Skateboarding in Barcelona

Experience has taught me that I shouldn't talk about modern trends be it in music, fashion, hobbies or sports. Why? Well, I simply get too old for that. I am only 44 but there are things I am not prepared to understand just because I was born and raised in the 60s. Gosh, ancient history now! There are specially a couple of posts I sadly remember too well, one was about a jacket with a logo that read "social distortion" and the other was about "ska". I won't bring the issue back though. It was just an example of how can a middle-aged man screw things up when it comes to young people's stuff. This elusive preface will be my alibi to tiptoe over today's picture: Skateboarding in Barcelona. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that the photograph was taken at the beach in Barcelona.

Grilled White Sausages

When in Catalonia do as the Catalans do. Have yourself a nice plate full of grilled sausages, aka botifarra de pagés white or black. You ought to get off traditional routes of course. Not in Las Ramblas if you know what I mean. Go out, take a trip to the countryside now that it is spring time and see to find a place where you can have them cooked in the open, in front of you. As you wait, be generous with the wine, not sangria for Christ sake, no, a good wine or at least not the lousy concoctions tourists use to get for a higher price. Enjoy good Catalan food while you enjoy the nice weather. You can make it if you try, believe me.

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Almond Tree Flowers in Early Spring

Just another bunch of almond flowers taken in early spring someday in Lleida last year.

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El Born: Narrow Alley with Cha Cha Store

A narrow alley in El Born quarter, Barcelona, with a small but trendy store called Cha Chá. The exact address, Sant Antoni Dels Sombrerers 7.

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Infrared Ruins in the Spring

Iberian ruins with some spring flowers in Lleida. I have added a slight infrared effect for emphasis.

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Berries

Just another shot of some berries I portrayed here once.

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Reflections in Heron City

Another new version of an old image of mine. I showed a cropped picture in a previous post. This time I feature the whole building which is part of Heron City center in Barcelona.

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Meat Grinder: Sausage, The Making of.

Just an appliance: the meat grinder. Very common in Catalan towns when stuffing bowels with pork meat to make sausages.

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Voigtlander: My Vintage Camera

I published a similar picture in the past. This time you can also see the lid in my vintage Voigtländer.

Dry

A weird abstraction. Just some towel someone dropped over a tree.

Escriba's Desserts

Escriba's: A restaurant by the beach in Barcelona. Here is a sample of what kind of desserts you can have while enjoying the view. Check Xiringuito Escriba

Fireman

Barcelona Photoblog needs some updating so I begin a series of quick posts. I hope you understand that texts shall be scarce till I catch up a little. Here you are: A toy fireman.

Baby Rabbits in Nest at a Farm in Vallverd, Lleida

Although Barcelona pictures are in high demand, especially buildings or street photos, I remind you that this blog is always open to other topics that may seem irrelevant sometimes. Such is the case of flowers, assorted objects or animals I find along the way. Moreover, as specified in the description on top there is the possibility of including neighboring towns and by that I mean any place in Catalonia i.e. the Spanish authonomy or the country (according to the political thoughts of its inhabitants) of which Barcelona is the capital. Once said that I wanted to show you a nest of baby rabbits in a small friend's farm in Vallverd, Lleida (map), one of the four Catalan provinces. Everyone knows rabbits but all of them together waiting for mummy in the cage next door to feed them seemed cute enough to portray and a way to shake you off the architectural hypnosis I exposed you to in the last posts.

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The New Trees of Catalonia

I don't like the final result in this picture because of the strong midday sun and the original colors but I kind of enjoy the pose of the little boy holding a hoe in front of the hole he dug himself and how he waits for his mom to plant the new tree they both had brought to the pond of Ivars (Lleida) as part of a campaign to bring back some green to the barren lands of this country. Well in fact it is customary in many regions of Catalonia to plant trees at the beginning of spring. I would say that in general we care about the environment and children are taught to love nature since they are very young.

La Pedrera or Casa Mila, Barcelona, Spain

As you know this is Casa Milá aka La Pedrera by Antoni Gaudi. 

I can't say much but I recommend you visit previous posts about the art nouveau building at Passeig de Gracia. 

I have tried different angles of the house but this one taken at sunset looked fine enough. Nevertheless I have polarized the façade and added some dramatic sky just out of pure boredom. 

I think it is a building that works when it comes to tweaking reality. Here are some other shots from my archives: Casa Mila, Door Ironwork, La Pedrera in BW and La Pedrera a Barcelona Landmark.

Obelisk at the Intersection of Passeig de Gracia and Diagonal, Barcelona, Spain

This obelisk you find at the intersection of two main arteries in Barcelona, Passeig de Gracia and Diagonal. Known as the Lápiz (the pencil) it is located on the center of a quite peculiar crossroad that goes by the name of Cinc d'Oros (Five of golds, that is, the golden coins, one of the suits in the Baraja Española or Spanish cards) due to four lamp posts that used to surround the monument. The sculpture represents Franco's victory and dates back from 1940 (I can't believe it is still there considering what it represents!). Well the woman was sculpted by Frederic Marès. It must be said that the original statue (1936), by Josep Viladomat, was dedicated to the Republic, the lady was wearing no robe and instead of being on the present pedestal it was standing on top of the obelisk. Most of all, I enjoyed the combination with the beautiful face in the background, thanks to that the Lápiz looks less boring.

The Fountain of the Frog - Sculpture Detail, Diagonal Av., Barcelona

This is a detail of what is known as Font de la Granota (fountain of the frog) on the corner of Diagonal Avenue and Corsega street. You don't see it here but the hands belong to a little boy who is lying on top as if by the bank of a river holding a frog or rather squeezing it to make water pour from its mouth. It was sculpted by Josep Campeny i Santamaria (Igualada, 1858 - Barcelona, 1922) in 1912. To have an idea check this low quality image of the fountain.

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Modernist Yellow Building at Aribau 179, Barcelona

You don't always need emblematic houses to enjoy great architecture in Barcelona. Sometimes, here and there you find real beauties camouflaged as apartment or office buildings. Standing on Diagonal Avenue and looking down Aribau Street to the right, at Aribau 179 to be exact, you can admire this modest and yet so decorated façade that stands on the very corner illuminated by the last sun rays in this case and looking stately in a way if compared with other not so genuine neighbors.

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Art Nouveau Balcony at La Diputacio de Barcelona

Just in front of Coqueta, the Giraffe in yesterday's post you find La Diputació de Barcelona, featured in Barcelona Photoblog in the past. Today I just wanted to show you a detail of this wonderful modernist balcony and recommend you go over my description of this government building at Rambla Catalunya: La Diputació de Barcelona

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Coqueta The Giraffe, A Curious Sculpture at Rambla Catalunya

They say sequels are never better than the original movie. This is the second time that Coqueta, the Giraffe stars in Barcelona Photoblog and I am almost sure this time you'll appreciate its beauty much better. Lots of images in this blog during the first year were taken with a lousy camera and besides there was the well known blogger picture size restriction problem. I did my best then but my gear evolved and so did my photographs. I just hope in the future I am able to give bad reviews about my past work, that would mean everything is getting better. As Socrates said, "true wisdom lies in recognizing one’s own ignorance". In case you want to know more about Coqueta sculpture or Josep Granyer the sculptor please visit my previous posts: Posing Giraffe and Bull by Josep Granyer.

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