Located inside of Montserrat’s National Park Reserve, it is the best known cave and the one which summarises best the history of Catalan speleology.

This cave, at 549 metres above sea level, allows us to see the inside of the mountain. Visiting it means a subterranean trip that shows us the characteristics and result of a geological process acting on limy and conglomerate materials. For a long time it was the habitat of the first Neolithical inhabitants of Montserrat, becoming in time an inspiring place for Modernist artists such as Gaudí, Jacint Verdaguer or Rusiñol. Before they were opened to tourism, during the 1870s, they were also a good refuge for several bat species, like the Mediterranean horseshoe bat.

The most comfortable way of getting there is to go to Collbató, if possible on the third Sunday of the month, so that you can go to the Mercat de la Tradició. This will allow you to appreciate even more the town’s marked Medieval character. It is a good idea to have lunch there, and then around 4 pm get ready and go to the Àrea d’Esplai de la Salut, an open area in the outskirts of the town (within walking distance), where the tickets to the cave are sold.

A word of warning: The access to the cave has to be made after climbing up a flight of stairs with 244 steps (10 minutes at least!). Once inside the cave the temperature is 14ºC, with a 95% relative humidity, so taking a jumper or long sleeves with you is generally recommended. Finally, the visit, exclusively with a guide tour, lasts for about an hour, and this includes a video-documentary (in Catalan) , which summarises the history of the cave.

Timetable: Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays, 10 am to 1 pm and 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm (last visit). During August it is open from Tuesday to Sunday. General ticket fee €7; reduced entrance fee (“Carnet Jove”, retired people, students and children between 5-12): €5.90. Information Office telephone number: 93.777.90.76

Moreover, in order to enjoy the town of Collbató fully, on the way back from the cave (or before going in) you should visit the Hermitage of La Salut (Ermita de la Salut), which was built in the second half of the 19th century, and was reconstructed between 1936-1939. A neo-Gothic style building, it presents a rectangular plant and a roof with double slopes. Its belfry is encased in an external wall tower, which crowns the front façade, and what nowadays is used as sacristy is located behind the nave of the hermitage. It can be accessed from behind the altar, where we can see ogival arches and alabastre capitals with Modernist motifs like rabbits, locusts and flowers. The sacristy’s walls are covered with paintings imitating architectonic graphisms

Source: www.infocostabrava.com

Pavelló olimpic de Badalona

Enjoy the new album “Chinese Democracy” and many of the old classics too. 

Buy tickets here

The Garmin Barcelona Triathlon is one of the most popular Triathlon in Spain. In 2009 around 3500 triathletes from 24 countries registered for the event in Barcelona. The 2010 Barcelona triathlon is open to professionals and amateurs alike who compete in three different categories: super sprint, sprint and Olympic. Teams can compete in the sprint and Olympic categories.  In 2009 the event took place in the Sant Marti district of Barcelona.

Visit the Garmin Barcelona Triathlon website for more information.

Facing new challenges through design

BCN Design Week 2010 will be open from 18 to 22 October for its fifth edition of an positioned as a leading event for promoting and debating design and a date on the international calendar that can’t be missed.

Under the slogan “Facing New Challenges Through Design” BCN Design Week 2010 aims to make known the role of design as a key element of innovation and competitiveness both for businesses, professionals and institutions, and for entities and organizations of all industry and scope, at a time in which we are required to take full advantage of the products and services that we offer. 

Through the participation of diverse experts in the world of design and business, the assistants to this fifth edition will be able to learn, share and discuss various topics that mark the current agenda of the design and innovation sector, as Design Management, Co-Creation & Co-design, Design and Social Innovation or Mobile Design, among others.

Visit BCN Design week website

Two days walking in Barcelona

New walks very interesting. 10, 20 and 30 Km that will let you discover the beautiful city of Barcelona. 

The International Walk of Barcelona, a non-competitive walk, is a good excuse to get health, alone or with friends, and to rediscover our city. It has international echo, in order to let everybody know the wonderful beauties and particularities of the city of Barcelona.

• Routes: There are 3 marked routes each day, what allows the walker to choose between three different distances: 10, 20, 30 km (+/- 1 km ).
• Kind of ground: All the routes combine urban and non-urban sections of different lengths.
• Drops: In some of the routes, the accumulated drops (up and down) are important. Consult the drops profile that can be found in the map of each route.
• Beginning and End: Complex Esportiu Municipal Trinitat Vella (for all the routes), near the Parc de la Trinitat.
  Underground line L1 Trinitat Vella .
• Routes: they are in the map, as well as the indications of the revictualling controls, of the ordinary controls, etc.
• Pass controls, revictualling controls, services and health care: there are in all the routes, and their positions appear in the map. Each one has its own timetable.

Find further details: click here

“Ending on a High Note tour” 2010

A-HA’S 2010 world tour is the last chance to see the band in concert before they retire at the end of this year! Don’t miss your chance to experience the music and live energy first-hand.

 Buy Tickets

www.a-ha.com

In its 5th edition, eme3 aims to think about the present and the future of architecture as a discipline, and in particular about the role of the architect. It is its major concern to rethink and reformulate the possibilities of architecture and its relationship to other disciplines. What can an architect ‘do’?

A new generation of architects, which doesn´t identify itself with the model of the “celebrity architect”, is taking the lead. This younger generation wants to escape from pre-established conditions and rethink the nature of architectural practice, as well as their goals and modes of engagement.

 EME3 will take place from the 6th to the 9th of october 2010 in the old part of Barcelona, in the district of “el Raval”, which is known for its multicultural character.

Further details: www.eme3.org

SITGES International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia is the number one fantasy film festival in the world and represents, at the same time, the cultural expression with the most media impact in Catalonia. With a solid experience, the Sitges Festival is a stimulating universe of encounters, exhibitions, presentations and screenings of fantasy films from all over the world. The Festival is governed by a Foundation, made up of representatives from the Sitges Town Council, the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalonia’s autonomous government) and other institutions, associations and public and private companies.

Most of its resources come from the sponsors, companies and collaborating institutions that consider their alliance to the Festival to be an excellent platform for widening their scope and branding

www.sitgesfilmfestival.com

1st, 2nd & 3rd October

In La Farga de L’Hospitalet

The 13th Edition of the Barcelona Tattoo Show is almost here.

This year will be full of novelties such as a New contest for new Tattoo Artist, more shows and expositions, more spectacles, seminars for Tattoo professionals, music, fashion and of course, tatoos in their purest form. In addition to that, dont miss the official presentation of our guest artist Miss Tattoo. Each afternoon will be presenting the II Lady Pin-Up Contest. Are you going to miss it??

Click here for further details

September 28 2010,  SalaRazzmatazz

“A curious Thing” 

Big, bold, and dramatic. Intimate, tender and touching. A Curious Thing is Amy Macdonald, full-voiced and rebooted and re-energised, with added hammering piano and a couple of guest spots from Paul Weller. For tickets please visit: www.ticketmaster.es