Families traveling with children often don't know how to entertain the younger ones. Sightseeing can be very tiring after all. We found some activities, which will satisfy everyone.
Christmas in Poble Espanyol
Illustration 1 Los Reyes Magos in Poble Espanyol
As every year, Poble Espanyol transforms itself into a winter wonderland.
The second Christmas activity will start the 21st of December and end the 5th of January.
From the 22nd to 24th of December, children can give their wishlist to Santa Claus, or to the Three Kings from 25th of December to 5th of January,
During these days, visitors are able to experience Christmas in Catalan traditional way, with live nativity scenes, traditional Catalan meat stew (escudella), and the making of the Tío (a wood log pooping out the gifts).
On Plaza Mayor, you can immerse yourself in the Christmas Market, with many stands selling Christmas decorations, foods and crafts.
Poble Espanyol also offers plenty of activities for children, such as workshops, animation, performances, and film projections.
The 13 Geese
Did you know that the Barcelona Cathedral houses 13 geese in their secluded cloister?
Located in Plaça de la Seu, the beautiful cathedral is dedicated to Santa Eulàlia, the patron saint of Barcelona, who was martyred in the late Roman period. Her body is still buried in the cathedral's crypt. In remembrance of her death, the cloister still houses 13 geese for each year of Santa Eulàlia. Back in the days, the main tasks of the geese were to warn against intruders and thieves.
The cloister is a small hidden gem in Barcelona. It is especially nice during summer, where you can hide from the buzzling city in the cool shades.
But during the Christmas time, the cloister's garden transforms into a pessebre (nativity scene), which can be admired from the 25th of November 2017 until 8th of January 2018. It is open to the public during the standard cloister opening hours.
To see the opening hours, please click here.
Caga Tío
Illustration 2 Caga Tío by Comu de Sant Julia Loria | flickr
Catalans have very interesting Christmas traditions, such as Caga Tío. Caga Tío can be translated into "pooping log".
Traditionally, a hollow wood log is being given to the children on the 8th of December. They will take care of the Caga Tío until Christmas by feeding and keeping it warm.
Depending on how good they took care of the log, it will "defecate" an amount of small gifts in the end.
On Christmas day, the family gathers together to beat the presents out of the wood log.
