Cool for kids

If you have been following my blog for some time now, you know that I delight in all things handmade… that is why I am very happy to share some furniture with you today that is cool for kids, and handmade in Barcelona!

A team of 4 (3 brothers and a lovely lady) make up XO in my room, and between them, they take care of 10 kids, as well as design, handcraft and market the furniture they make.

And they do it well, in my opinion! For they create simple furniture that is fun, colourful and sturdy. Just what kids need!

XO in my room‘s handcrafted pieces are also highly practical and hard-wearing, and that shows.

But they are not afraid of adding a touch of whimsy, such as the gilded swirly details at the head of these cosy beds that any kid would happily dream away in feeling like a princess or prince…

I love the way they market their lovely products and style their photos, and it makes me think that they have a lot of fun conceptualising and making them at XO in my room. Good reasons to choose any of these handcrafted pieces, don’t you think? Luckily for all of us, they are available in their online store!

Want to find out more? Then check out the XO in my room website and Facebook page.

(all images by XO in my room)

Stained beauty

Bunches – Ronda Sant Antoni

Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend and are ready to kick-start the week. I have some stained beauty for you today – a few examples of the incredibly beautiful stained glass windows from around Barcelona, starting with the lovely stained glass in a bay window of a residential building…

Diamonds fit for a king – Plaça del Rei

… followed by the colourful diamonds in a couple of chapel windows and the repetitive flower pattern in the lobby of the Palau de la Mùsica.

Repetition – Palau de la Mùsica

Lovely, aren’t they?

Pretty ladies – Palau de la Mùsica

You’ve probably seen photos of the very grand stained glass ceiling of the Palau de la Mùsica before. It never ceases to cause an impression, and I too could not resist a shot when I visited it a few years ago. Last but not least, the stunning effect of the beautiful rose window as seen from behind the statue of the virgin in the Santa Maria del Mar church.  My favourite of all the churches I have seen so far.

Have a great week, everyone!

Facing – Santa Maria del Mar

The beach or bust!

Cable car tower at WTC

Happy Friday! It looks like the weather gods are favourable this weekend, so I say: the beach or bust! Let’s soak up some sun and get some colour on our cheeks! Along the way, you might run into any of the sights I’ve rounded up for you today…

Canoes in Port Vell

Graffiti on the rocks at W Hotel

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Good luck finding a spot on the beach! ;)

Life’s a beach at Bogatell

3 faces and a little girl

African beauty – archives

Pale face – Carrer Pelai

C215 in white – archives

Sad little girl – Carrer Carme

Barcelona Reykjavik

Cute counter

During the warmer months (hopefully here soon!) I often awake to the delicious yeasty smell of bread being baked, and the ‘culprit’ is the organic bakery behind my home: Barcelona Reykjavik.

Cool customers

Organic garlic, anyone?

Valves, pipes and a cart

Established quite a few years ago, Barcelona Reykjavik has been at the forefront in Barcelona of a return to producing bread (and delicious pastries) which is made the traditional way: by hand, using purely natural and organic ingredients and baked in the old fashioned way. No wonder it smells and tastes so good!

Jams and jellies

Barcelona Reykjavik spoils us daily with delicious and wholesome breads as well as sweet and savory pastries which are all baked on site, in the space behind the shop, a glimpse of which can be seen through the window behind the pastry counter.

Tasty bits

On offer

Additionally, you can find eggs, fruit juices and milk at Barcelona Reykjavik. All organic of course!  But the stars here are the delicious breads and to die for pastries, and more often than not, you’ll find trays or bowls on the counter with little tasty bits you can try, and which will no doubt tempt you to buy more than you had intended!

Counter view

Looks good, doesn’t it?

Bread, bread, bread!

Baked batch

There are three outlets around Barcelona, in Born, Gràcia and Raval (which is the shop I am showing you) so make sure to pop in if you’re in town. Barcelona Reykjavik is open every day of the week from 10.30 am. For more info, check their website and their Facebook page.

Carrer Doctor Dou 12

Orange in Barcelona

Palau de la Mùsica

For Dutch nationals around the globe, today is a very special day. The queen is abdicating in favour of her son, and orange is the couleur du jour. I thought I’d join in the celebrations, with images of orange from around this wonderful city: orange in Barcelona.

Butano gas – Rambla del Raval

Butano gas bottles are so common in Spain, that their name (butano) has become the adjective of their orange colour. Wrapped around a couple of posts to alert of their presence, bright plastic webbing adds a touch of orange to the everyday.

