Mosaic Serpentine Benches: A Landmark of Barcelona

Serpentine bench with Trencadis mosaic technique by Gaudi

This is I believe the third picture where I show serpentine benches by Gaudi located at Park Guell in Barcelona. 

These mosaic or trencadis-made wonders of architecture and design look specially attractive under the last rays of the sun. Although I am used to watching them I always enjoy them as much as this tourist lost in his own thoughts through the viewfinder of his camera.

Palau de la Musica Catalana: Modernist Ceiling

Catalan art nouveau or modernisme at one of the most remarkable jewels of architecture in Barcelona: Palau de la Música Catalana, the concert hall. While you sit and relax at the cafeteria, look up and contemplate in detail all the different geometric lines traced with tiles on that modernist ceiling and the rich colors. I particularly like the flowers on those columns. Remember you can search for "palau" if you want to see previous posts of mine related to this place, like this: stained glass ceiling

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El Corte Ingles Department Store at Catalonia Square, Barcelona

This is El Corte Ingles at Plaça Catalunya or Catalonia Square, one of the most important department stores in Barcelona and Spain. El Corte Inglés was named after a shop specialised in children's tailoring in Madrid back in 1890. Ramón Areces Rodríguez founder of the company, bought the tailor's shop and made it a private limited company in 1934. In the 60s El Corte Inglés began its expansion as a chain of department stores, the number of establishments grew in Madrid and new centers were open in Barcelona (the one in the image), Seville and Bilbao. Later on, it covered most provincial capitals in Spain and started diversifying its activities with a travel agency, Viajes El Corte Inglés, S.A.; an insurance company, Seguros El Corte Inglés and a chain of hypermarkets, Hipercor. The group also runs Supercor S.A. (supermarkets), Opencor (24 hours convenience stores), IT services, Sfera (clothing chain) and Bricor (DYS stores). From the point of view of a client, my opinion is that their products are more expensive than the average but they counteract that with an extremely efficient customer service.

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MITORAJ: The Tuscan or Grande Toscano

The Tuscan or Grande Toscano (Toskanczyk in Polish, Igor Mitoraj's mother tongue) was first exhibited along with Ikaria and Tindaro in La Défense District, Paris in 1983, in fact, they were conceived for that part of the city based upon previous drawings by the artist. Now Grande Toscano is in Barcelona till July 2007 as part of an itinerant exhibition by this famous sculptor born in 1944 in Oederan, a town in the district of Freiberg, Germany, but of Polish parents. I took the liberty of applying some tonal treatment with an HDR software plus a little extra light with Photoshop to both the head in the frame which I think represents the heart or the soul of the Tuscan, and to the female bust coming out of Adam's rib according to what I interpret. Of course Igor if you disagree with such lay approach please let me know. 

To have a better idea I suggest you check my previous posts on Mitoraj. If you are a great fan browse Mitoraj pictures at Flickr or a Mitoraj video at YouTube.

Today's Pick: As you know Google is publishing the daily trends or most searched terms in the engine so I thought it might be useful to you.

Spider-Man 4: The Saga in a Claw Vending Machine

Spidermen in claw vending machine at Tibidabo Amusement Park

Spider-Man is cloning himself for the next episode of the saga, Spider-Man 4 coming to a theater near you in 2009. In the meantime he is living inside a claw vending machine (or toy crane machine) at Tibidabo Amusement Park, Barcelona. What did you say? Yep, it is not funny, you are right. But hey, the moment you open your mouth and say: Spiderman your audience level hits the jackpot. Now that I had a bunch of them why not have fun with an innocent prank. 

Now seriously, these Spidermen toys looked great against the glass like posing for the camera. I don't know who arranged them in such a way but it must be hard to pick them up with the "crane", that small gadget with claws that always seem to be spread with butter. I am sorry about the reflections I couldn't get rid of them. If you like the result I'd be more than pleased.

Log Flume Thrill - Tibidabo Amusement Park

Log Flume attraction at Tibidabo Amusement Park

Tibidabo Amusement Park has been featured in Barcelona Photoblog many times, but this particular attraction had escaped from the lens of my camera: the log flume. 

Compared to other parks these are pretty modest attractions but being on top of a mountain and enjoying a panoramic view of Barcelona City adds up to the whole experience. 

From a narrow passage between a tree and the protective wall that prevents passerbies from getting soaking wet on their way to the park's exit, I managed to take a series of shots. It was fun cause I had to shoot and hide the camera every time logs hit the water. Big drops wouldn't touch me but a silent drizzle was constantly coming my way with some seconds delay. 

I will tell you now what I like about the image: Most of the times when you take snaps of people and they are aware of your presence they hide in their shells and wear a mask, but with moments like these you are able to capture for some seconds the real person underneath.

Sweet Color Popcorn

Sweet popcorn

To introduce today's picture let me start with these facts via The Popcorn Board: Americans consume 17 billion quarts of popped popcorn each year. The average American eats about 54 quarts. No matter how unidentified you feel with the Hollywood style of watching movies, the fact is that our parents were used to it and we are even more addicted. I remember buying a reasonable amount that I swallowed about half way before the end of the movie, now you see people carrying incredible king size buckets full of popcorn (many times covered in caramel!) that they are unable to eat even if they spilled part of the content just by accident. 

And what do you think of the price? I don't know in the US but here in Europe we are spending almost the same amount of money on popcorn and coke as we pay for the movie. 

Well enough rant for today, let popcorn business grow, at least the entertainment industry will be less boring. Here are some good popcorn nutritional facts given at the above mentioned site. 

