Garden Flowers: Orchids

As you know I am not precisely a flower connoisseur but I can't help taking pictures of them in any context. This time I got these orchids for you. I spotted a nice bunch of them in a jar at the house of one of my friends' grandmother.

Notice the white wall which gave me a good neutral background. I couldn't get rid of all the noise but it looks nice in this medium size. Don't forget to follow the link and learn about Orchidaceae family.

You can read things like: "The term 'orchid' derives from the Greek ορχις orchis, meaning "testicle", from the appearance of subterranean tuberoids of the genus Orchis" or "One orchid genus, Vanilla, is commercially important, used as a foodstuff flavoring, the source of vanilla. The underground tubers of terrestrial orchids are ground to a powder and used for cooking, such as in the hot beverage salep or the so-called "fox-testicle ice cream" salepi dondurma".

Here is a nice selection of flower shops in Barcelona via @TimeOut

Colorful Houses by the Onyer River in Girona

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This is a view from a bridge over River Onyer in Girona. The old part of town with colorful houses almost touching the water, the Cathedral and the former collegiate church of San Feliú being restored.
Recommended: Quick and helpful photography tips by Andrew Hudson adapted to different levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced.

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The Wall Walk in Girona, Catalonia

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The city walls dating from early medieval times are a good place to enjoy a privileged view of Girona. The point where I am right now is the longest stretch conserved and can be reached from the Jardí d'Infància, on the banks of the Onyar river which I will show you tomorrow. I know that this personal photoblog should concentrate on Barcelona but I consider it fit sometimes to include other provinces inside Catalonia so you have the chance to get an idea of the cities and towns you can visit once in Barcelona. Girona is 103 Km North East of Barcelona, on the way to France. Sometimes it is cheaper to fly to Girona which is near Costa Brava or the Pyrenees and has good road connections with the capital of Catalonia. Here are some airlines that operate a flight to Girona Spain. Girona is the city with the fastest growing population in the last decade (28,5%). Recommended: A walk through the narrow streets of the historic Jewish quarter or any of the monuments mentioned here. A list of some important hotels in Girona.

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Orange Flowers

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Today I resume the flower posts. I leave you with these beautiful three orange flowers in a row. I would say they are daisies but I am not sure so I leave it up to you to find out. Yesterday's post was a little gross I know and besides I did not realize it was just the day Christians are not suppose to have meat. I am sorry if I hurt any feelings. It was a coincidence and almost a bad joke. I had that post on my mind for a long time and I chose a bad day for publishing. Well, I hope you like my flowers and that they give you peace of mind to enjoy these holidays.

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Blood Sausage: Botifarra Negra

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More on Catalan sausages. The most common products are the white sausage (botifarra blanca) which requires only meager meat, the blood sausage (botifarra negra) with fat and blood and fuet, a thin, cured dry sausage. Blood botifarras are later boiled, fried or grilled and served for lunch accompanied by salad, pork meat and red wine. I have to thank people from Vallverd d'Urgell, Lleida who gently allowed me to take pictures, witness the poor pig slaughter or matanza and invited me for a succulent lunch.

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Catalan Sausage or Botifarra: The Slaughter

Here is a picture of a Catalan sausage or botifarra. The typical Catalan sausage is made of pork and spices. Botifarra is also a game of cards and what you do with your finger or arm to other drivers when they suddenly get in you way. 

Today I will show you some pictures of the procedure followed to elaborate a sausage. Good traditional products are hand made in small towns the old way. Many times inhabitants celebrate special occasions killing an animal following more or less the same ritual: a skilled neighbor is called to take charge of the slaughter or matanza which starts early in the morning. Once the pig is killed, women pick up the blood and innards while the same butcher takes care of the meat. The ladies mince the meat, saltpepper it and stuff it in the bowels' skin previously cleaned. More of this process tomorrow. 

The butifarra in the picture is a raw blood sausage which looked great for my food set on Flickr over the wood of the table.

Human Statues in La Rambla de Barcelona: Biker

Human Statues in La Rambla de Barcelona really have an astonishing imagination. How do you dig a bearded man in a thick suit looking like Uncle Sam or ZZ Top, escorted by two skinny companions (two skeletons) that pedal along with him in unison?. 

A lot has been said in Barcelona Photoblog about street artists, statues in La Rambla de Barcelona and their predominant role in broadcasting a good image of the city. I suggest you use the Google label below to search for more. Of course you can always visit my Street Artists photoset at Flickr. Better than that? Come to Barcelona for Easter and watch them live!