Plastic alert – Carrer Minerva

House of Orange – Ronda de Sant Pau

A two-tone jigsaw pattern creates a striking effect on this house of orange on Ronda de Sant Pau, while an FGC sign stands tall, like a beacon, at the base of Tibidabo mountain. For those of you in the Netherlands: happy Queen’s Day! And for everyone else, happy Tuesday!

It’s a sign – Plaça John Kennedy

The Supper Club

Gorgeous setting

Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I’m happy to share images of a delightful dinner that I attended last Saturday:  the 2nd edition of  The Supper Club, a pop-up restaurant that is hosted semi-regularly and features different chefs from around the world.

Gorgeous setting :: 2

The chosen venue for this edition of The Supper Club was an atelier close to the sea at Palo Alto studios, where a gorgeous setting was created by Tara Penke and Marianne Krauss and photographer Jordi Bernadó‘s stunning images were used as backdrop.

Jordi Bernadó’s stunning photos as backdrop

Yummie antipasti

With products that are sourced locally, The Supper Club created a 6-course meal with wine pairings celebrating delicious food in an unusual venue.

Atelier by day, dining room by night

Chef Johann Wald at the oyster table

On this occasion chef Johann Wald was the guest chef who, alongside chef Jaime Riesco (who owns Picnic Restaurant), created the culinary delights that we were served at The Supper Club last Saturday.

The magic begins…

Behind the scenes

While behind the scenes everything was being brought in readiness and hostess Tara Penke did some final checks of the gorgeous setting, the lights were dimmed and guests started arriving…

Hostess Tara Penke’s final check

The venue: Palo Alto

Oysters with 3 different sauces, Bloody Mary shots, antipasti, a delicious seafood soup in a sourdough bread bowl, succulent veal wrapped in filo pastry and a delicious, palate cleansing blood orange sorbet with a pipette of gin were followed by cocktails and great musical mixes spun by DJ Fortuito.

Chef Johann Wald

The magic begins… :: 2

The Supper Club created a wonderful, relaxed and chummy atmosphere conducive to happy wining and dining and was wrapped up with post dinner grooves on an impromptu dance floor.

Happy wining and dining

Want to have a fabulous evening at The Supper Club? Then check out their website and Facebook page for details, updates and the latest news on the next edition…

The Supper Club

Weekend weather

Passeig de Colom

Spring in Barcelona can be a little fickle (like in most parts of the world) and often brings cloudy skies, rain and chilly temperatures. Such will be the weekend weather according to those in the know, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay indoors… there is beauty in those cloudy skies too!

Port Vell

Montjuic

With any luck, the rays of the sun will be able to perforate the overcast skies and bits of blue make an appearance. Fingers crossed for dry evenings though, because I am going to do some al fresco dining this weekend… I’ll tell you more about it soon!

Platja de Barceloneta

Texture

Rough – Plaça Àngels

Apart from all the fancy decorative elements that abound in Barcelona, I love the textures that you can find on its walls all over the city. They can be very inspiring. Here, heck for yourself…

Rough :: 2 – Carrer Minerva

Linear – Carrer Mas Yebra

70′s funky – Carrer Floridablanca

Sinuous – Carrer Floridablanca

Hieroglyphs? – Carrer Còdols

Which is your favourite?

3 in 1 – Carrer Minerva

Local wildlife

Basilica of the Cathedral

After yesterday’s post about graffiti pets and other animals, I thought it was high time to show you the local wildlife in Barcelona, which, as in most cities is mostly of the birdie variety (but also counts fish, here and there)…

Plaça de Vicenç Martorell

Museu Frederic Marès

Carrer Sotstinent Navarro

… and has an abundance of pigeons, those cooing, poo-ing birds of a grey feather.

Rambla del Raval

Ronda de Sant Pau

Much cuter, cheekier and noisier, are the cotorras (an Argentinian variety of parakeet) who roam the skies and make their homes (mostly) in Barcelona’s palm trees. They always bring a smile to my face.

Carrer Carme

Carrer Carme

Port Vell

But the big stars in Barcelona – mainly because they rule supreme in the skies and are so very predatory (they kill pigeons in mid-flight, did you know?) and also because they are such posers – are the seagulls.

Montjuïc

Montjuïc

See what I mean with the posing (after chasing away a couple of blackbirds and charming a couple of Japanese tourists)?

Heck, they even do it in mid-flight! ;)

Port Vell