In the image, a close look at a stack of color popcorn in Tibidabo Amusement Park, Barcelona. I used a vignette with blur effect to accentuate texture.

Tibidabo Park: Tickles

Actor dusting girl's armpit at Tibidabo Amusement Park

Spontaneous scenes make the best shots, at least for me and if they include hilarious situations, much better. 

On a recent visit to Tibidabo, Barcelona's Amusement Park, I spotted this guy entertaining the crowd. His outfit looked great for a picture so I came up closer. I didn't expect him to suddenly rub this small girl's armpit with his colorful duster, that was really too much to ask.

Car Stickers Collage

It is common practice to carry one or two stickers somwhere on the back of your car and they are generally not too flashy not too evident. Yet some others decide to sacrifice their visibility for the sake of art as in this image where a classic Volkswagen van has been littered with colorful stickers that say something about the owners' ideosyncrasy if you are able to understand it of course.

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Auto Reflections

My reflections on the side mirror of a classic car. Notice the iridescent orange coat of paint with polished finish that gives the auto an authentic 70s kind of mood. I don't like pictures with the photographer trapped inadvertedly in the image but they acquire a different dimension if we are part of the story somehow, accidentally or on purpose.

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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.

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Garden Flowers: Musings

Not the first time I upload some flowers to my photo blog, and certainly I hope it's not the last time. Beauty is all around and as I am not going to have the eye of Ansel Adams for landscapes or Cartier-Bresson's gift for street photography, I'd better concentrate on capturing my modest reality come what may. There is always some art in minor things too. Take for example a bunch of orange flowers in a garden on your way to work or at your neighbors'. You can take a snapshot every time you pass them by and it will always be a different picture, not just because you arranged them in different compositions but because you were many times in a different mood. So art is also a state of mind, it has to do with the soul, with spirituality, and you must be satisfied first with what you create in order to please others. You may be good at it or clumsy as hell, but it's your work, and it is as legitimate as the art of Da Vinci or Michelangelo. This is what I saw, what filled my soul with joy for some milliseconds and now I want to share the scene with you.

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Singers Rehearsing at Colonia Guell, Barcelona

The day we visited Colonia Guell in the outskirts of Barcelona it was a complete surprise to come across these singers rehearsing in front of the entrance to the crypt (the small church built by Gaudi). They were singing traditional Catalan songs and were supposed to walk towards the center of the small town to enter by surprise in bars to entertain clients.

Places I stumbled upon today: Running the Numbers

Well Guarded Thorny Cactus

Well guarded secrets have been protected by the sword for centuries and so does nature sometimes with her treasures in many ways. These small flowers perhaps are meant to carry the fruit of this cactus in the long run so they are better kept somewhere safe among these deterrent daggers. Only insects allowed.
Two interesting links I stumbled upon today: Sidewalk Chalk Guy and Lost Cities.

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Mysterious Faces From the Past by Igor Mitoraj

This has been a busy weekend for me. I have not been able to post right on time and besides I have been all day long participating as vocal at one of the electoral tables during deputy elections. So here is what I've got, an almost mortuary image with a strange attraction. As you can see in the picture these small faces on the base of a pedestal at some bigger sculptoric work by Igor Mitoraj are rather spooky, but that is what makes them more interesting. Here is a link to Igor Mitoraj's work.

Seaside View of the Solar Panel at Barcelona Forum

This is a view of the huge solar panel overlooking the Forum esplanade, as seen from the sea while onboard one of Las Golondrinas, the sightseeing boats navigating both in the harbour and along the coast. Once you reach the Forum area it is time to turn around and navigate back. You never lose sight of this colossal piece of architecture. As the small boat is too far away to compare with the panel and get an idea of its true size I recommend you enlarge the picture and check those tiny people walking under the 10,500-m2 surface of the photovoltaic cell or solar panel. Check some old pictures of mine from other angles: Other side, underneath and the stairs.

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.

Fideua: Paella Made with Pasta

Following with the odd image carrousel on which Barcelona Photoblog is often riding, lets introduce Spanish Fideua, the pasta version of widely known rice paella. As the name suggest you need noodles (fideos Sp.), but not any kind of noodles. A good fideua is made with capelli d'angelo or vermicelli noodles. Like classic paella, seafood is an essential part of the recipe. When cooking any of both bear in mind that you can obtain a delicious dish either by packing the pan with all ingredients you can or by adding just the right spices and a most tasty kind of fish, its stew and fresh seashells. Whatever way you choose don't spoil it all by overcooking the pasta (or the rice in the case of paella). Here is one of the most simple and well explained fideua recipes I found and here is another much more elaborate. During popular celebrations in Spain it is not strange to see these pans or bigger ones (called paelleras or paellas) full of fideua or paella indistinctly to treat passerbyes (sometimes you have to pay for it). This man in Terrasa near Barcelona, was being followed anxiosly by a hungry pack of humans ominously approaching for the feast.

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Cactus Flowers

As I was missing my flower posts and I had a terrible need for colors again I've decided to display some tiny cacti full of "flowers". As I am not an expert in Botany here is a specific link to the so called cactus flowers. I try not to turn Barcelona Photoblog into a nature photography site but I am color addicted and I guess I am not the only one. To add some valuable content to the picture here is the web adress to the Botanic Garden of Barcelona.

Topsy-Turvy Confidence

Being upside down, hanging from just one foot and depending on your partner's firm hold to keep your head safe some meters above the ground simply takes guts and a blind confidence in your fellow trapezist. This circus act took place in Terrasa near Barcelona recently (remember my previous post about the Perch Act). I added a vignette action in Photoshop to blur the distracting blue sign on the left.

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