This portrait picture of a dancer wearing colorful earrings and flamenco headpiece is yet another sample of how Spanish culture is preserved by local authorities in neighborhoods around Barcelona in their attempt to reflect our reality, a concoction of different regions, different people living in the same peninsula under a flag some share and others do not, with their peculiarities, their traditions and their folklore. Some inhabitants feel identified with flamenco, some others remain indifferent and the rest rejects everything that has to do with it, basically because of that cliche that relates Spain with just bullfighters and flamenco dancers or in many other cases because they are not Spaniards at all but Catalans. But in spite of all these contradictions that you do not see when you are a tourist and come here for the first time, Catalan traditions coexist with these cultural manifestations of other regions and once the show starts, politics and legitimate or not feelings of belonging to one nation or another, to one region or another on both sides are left aside. When I look at this image I just see a beautiful girl wearing a colorful headpiece, having a wonderful day at the party showing people what she does best, dancing flamenco.
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October 20, 2012
Portrait: Flamenco Dancer with Headpiece and Earrings, Barcelona
This portrait picture of a dancer wearing colorful earrings and flamenco headpiece is yet another sample of how Spanish culture is preserved by local authorities in neighborhoods around Barcelona in their attempt to reflect our reality, a concoction of different regions, different people living in the same peninsula under a flag some share and others do not, with their peculiarities, their traditions and their folklore. Some inhabitants feel identified with flamenco, some others remain indifferent and the rest rejects everything that has to do with it, basically because of that cliche that relates Spain with just bullfighters and flamenco dancers or in many other cases because they are not Spaniards at all but Catalans. But in spite of all these contradictions that you do not see when you are a tourist and come here for the first time, Catalan traditions coexist with these cultural manifestations of other regions and once the show starts, politics and legitimate or not feelings of belonging to one nation or another, to one region or another on both sides are left aside. When I look at this image I just see a beautiful girl wearing a colorful headpiece, having a wonderful day at the party showing people what she does best, dancing flamenco.
October 09, 2012
Goat Cheese Salad, Terra Mia Italian Restaurant, Barcelona
Labels:
barcelona restaurant,
food,
italian restaurant,
restaurant,
tips
Location: Barcelona, Spain
C/ Ana Mª Matute Ausejo, 31, 08024 Barcelona, Spain
September 25, 2012
Girl at the Bar, Estacion de Francia, Barcelona
I liked the looks of this girl at the bar in Estació de Françia, Barcelona, with the blue and yellow lights falling on her, in front of the art nouveau lamp. Perhaps you would like to have a closer look of the lamp and see the beer pump as shown in previous post: Beer Pump and Lamp or want to check the entrance to the railway station: Woman waiting at Estación de Francia or Estació de França or Barcelona's most charming railway station. I think one of the best things about Barcelona is that you can enjoy art for a reasonable price, you can take a drink in a beautiful place like this for an affordable amount and of course I don't mean just the bar but the architecture of the building and the whole design of the place.
Labels:
estació de frança,
estación de francia
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Estación de Francia, Av. del Marquès de l'Argentera, s/n, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
September 17, 2012
Barri Gotic, Barcelona: Carrer Avinyo near El Call
Labels:
barcelona streets,
barri gotic,
gothic,
gothic quarter,
Jewish quarter,
nuns,
religion
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Carrer d'Avinyó, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
September 05, 2012
Vintage Tube Radio
August 02, 2012
Apple Retail Store Plaza Catalunya, Barcelona: View from the Upper Floor
A brand new Apple retail store opened to the public last Saturday, July 28th right in front of Plaça Catalunya, the most central spot in downtown Barcelona next to Passeig de Gracia. With the intention of getting my wife's Ipod shuffle battery problems fixed we visited the venue two days ago. The first thing you notice is the big wide open space feeling and the materials prevailing in the design, basically glass and wood. Worth mentioning is the translucent glass staircase to the upper floor. If anybody at Apple is interested in my wife's opinion as a consumer, a middle age consumer with no special inclination for the Mac world, the shop is weird. But anyway, it is clear that it is conceived with a certain purpose, facilitate easy access, visibility, movement and a certain state of mind I think. Everything is already planned here. All in all I liked the store but I was overwhelmed by the amount of people and the fact that many were not buying anything. It was hot in there. It is quite hard to give good reviews in such scenario, chaotic as it was due to high temperatures, hordes of locals and tourists alike storming the place and a little bit of the normal craziness during the first week after the opening. Maybe you get a better picture of Apple's new flagship store in this gallery at Cult of Mac or in a previous announcement at Mac Rumors
Note: The picture was taken with a Samsung Galaxy S2
July 22, 2012
Papier Mache Art: Famous Artists Display, Barcelona
The art of creating papier mache figures or sculptures can be simple if we consider the materials used but the final work can be as difficult as your imagination and skills permit.
