Barcelona Photoblog: port
Showing posts with label port. Show all posts
Showing posts with label port. Show all posts

September 22, 2007

La Fura dels Baus: Naumon Ship at Port Vell, Barcelona

La Fura dels Baus: Naumon Vessel in Port Vell, Barcelona -Enlarge

As I am behind schedule with my posting so I will just show the whole version of yesterday's image: The Naumon ship of a La Fura dels Baus theater company. Notice the figure of the giant lying on the deck.

June 27, 2007

Fast Ferry Barcelona - Balearic Islands at Barcelona Port

Ramon Lull Fast Ferry from Balearia Company sailing from the Balearic Islands among other destinations to Barcelona, upon entering at Barcelona Port

This is fast ferry Ramon Llull belonging to Balearia company. Barcelona Photoblog took the picture from the deck of a sightseeing boat. I am not pretty sure where it came from this time as they cover Majorca, Minorca, Formentera and Ibiza plus Valencia, Denia, Ceuta and Algeciras. The vessel can carry 479 passengers and a 100 cars, a big monster compared to our small Las Golondrinas boat. Far away on the horizon you can see the Jaume I cable car tower and almost touching the prow the blurry silhouette of Hotel Arts.

May 31, 2007

Barcelona Port Mouth: A Quiet Place

Barcelona Port Mouth: A Quiet Place

If you entered Barcelona by sea, like say, on board of a Mediterranean Cruiser or your own boat (stop dreaming!), you would necessarily have to see this place as it is the mouth of Barcelona Port . A very quiet place, away from the noisy city which can hardly be seen from this point on the blurry horizon if you could look left of course. Those fishermen you see came walking along the long concrete wall looking for a deep place to throw the bait. I have left the harbor for the open seas twice, one going to Menorca on a big ferry at night and the other, this time, onboard of a sightseeing boat. On both occasions the experience has been very pleasing, I mean, there is so much silence out there when you are alone with your own thoughts watching the hypnotizing beauty of the sea, that you all of a sudden rediscover that you are alive, that you are not attached to the city, to that portion of land and bricks, that you are not a number in the stats but a human being only attached to nature, to Mother Earth.

May 25, 2007

Waiting for the Bridge: Rambla de Mar, Barcelona



These people were waiting for the wooden decked swing bridge at Moll d'Espanya to close again after letting boats sail into the marina. The wooden platform and the path along the bridge towards Maremagnum, the big leisure center, is called Rambla de Mar. The bridge was designed by Albert Viaplana, professor of Architectural Project at the School of Architecture of Barcelona University and Helio Piñon, his partner, teaching at the school since 1970 and co-editor of Arquitecturas-bis since 1974. They are responsible for major projects in the city so I suggest you check their work here Viaplana & Piñon. Here is a Google Earth Map with a view of the bridge at Rambla de Mar and Maremagnum.

April 27, 2007

Barcelona Harbour Cruise: A City Teaser

Sightseeing Along Barcelona City Coast
© All Rights Reserved

As I said in a previous post about sightseeing in Barcelona harbour and along the coast, a cruise on board of Las Golondrinas boats is a good teaser or appetizer before visiting the city. Of course you can plan your vacation trip in whatever order you wish!. Remember I told you about big and small boats covering a full route including harbor and coast or just harbour respectively, well, today in my blog I wanted to show you the old Golondrinas (see the one next to the steps?). This photograph I took on departure on board of one of the modern ships. It was great to take pictures as the landing docks grew tinier in the distance. The wooden platforms and stairs were full of tourists as you can see. To the left the Columbus Monument and a little to the right of the Golondrina, the Harbor Authority building, featuring an impressive architecture which I intend to cover in a different post soon. The next days I may be publishing irregularly because I will be in Madrid until next Tuesday. I suppose I can publish from the hotel. In case I can't, you will get your daily dose of images in a row on Wednesday.
Feed Issue: I am tampering with blogger labels again so feed subscribers may have noticed the service broken. It is a well known blogger issue that, upon changing old labels or typos, the feed shows old posts as newly published. This inconvenience has been fixed now. In case anyone is interested you can find the workaround here.
Note: From here I would like to thank Conny of Saabrücken Daily Photo, for choosing me as the winner in her Haiku competition and recommending my link too.

