Best products from r/Barcelona

Filmed in the beach towns just outside Barcelona, Krámpack was a cute coming-of-age movie from the American Pie era that was, for me, a great introduction to the culture and lifestyle of the people here, and probably sowed the first seeds of interest in making the move. It was released subtitled in the US as Nico and Dani. You can watch it online here.

But seriously if you really want to get a deep understanding of Catalan culture and history the best way is to read Barcelona, by Robert Hughes. In principal it's a book on architecture but it goes deep into Catalan history, back to the founding two thousand years ago, and spends a lot of time covering culture and politics. The author clearly loved the city, and the 500-page book is fascinating and a great read. It will also give you great insight into the push for independence and the history and emotions that are involved. You're going to be (probably) arriving right in the middle of the campaign for the referendum; knowing the motives behind it will vastly improve your experience here.

N.b., there is another book by the same author called Barcelona the Great Enchantress. It's the same book with all the history stripped out, just sticking to architecture. It's not worth reading IMO.

The Pepe Carvalho books are all great (or at least the six or so that I've read). I especially like the earlier ones, before the Olympics transformed the city. Southern Seas is probably my favorite.

Do you speak any other romance language?

If so, try to get a copy of this book:

EuroComRom – The Seven Sieves

A multilingual gateway to the world of the Romance languages

Quite expensive at Amazon but many years ago I bought it in electronic form, so I guess you still can.

Edit: You can buy it in pdf format for less than 7€. The linked one is in English. You can have editions in German and in lots of Romance languages.

If you're not drinking a vast amount of water a day, get a Brita filter. Our water in Raval gave me the violent shits and tasted nasty; filter cleared it right up. Exchange every few weeks just to be sure, but really did it for me. I have one of these. Fixed the taste as well.

I believe you can also get ones that attach to your tap or under-sink, but no idea how/how well they work.

Theoretically, EU countries are supposed to reach a minimum standard of water cleanliness - there are regular threads about this in r/barcelona and r/spain. I recall one a while ago where I found a water purity/potability map for Spanish cities; apparently the EU rules are somewhat flexible, and countries have time to implement them.

Spanish cities, especially central areas, frequently have very old plumbing (not to mention what you'll find in old houses). Water run-off from the streets, sewage links, drainage from the surrounding soil substrate, etc. all seem to have an effect as well, as (I imagine) do warmer temperatures that are more conducive to bacterial growth - even if you purify water at central plants, transportation via old/insufficient infrastructure will potentially add particulate matter and other nasty crap.

Edit: if you're interested, it's the EU Drinking Water Directive; the European Environment Agency has links to various national portals. Country agencies are supposed to regularly test water quality, and you can report quality issues.

Like this one? https://www.amazon.es/Descalcificador-descalcificadores-Water2Buy-Elimina-derivaci%C3%B3n/dp/B009SOYMTE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502895019&sr=8-1&keywords=water+softener

Yeah, I used the .co.uk one, order a couple at the time of this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucy-Bee-Virgin-Organic-Coconut/dp/B00BS9JGK2/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1394202012&sr=1-1&keywords=Lucy+Bee

It´s expensive, but it´s damn easy, hah.

Barcelona by Robert Hughes
Pretty in depth book that goes over the history of the city, Catalan culture/society, etc. This will keep you occupied for a while.

I also really enjoyed Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. Describes his personal experiences during the Spanish Civil War and the Barcelona May Days fighting

https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Talk-Teens-Will-Listen/dp/1853408573

How about this beautiful and captivating catalan cat?

I don't understand. Are you Jon Tugores? If so feel free to order me to take down this post. I took the picture from someone's tweet that you retweeted if you actually are Jon Tugores.

To the other redditors, this is the book https://www.amazon.com/Barcelona-Jon-Tugores/dp/1940291801

https://www.amazon.es/Mosquiteros-Mosquitera-Holiday-Home-Completo/dp/B002X9A3QM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492605746&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=mosquitera&psc=1

Interesting.. No, the book I read was Ghosts of Spain.

I bought my aeropress filter refills online on amazon.es., only annoyance is that Amason uses SEUR which is usally a hit and miss when it comes to deliveries for me.

You could try one of these. Kick it under your door to block it and someone can't get in.