Many of us at a given moment of our childhood have had the opportunity to shape small figures by pasting glued strips of paper on a balloon, a cardboard model or an armature of some sort. The final result was not always artistically worthy but it surely proved to be fun.
For those of you who always wished to make a wonderful artwork in paper mache and never could, here is another good sample of exquisite papier-mâché reproductions of famous artists like John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Freddy Mercury...(the other guy looks like the Edge from U2 but I am not sure).
There is this store near Plaza Sant Jaume in Barcelona where it is possible to buy such art among other articles. It is not cheap but you would impress your friends at home for sure and of course it is the heck of a present if you can afford it.
Check many other examples of such figures in my previous posts: Papier Mache Barcelona. I've been asked so many times for the address of this shop that I will reluctantly post it here and make them free publicity in spite of the fact they always come out and stop me from taking pictures:
Shop name: 2 Bis
Adress: Carrer Bisbe, 2 - 08002 Barcelona
Many of us at a given moment of our childhood have had the opportunity to shape small figures by pasting glued strips of paper on a balloon, a cardboard model or an armature of some sort. The final result was not always artistically worthy but it surely proved to be fun.
For those of you who always wished to make a wonderful artwork in paper mache and never could, here is another good sample of exquisite papier-mâché reproductions of famous artists like John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Freddy Mercury...(the other guy looks like the Edge from U2 but I am not sure).
There is this store near Plaza Sant Jaume in Barcelona where it is possible to buy such art among other articles. It is not cheap but you would impress your friends at home for sure and of course it is the heck of a present if you can afford it.
Check many other examples of such figures in my previous posts: Papier Mache Barcelona. I've been asked so many times for the address of this shop that I will reluctantly post it here and make them free publicity in spite of the fact they always come out and stop me from taking pictures:
Shop name: 2 Bis
Adress: Carrer Bisbe, 2 - 08002 Barcelona
Labels:
barcelona shop,
barri gotic,
celebrities,
paper mache,
papier mache
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
June 27, 2012
Inner Courtyard Swimming Pool in Barcelona
June 14, 2012
Cherry Tomatoes in Barcelona
June 01, 2012
Old Farmhouse (Masia) Door: 1817
The texture of rotten wood, the pass of time reflected on this 1817 door inside the premises of an old farmhouse or masia in Granollers near Barcelona
May 08, 2012
Flowers on the Window
On the same line as yesterday's post, let's continue with the spring flower topic on Barcelona Photoblog. While I find time to resume my photowalks around Barcelona what better than sharing some colors or some views that delighted my eyes in Spring.
Flowerbed
Some flowerbed somewhere in some garden in the afternoon. Seasonal flowers to enjoy the colors of Spring. I thought they looked better from ground level. Very common flowers. I don't even know the name. Who cares? Just some beautiful flowers. Maybe you can classify them for me.
April 24, 2012
Sant Jordi Rose, A Catalan Tradition
Yesterday like every April 23rd La Diada de Sant Jordi (St. George) celebrations took place in Barcelona. On a day like this, women are given a flower, a red rose while men are supposed to receive books. In the end everybody ends up buying books as this happened to be the Day of the Book as well.
April 17, 2012
Rusty Keyhole in Farmhouse Door
Time is an acid that eats up on all things. It does not matter whether it's a stone, a wooden plank or a metal surface, it keeps gnawing on textures until damage is visible and eventually stuff disappears, disintegrates into some other matter. This keyhole on an old masia (Catalan for farmhouse) door was no exception, nor were the boards that painstakingly try to hold the lock.
April 12, 2012
Climbing Plant on Old Catalan Farmhouse
Spring decorates every year the walls of Catalan farmhouses (cat. masias) with incredible strokes of color as if mother nature was immersed in some kind of restoration process to embellish what only seems to be held by the knots and entanglements of climbing plants like this. Watching the afternoon sun fall on these bright leaves is really a pleasure to the eye.
