AUGUST 24, MONDAY
18.30–19.45 h Opening Ceremony The Opening and the Award ceremony will be held in the Auditorium of the Palau de Congressos No. 5 of the Fira de Barcelona. After the Opening Session a Welcome Cocktail will be offered at the Science Museum-CosmoCaixa Barcelona placed in the slopes of the Tibidabo mountain at the north of the city. A special bus service from the Fira to the Museum will leave from the main entrance of the Palau de Congressos No. 5 in the Av. Reina Maria Cristina at 20.00 h (15 min trip).
20.15–22.30 h Welcome Cocktail in the Science Museum “CosmoCaixa” The CosmoCaixa Barcelona is a new museum which is considered as one of the finest science museums in Europe. With a new building of 50,000 m2, it has a great variety of content and an innovative layout. Exhibitions are distributed throughout various rooms, including the Amazon Forest, the Geological Wall, the Planetarium, etc. (download a pdf map of the museum). Visitors are invited to interact with many of the scientific experiments, making the whole experience richer and more entertaining. Additionally, 3 temporal exhibitions on “Comparative Technology”, “Numb3rs of good family” and “Talking about drugs” are currently showed. The visit to the Museum includes a cocktail-dinner which will start at 21.30 h in the Museum’s terrace so called “Plaça de la Ciència” and will end at 22.30 h. Folk music will be played during the cocktail-dinner at the “Plaça de la Ciència”. Buses returning to the Fira de Barcelona will leave from the main entrance of the CosmoCaixa at 22.30 h (15 min trip). At any time, city buses returning to Barcelona downtown (17, 22, 58, 73, 75, 60 and 196) will be available at the main entrance of the Museum. Additionally, a metro-like train (FGC) to Plaça de Catalunya (and other destinations) stops 7 min walking distance away (Av. Tibidabo station).
AUGUST 25, TUESDAY
19.30–23.00 h Social Evening at Plaça de l'Univers A friendship and casual wear dinner party will take place in the Plaça de l’Univers of the Fira de Barcelona, beside the Palau de Congressos No. 5 in the Av. Reina Maria Cristina. The atmosphere will recreate a Spanish summer fair party (‘verbena’), starting with a performance of the traditional group of ‘Castellers de Sants’ and followed by an outdoors concert of modern music by the band ‘Trafic’. Dinner will be based on traditional Catalonian and Spanish dishes and drinks, including barbecue and a tasting of many quality foods and drinks offered by different Spanish organizations and denominations of origin (wine, ham, meat and cheese). Soft drinks will also be available. During the dinner a special performance of the ‘Montjuïc Magic Fountain’ at the Av. Reina Maria Cristina will be offered by courtesy of the ‘Ajuntament de Barcelona’. Additionally, participants may enjoy the ‘Festa Major’ in the streets of Sants (the neighbourhood near the Fira de Barcelona) which will be held during the week (August 22 to 30).
AUGUST 26, WEDNESDAY
Free Evening
AUGUST 27, THURSDAY
20.00–23.30 h Farewell Dinner at the MNAC The farewell banquet dinner will be held in the MNAC (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya), an emblematic building, placed on the top of the Montjuïc hill, next to the Fira de Barcelona, and easily identified on the city skyline. The MNAC can be accessed by walking (10 min), using the mechanical stairs located at the right side of the Montjuïc Magic Fountain. The MNAC was built for the Barcelona International Exhibition held in 1929 and was extensively reformed in 2004 to receive the most important collections of antique and modern art of Catalonia, including Romanesque, Gothic and Modern masterpieces. Dinner will be held in the Oval Room of the MNAC, a large hall which stands out for its great dome and large tubular organ. A gourmet dinner will be offered based on traditional Spanish and Catalonian dishes. The panoramic view of Barcelona at night from the MNAC terrace, in which a goblet of cava will be offered, will be the best souvenir to take home from the 60th EAAP annual meeting.