April 25, 2007

Sightseeing Along Barcelona City Coast

Sightseeing Along Barcelona City Coast
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Sightseeing Barcelona city harbour and coast is one of the most gratifying experiences in our Mediterranean urbis. As in some other major cities like Paris, London or New York, taking a boat to navigate along the river or the coast in this case helps you to take visual shortcuts throughout the territory you are going to explore in the most pure discoverer or pioneer style. Sightseeing boats in Barcelona port are called Golondrinas (swallows). You get tickets and depart from Moll de la Fusta in front of the Columbus column monument and prices are not expensive considering today standards. You should know that there are the classic smaller ships which were the original vessels seafaring inside the harbour for about half an hour and more modern boats doing just that plus a cruise out of the port mouth and along the coast till the Forum area on the other side of the city and return to departure point. Last weekend I travelled on one of these and believe me the one hour and a half journey really was worth the 10 Euros I paid. I thought my fellow photo bloggers would love to take a peek too as an appetizer for a future visit. I hope you like this waterscape and the reflections on the intense blue sea.

April 23, 2007

Bascule Bridge La Porta d'Europa, Barcelona Port

La Porta de Europa Bridge in Barcelona Harbor
La Porta de Europa Bridge in Barcelona Harbor


La Porta d'Europa is a basculant mobile bridge at the entrance to the port of Barcelona by Juan Jose Arenas de Pablo, Profesor PhD. of Special Structures of Design at the University of Cantabria in Santander City.

Arenas is also known by other famous works like the The Bridge of the Barqueta (main entry of the EXPO-SEVILLA 92), The Bridge of HispanoAmerica in the city of Valladolid as well as The Cathedral of The Wines in Navarra.

The Porta d'Europa bridge insures traffic between island (due to increasing traffic volumes a new harbor entrance has been built and part of the port becomes an island) and mainland while retaining the existing harbor entrance.

State port authorities are incorporating private investment to enlarge the docks facilities, maximize maritime foreign trade of Catalonia and make Barcelona harbor a world class port that responds to Europe's increasing need for transport, distribution and logistic services.

If you want to see the bridge from this perspective take the Las Golondrinas sightseeing ships at Moll de la Fusta.

This is a Google Earth aerial photograph of La Porta D'Europa Bridge in Barcelona Port.

November 28, 2006

Sunset over Port Vell, Barcelona

Sunset over Port Vell, Barcelona

Today's picture was taken last Sunday after having lunch at one of the many restaurants in front of the marina in Port Vell (I know, I know, it was quite late for lunch!). It was a hot day, somewhat foggy and the sun was setting rapidly over Columbus column on the other side of the port, just in front of Las Ramblas. Notice that on top of the mountain in the distance you can also spot Calatrava's tower which I had photographed early in the afternoon.

October 28, 2006

Poverty in Barcelona: Tramp at Maremagnum

Tourism and Tramps
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Alienated, abandoned, neglected, homeless tramps. Poverty goes with society, it has been there before and it will be there in the future, it is the byproduct of human ambition. Being different and impaired is punished with ignorance and rejection for the sake of the pack. When are we going to think and act as civilized animals instead of just animals?

Aerial Photo of Maremagnum in Port vell, Barcelona via Google Earth.

October 18, 2006

Barcelona Port: WTC, Cruisers and...Pigeons?

Barcelona Port


Here is a view of Barcelona Port, specifically Port Vell (Old Port) with World Trade Center building in the back, some cruisers and a lot of pigeons baking in the sun. I would like to mention my friend Kris from Little Town in Hungary who also included pigeons in her post yesterday. Once, long ago, in my childhood days I thought they were beautiful. I reckon they might be for those of you living in places where they are not crawling and creeping like rats as it happens here and in many countries. 

The other day I was fighting over a McDonald's hamburger with one of those predators. No wonder they swarm freely in the harbor area, they don't have natural enemies, just hunger, viruses and maybe seagulls, another growing menace in modern cities. Hey, don't misinterpret me, I love animals...birds too, but not THAT many!.

Relevant information: Barcelona World Trade Center, located at the end of Moll de Barcelona (Barcelona Wharf) was created by US architects, Pei, Coob, Fred & Partners, authors of the glass pyramid at the Louvre Museum. For more details check the official site mentioned above. Cruisers like the ones in the picture depart from international seaport terminals on both sides of Barcelona wharf. The big metal structure is the tower of Jaume I, communicating the port with a neighboring hill called Montjuic by means of a cable car known as the Montjuïc Teleféric. Amazing view from there!  


September 18, 2006

Panoramic View of Barcelona: World Trade Center

Panoramic View of Barcelona: World Trade Center


Today, I present you with another shot taken from Montjuic of one of the wharfs at Barcelona port. Notice this enormous and luxurious hotel, with an exquisite design at the very end of the pier: it is the Barcelona World Trade Center, on the right side of the picture next to the cable car tower. I would recommend it if it weren't for the fact that it is not made for the pocket of common mortals like us, are you?
Cruisers sailing the Mediterranean sea depart from the same wharf, what a coincidence!.

