The story of Nuria & Kala

My dear neighbours, Nuria and Kala tend to have very loud and aggressive fights in the middle of the night – like right now. They leave their balcony open so the whole building gets the inside information about what their issues are all about. We have been talking about investing in walke talkies for them as they always scream from the corner down the street to communicate that they are coming home and they want the door to be opened before they get there. Sometimes however, the other part doesn’t hear the calling so they end up standing on the street below our balcony for half an hour screaming either NURIAA or KALAA, thus, there is no question what so ever about their names. The friends of Kala and Nuria also stand downstairs calling them at least once a day, often however, they use other techniques to get their attention, some throw coins at their windows, some throw bigger things that make a lot more noise, some kick at the door three floors down – no matter the hour of the day. Nuria and Kala have a pitbull that sometimes is left alone out on the balcony. His name is Xixo and he doesn’t like to be left alone at all so he makes sure to let the whole street know he’s very sad about it.

It’s a very special building, the one opposite from ours, it seems to be opened only from the inside using some kind of cord and I haven’t fully figured out the secret behind it. Nuria and Kala are at home a lot, their friends from downstairs have four big dogs that like to bark and Nuria sometimes swears at them from the balcony. They also like to listen to rock music, they like the volume up and Kala likes to sing along, mostly however (like all day, every day), Kala stays in bed playing Playstation while Nuria goes downstairs to hang out with the friends who have all the dogs. Kala seems to be the passive and calm one in the relationship while Nuria is a very loud and passionate woman that seems quite easily irritated. We have their balcony just below ours, across the narrow street, so we have direct insight into everything that goes on in their very compact livingroom/bedroom/kitchen apartment. Kala has a red mohawk, Nuria sometimes likes to walk around naked.

The fuss around Nuria and Kala might seem like a loud nightmare, the truth is however that we love them over here and they provide us with a lot of good laughs. Anybody who’s been in our house has experienced some part of the show of Nuria and Kala, they are our beloved weird neighbours – high quality live entertainment.

Back to bed.

a Tope

Today made me feel as if I could move mountains. Singing, ice cream, live music and a walk in the sun with my lovely friend Den was the perfect ending to the amazing days we have spent together while she’s been visiting. Ending the day with a very inspirational lecture held by the incredibly charismatic Manuela Carmena Castrillo, former Chair of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention made me feel on top of my world, with hundreds of new ideas and thoughts to follow up on.

The walk back home, the warm breeze announcing spring, my iPod playing deeper waters and that feeling of being right where I’m supposed to be. I was smiling to myself, embracing the flow and dancing my way forward. Balance and freedom from all unnecessary worries, looking forward to the future – being a tope.

Recloose ft. Joe Dukie – Deeper Waters
Perfect Timing (2008)

The world through a glass of Absinthe

With dusty chandeliers, ancient mirrors and absinthe served the traditional way, Bar Marsella takes you on a trip 200years back, to what you would think Paris looked like at that time. Believed to be Barcelona’s first bar, opened in 1820, it is a place to spend a night in with friends, slowly enjoying the very strong liquor and letting it take you into its green haze. Packed with students, tourists and locals, it gets very loud, and watching people acting funny is only one of the highlights of this place. Den and I spent our night in Marsella yesterday after our nightly picnic and shared a lot of laughs and stupid faces.

Today is a day for street art hunting as Barcelona is a city where everything closes on Sundays  Looking forward!

Bar Marsella is located at Carrer Sant Pau 65 in the Raval district of Barcelona, just below the rambla de Raval. Go visit!

Photo by: Den Q

Choosing music

Going to music festivals means you get to dance your head off in the sun (or the rain!) together with other music-loving people. The hype, the love and the shared happiness provides you with an euphoria seldom lived in other contexts. It’s what happens when the overwhelming passion for beats and tunes, instruments and voices clashes. All in one place – party, baby!

There are two big music festivals here in Barcelona this summer, Primavera Sound and Sonar.

The tickets are expensive so I might have to choose between two of my favourite music genres, or I’ll try to combine them by buying tickets for a little part of both. We’ll see..

Here’s a treat for each of them;

Primavera Sound, 25th to 29th of May:

Baths – Maximalist
Cerulean (2010)

Sonar, 16th to 18th of June:

Boys Noize – Jeffer
Power (2009)

So, who’s coming over to dance with me?

divine drops of gold

cure me!

Today I stayed in casa the whole day with my housemates. We cooked, hung out and watched the Argentinian movie “El secreto de sus ojos“. Very good one. I’m bad, my body finally protested against all the activities I’ve been exposing it to so I am recharging on honey and gripex, hoping to get cured soon – tomorrow reality begins again. Until then, here’s some new sounds from Toro y Moi, enjoy and sleep well.


Toro y Moi – Divina
Underneath the Pine (2011)

Blur

Having Avinka over has been a lot of fun and I will miss her a lot. The Sitges carnival was something extraordinary and I have tons of pictures that I promise to share once I have the time to do so. After some intense weeks, this one will be a quiet one. Goodnight Barcelona.