Almond Tree Flowers for Easter Holidays

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Easter is here and many are already on holidays. Anybody there? Not my case. I keep on posting flowers in my stubborn crusade against best blogging practices, not to repeat topic. The almond tree, Prunus dulcis, grows flowers in the early spring right before the leaves. Talking about sunny skies and beautiful flowers is sort of science fiction gibberish right now. It is raining cats and dogs tonight in Barcelona but they say the weather will give us a break by Friday. Many towns in Spain will take their holy images for a walk in procession and everybody is crossing their fingers. Catholics, atheists and believers of all credes meditate, pray, disconnect from the real world or celebrate the old Roman way, you know. I am planning to open a florist shop to send you flowers online, I accept credit cards. Just kidding. I wish you all a happy Easter.
PS: I heard about Tsunami killer wave in Solomon Islands. My condolescences to the victims. I hope no one there in Asia gets hurt or affected.

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Purple Spring Flowers in Barcelona

No, I am not a florist, I don't send flower bouquets by UPS nor did I become a garden enthusiast over the weekend. It is just that spring is coming and I have a strong addiction to beauty in nature. 

I apologize for not posting enough Barcelona related posts but the time comes when you don't take those long walks around the city for various reasons. 

I think that I have covered many topics and places so far so why not giving my mind a little rest with other aspects of life other than street photography. 

This picture and yesterday's I took in a garden at my friends' house in Argentona, Barcelona.

Update: Purple daisies they seem to be. Thanks to my readers for reminding me about taxonomy.

Red Hot Spring Flowers in Barcelona

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Red hot flowers whose name I don't know. I skipped most of my botanics classes or at least I wasn't paying much attention. Why should I if I have true experts in flower names among you? One thing I am sure of: they have a strong red tone and the sepals are fleshy in appearance so I find them somehow sensual. I can't take away that American beauty scene from my eyes, I don't know why? The new week is about to start so I send these flowers in a bottle to all my friends in the other part of the world.

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Park Guell Columns: Mathematical Architecture

A man playing guitar in the quietness of the 86 Doric columns below the famous terrace where many of you have been chatting and enjoying the view over Barcelona city. The colonnade may look sober in design but it is strong and stable thanks to the mathematical perfection of its architecture. Maybe that is what creates the wonderful acoustics this musician is taking profit of. The ceiling incorporates colorful mosaic plafonds that cannot be appreciated here due to the counter light effect. I liked the way this light pierced through the corridors onto the polished floors. Here is a Google Earth image of Parc Guell and specifically the terrace under which you could listen the melodic notes of this classic guitar musician or many other artists. See also these other pictures at Gaudi All Gaudi. This a digital photo but I used some lab color effect to make it look like film.

Homeless Immigrants in Barcelona

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Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack, And you may find yourself in another part of the world. And you may ask yourself-Well...How did I get here?...Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down, Letting the days go by/water flowing underground, into the blue again/after the money's gone, Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground. Hmm...Talking Heads. If you read between the lines and you look at this man sitting here on top his belongings, leaning on that platain tree and staring vacantly into space in the middle of Plaça Catalunya you will realize that your future is always balancing on a tight but uncertain rope, today you are here and tomorrow you are there, into the blue again after the money is gone. Being homeless in Barcelona or in any other big city is really tough but being homeless and an immigrant is even worse.

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The Age of Innocence: Young Little Adults

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Three little kids in their carnival costumes last February in Barcelona. Concentrated, looking at bigger students parading in fancy outfits. I didn't ask them to stand still, they were like statues themselves pricking their ears and absorted. What do you see when you contemplate this scene? Do you still see the child inside yourself? Do you remember you once lived in the age of innocence? If only we could be in their shoes, at least spiritually, and rediscover colors, fantasy, nice smells, euphoria, laughter, the warmth of our parents' hands and see only kindness in our peers' eyes. I don't take many photos of kids but I really enjoyed these young little adults.

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Black and White Garden Bursts on Fire

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I don't have plenty of time today as you can guess by the hour I publish yet another wild fantasy of mine. Had it been other times people would say the shaman did not measure quite well that LSD dose on me. I was playing with this sort of cactus, which originally is greenish or brownish in tones and wondered what would happened if I took a black and white version of the photograph and set it on fire with a thermal camera effect in Photoshop. On a closer look it is really burning hot!