April 02, 2012
Romesco Sauce: The Perfect Companion to Calçots
March 31, 2012
Peeling Calçots, Masia Can Palau, Vilanova del Valles
In Catalonia, there is this part of the year when going out to peel calçots for lunch at any of the many masias spread around the country becomes almost a matter of state.
Most well-known places for calçotades are in the southern province of Tarragona, in a region called Valls but around Barcelona it is not strange to find a good spot in an idyllic environment.
The place I will mention today is just an example and of course you are free to choose. It is called Masia Can Palau and it is located in Vilanova del Valles some kilometers away from the city of Barcelona.
The 30 eur menu included Calçots with Romescu sauce, grilled meat (a mixture of chicken, sausage, lamb and rabbit with fries) and dessert. We had two generous rounds of calçots per person. They came wrapped in aluminum foil and were very hot.
But how do you peel Catalan calçots?
You have to grab the calçot by the leaves and with the other hand, press gently on the black roasted skin of the bulb and peel it off. Beware you don't press to hard and pull away the inner part of the calçot. It requires some practice. It should come out clean.
After that you soak the tender and juicy stems of the plant in an exquisite romesco sauce which is made with almond, garlic, red pepper, hazelnut, tomato, olive oil, vinegar, crumbs of fried bread, salt and pepper.
If you want to know how they cook calçots and what they are, check my previous posts: Catalan Traditions - Calçotada: A Close Look and Grilled Leaks...Check the sauce in next post.
Most well-known places for calçotades are in the southern province of Tarragona, in a region called Valls but around Barcelona it is not strange to find a good spot in an idyllic environment.
The place I will mention today is just an example and of course you are free to choose. It is called Masia Can Palau and it is located in Vilanova del Valles some kilometers away from the city of Barcelona.
The 30 eur menu included Calçots with Romescu sauce, grilled meat (a mixture of chicken, sausage, lamb and rabbit with fries) and dessert. We had two generous rounds of calçots per person. They came wrapped in aluminum foil and were very hot.
But how do you peel Catalan calçots?
You have to grab the calçot by the leaves and with the other hand, press gently on the black roasted skin of the bulb and peel it off. Beware you don't press to hard and pull away the inner part of the calçot. It requires some practice. It should come out clean.
After that you soak the tender and juicy stems of the plant in an exquisite romesco sauce which is made with almond, garlic, red pepper, hazelnut, tomato, olive oil, vinegar, crumbs of fried bread, salt and pepper.
If you want to know how they cook calçots and what they are, check my previous posts: Catalan Traditions - Calçotada: A Close Look and Grilled Leaks...Check the sauce in next post.
Labels:
calçots,
Catalan cuisine,
Catalan food
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Carrer de Can Palau, 1, 08410 Vilanova del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
March 26, 2012
Tattoo Shop, Barri Gotic, Barcelona
Becoming an intruder into somebody else's moment, sneaking into that magic instant that is no more and freezing it for posterity is one of the most thrilling experiences at least for me and I guess for anyone that enjoys photography. Walking down the narrow alleys of Barri Gotic, in a street whose name I can't recall, there was this small tattoo shop. The reflection of the man on the mirror and that green pouring out of the blinds really grabbed my attention. I had serious doubts as to whether to use black and white here and I can tell you it looks great but if color made me capture the scene in color it will go.
March 20, 2012
Estacion de Francia, Barcelona: Lamp and Beer Pump
Upon entering Estació de França in Barcelona and if you turn right and get into the bar you will find out that the place has been restored recently with great taste by the way. Worth mentioning are the big lamps hanging from the ceiling but today I would like to show you the ones on the counter (see image) next to the beer pump. A sweet mixture of tree, anemone and candlestick. I hope you enjoy the design and/or the beer.
March 17, 2012
Woman Waiting, Estació de França, Barcelona
A woman searches in her bag while her thoughts are somewhere far away. The quietude at the train station hall is the perfect environment to meditate before that long ride to who knows where. The pendulums hanging from the ceiling contribute to the idea of time passing by while the ticking of the clock on the distant wall, almost audible, is only interrupted by the steps of the guard walking his beat. Such is the impressive atmosphere at this famous train station in Barcelona. Find out more about this place in my previous post: Estació de França and Dome Detail.
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