September 15, 2006

Maremagnum: A Leisure Resort in Barcelona Port

Maremagnum: A Leisure Resort in Barcelona Port


As many fellow bloggers know, this is not my first post about Maremagnum, the leisure resort in Barcelona Port, so today I will concentrate on the image. As in previous photos taken at Port Vell water front, I chose reflections of the people at the cafeteria out in Maremagnum Shopping Center's terrace. I like the way in which the glass panels tend to distort the image creating optical illusion. To find out more examine my previous posts: Maremagnum Mare Nostrum Reflections, Escalators at Maremagnum in Barcelona, Spain, Sitting on the Dock of the Bay and specially Maremagnum Tourist Paradise. I think there are some more. I hope you enjoy them along with...

September 01, 2006

Sightseeing in Barcelona: Las Golondrinas

Sightseeing in Barcelona: Las Golondrinas


This is a picture I took at Barcelona Port just in front of Columbus Monument in which you can appreciate one of Las Golondrinas, sightseeing ships you can board to travel along the coast.

For more information check the for tourist boat company address:
"Las Golondrinas" - "Sirenas SA"
Pl. Portal de la Pau, 1
08002 - Barcelona
Tel. +34 93 442 31 06

July 25, 2006

Marina Port Vell in Barcelona, Spain

Marina Port Vell in Barcelona


After showing you part of the History Museum of Catalonia at Palau de Mar building, here is a picture of the view from the roof and restaurant terrace of the museum. You can admire part of the Moll del Dipòsit in which Marina Port Vell is located. The Marina is surrounded by Barceloneta's restaurants and "tapas" bars and is 10 minutes away from the center. The place appeared recently in the news because of the many people living in boats and not sailing alleging that it's cheaper to dwell in a small vessel than buying or renting an apartment in the city. Notice the white building there in the background, it is the Imax Port Vell cinema, a little bit to its left you find Maremagnum Shopping Center and farther back you see Barcelona World Trade Center building. On the horizon the almost new highway bridge near the entrance to the port. Check this other photo where you have a wider view.


July 20, 2006

Sightseeing at Maremagnum

Sight Seeing in Maremagnum

My daughter last spring at Maremagnum in Port Vell, Barcelona. She asks me for a coin and goes sightseeing, just like looking at myself in the mirror not so long ago...at least in my mind.

July 19, 2006

Maremagnum Mare Nostrum Reflections

Maremagnum Mare Nostrum Reflections

If you ever come to Barcelona, it is mandatory to go to Port Vell, specifically the Maremagnum area and walk along the planks of the stylish wharves where you can admire the reflections of the Mediterranean Sea, the Mare Nostrum, on the mirrors of the nearby shopping center (buying is optional).



July 18, 2006

Escalators at Maremagnum in Barcelona Port

Escalators at Maremagnum in Barcelona Port

This is an afternoon shot at Maremagnum Shopping Center by Port Vell in Barcelona Port. I thought we could give our street artist some rest. I used sepia tones to emphasize light and strengthen the silhouette of people. Escalators coming down so near the waterfront are awkward enough to be portrayed here.

July 10, 2006

Black Market at Barcelona Port

Black Market at Barcelona Port

A sepia picture of Barcelona Port, one of the places with greater affluence of tourists and black market dealers. People from diverse origin concentrate around here and participate in what is known as top manta, a term derived from the small blanket where they display their merchandise. There is a sort of simple mechanism with cords over the blanket to enable them to pick everything up very fast and carry it all simulating a bag. Although a law was passed recently by the City Council to eliminate such practices the fact is that it is still very common around this area and the city center.

June 25, 2006

Barcelona Port: Young Lady and Golondrinas

Barcelona Port: Lady and Golondrinas

Strolling around the plank walk at La Rambla de Mar in Barcelona Port, everything seems so idyllic that you don´t need to have a sudden burst of inspiration to find good pictures. Not that this one is state-of-the-art photography, but I really like the solitude, the privacy she enjoys in her tiny, cozy territory at the wharf. 

The approaching ship is a sightseeing boat known as Las Golondrinas, covering the port and longer trips to the Forum area out of the harbor along the coastline at the other end of the city. 

The building in the background is Barcelona World Trade Center (WTC). Most cruises around the Mediterranean Sea depart from or stop over at this wharf.

See Rambla de Mar at Barcelona Port on a Google Earth Map.
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