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Sunset in the Fields

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This is a dark picture, in fact it is totally counterlight but that's the fun of it. It is meant to be watched from the distance as there is not much to distinguish in the dusky light of the foreground. These weeds were at least two times taller than me. I was walking along a path and the sun was all the time scintillating among the stems at sight level. Fortunately there was a plane leaving a white smoke trail too and in a way completed my ackward composition and daring shot. In the larger image you can get a little bit more detail perhaps. I wasn't pretty sure about this one but it helps diversifying the subject after recent animal and food issues.

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Cricket Farewell

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We will keep dealing with the food topic but from a different perspective: food that is alive!. What do you think happened next? Well this is no national geographic documentary and I was not on a trip in the wild commisioned with big money. This picture was taken in the quiet atmosphere of a reptile terrarium, the cricket was placed there on purpose for the shot and the salamander (as usual I am not sure if this is a salamander) did eat the poor animal. We paid a visit to a friend of us who's quite addicted to crawling creepy things and he gently showed me all of his "trophies". An offer I could not reject. I took some decent pictures and we sat at the table to eat paella trying to dismiss disgusting thoughts about slimy creatures in the next room.

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Spanish Tapas: Tortilla or Spanish Omelette

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Barcelona is not very prone to bull fighting, sangrias, finos, manzanillas or anything that may sound too Spanish-like. But there is one thing that everyone tends to overlook in this excess of zeal: Spanish tapas or wine. Humm, those delicious plates full of olives with anchovies, fried squid, white anchovies in vinegar, tuna
balls or Spanish omelette in the picture. If you follow the tapas cook book link above you will find some recipes and good information about the history of tapas. I hope you can finish reading this post today without running to the kitchen and snatching a good bite of whatever thing edible.

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Mini Classic Cars: A Car Entrepreneur's Dream

A '76 BL MINI 1000 MK-III, I believe, one of the famous mini classic car variants that remind me of Mr. Bean's mini. I recall those hilarious scenes where Mr Bean locked the car doors with a padlock or when he bumped into the same old rickety car to park his Austin mini and specially the episode about the death of his car. 

Minis have changed a lot over the years, and now you can even design your own at will (see Mini) but I still prefer vintage cars. 

This is a picture from my archives. It was taken at Auto Retro Barcelona (check Google labels below for more or see my Classic cars set at Flickr), a classic car exhibition at Fira de Barcelona in Montjuic. 

It was a delight to see these old timers so close and I stayed in the parking lot shooting. It was an event for classic car enthusiasts and dealers so I was thinking about starting a classic car loan company (collector car financing is becoming a big business nowadays) but suddenly I found out that the entrance fee to the venue was not affordable so not more dreams about being a car entrepreneur!

Mascot Uniforms and Color Brochures for Barcelona Restaurants in El Born

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El Born is a trendy area of the Casc Antic (old part of the city) in between Via Laietana and Parc de la Ciutadella. With the arrival of tourists, immigration, and the economic bliss, the neighborhood has experienced a sudden burst of neat design bars and restaurants serving great food and creating a fantastic atmosphere day and night. Here is a list of some recommended restaurants in El Born and a small map. It was not usual to see the typical college or sports mascot handling brochures to advertise restaurants in Barcelona but business is business; by the way, I liked that stunning blue of the uniform so I got it for you too.

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Flower Stock Photography

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La Rambla again, I am standing in front of the flower stalls. I have always loved flowers but since I carry my Nikon and have a knack for photography I am even more fascinated by flashy colors, hues, nuances, palettes. I am fond of those with dark violet tones and the way they seem to absorb light into the flower (some kind of optical illusion I guess). In this shot even though I cropped a little I was not able to isolate one or two subjects to stand out from the background as would be recommended, although I still like the colors. I think at least it will grow my flower stock photography. Did you notice that a lot of photography fields and webs carry the word "stock"? Are you aware of well known sites such as Corbis, Istockphoto or Fotosearch hosting huge databases of images submitted by photographers. In some cases the process is fully professional and photography friendly but in many, marketing interests prevail. How many times have you uploaded a picture that meets all requirements and it has been shunned because it doesn't apply to the needs of clients. A family picture ends up looking like a TV ad and the picture of any object looks all of a sudden surgically aseptic. Now you understand what I meant by "my" flower stock photography.

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