel frame of the Market. The all glass frame allows for the sun to shine in and naturally light the ruins which adds to its beauty.

 The view from the top of the walk way displays all of the ruins, showing the streets, houses, and buildings that were once standing tall. Now the outlines are all that remains, but there's more to it then just a bunch of rocks.

 The tour guide took us down into the actual ruins and we were able to walk on the same streets that the Catalans from the 1700's walked on. That's over 300 years ago! It was an amazing experience to go down there and learn about the history of it all. For example, the picture above shows a typical entry way to a house. Even though I couldn't get a close enough picture, there is a typical game carved into one of the rocks making up the floor work. Our guide said it was very common for houses to have floor stones with the game (similar to Tic Tac Toe) carved into them. 

From this view you can see the street cutting across the picture and it separating the part of the town that housed the smelly fish to the other cleaner part of town. They separated the fish side from the other part since it got very smelly and even worse with hotter weather. 

 The picture above shows a typical room in a house. The houses were very small width wise but our guide said they could be up to 3 stories in height!

(Life in Catalunya 3) BARCA BARCA BARCA

April 8, 2015

Barcelona vs. Almeria

Prediction: 3-0       Final Score: 4-0 

This was a perfect to spend a Wednesday night in Barcelona. With only a few more weeks to go I was happy that I could go watch one of the best teams in the world with the world's best player as well, Messi. Even though our seats were far away I still could see everything going on and it was a great time. 

The atmosphere in the stadium went crazy when Barcelona would do anything at all. Not to mention that the stadium went crazy when Barcelona scored. Chants were being cheered and I'm almost positive that the . The games back in the USA get wild but definitely not that wild.

 Growing up playing soccer and watching it with my family and friends made it a lot easier to appreciate the game. 

It was really easy to make friends at the game as well. Everyone is so friendly and were all there cheering for one team. We sat next to a couple from Barcelona with their 3 little kids and had a conversation with them about Real Madrid and Barcelona. There were two guys sitting in front of us from Germany as well and they were all about cheering and having a good time. Also, the girls sitting behind us that we were talking to that had never seen a soccer game...ever! 

Overall the experience was amazing and if I was staying longer I would go to another game for sure!