Let’s Talk Rebrands: An Open Letter From Gravy, Stoke Travel CMO
This feels like a terribly self-indulgent thing for me to do – you know, who cares about what the piddling CMO from a middling youth travel company has to say…
For all the beauty Europe has to offer, it can start feeling a little ugly by the end of a long winter. Unless, of course, you’re in Barcelona – Spain’s ever-steamy cultural capital. Here’s six reasons why Barcelona is the spiciest place to be this winter.
If you’ve visited Barcelona in summer, you’ll know the challenges that come with trying to navigate the throngs of tourists that choke the city’s streets. In the cooler months, Barcelona retains all its vibrancy but is mercifully free of the stags, hens and Contiki tours that plague it during summer. The crowds thin and there is more opportunity for meaningful interactions with locals. Meaningful. Winky face.
Flights between European cities are generally pretty cheap, but never more so than in the depths of winter. If you’re silly enough to be based in any city besides the one that first spawned the Stoke seed, you can soon rectify the situation with a quick search on Google flights.
We ain’t sayin’ you’re gonna get a tan, but you won’t get hypothermia, either. When Stockholm is sheeted in snow, the skies are still blue in Barcelona and you won’t die if you accidentally get too drunk and pass out on a bench somewhere.
If you thought La Boqueria was an impressive market, you’ll swoon and crack your head open on the pavement at the sight of the Fira de Santa Llúcia Christmas markets. It’s a foodies paradise, full of moist treats such as cheese, wine and salty explosions of jamon. There’s piney smelling Christmas trees and mistletoe to mack-on under. You’ll find trinkets, leather wares and jewellery to purchase as tokenistic Christmas gifts for the folks at home, but if you really want to get into the Catalan Christmas spirit, you simply must buy a…
5. Shit Log
Little loggikin’s traditional name is Caga Tio. These smiling, legged logs are purchased for the homes of Catalonians, where children are tasked with feeding the log nuts and dried fruits in the lead-up to Christmas, poking them down so the log effectively poops. When present day arrives, Caga Tio’s ass-blanket is whipped away to reveal GIFTS. Look children, he shat out the presents! Then they burn him on the fire. He even has a song which goes like so:
Shit log,
Shit nougats,
Hazelnuts and mató cheese,
If you don’t shit well,
I’ll hit you with a stick,
Shit log!
Cute, huh?
If you’d like to experience the culinary and crappy delights of Barcelona in the winter time, join Stoke Travel for a Barcelona City Break so hot it will burn your foreskin more than that time you tried to re-enact the pie scene from American Pie.
Tagged with: City Break 2017, Euro winter, winter, porn hub, Barcelona winter, winter in Europe