The Flower in Red: Spring Wishes

Red hot spring fire emanates from this flower in red, let the good vibrations its beauty provokes thaw your winter lethargy and invigorate your soul.

Sardana Elder Dancers: The Joy of Life

The joy of life, that secret stimulant that pushes elder people into frantic activities, gathered a bunch of them in this square in front of Barcelona Cathedral to participate in a collective traditional dance known as sardana. Take a look at a color version that appeared in Barcelona Photoblog sometime ago: Sardana Dancers.

Mitoraj: Art and Publicity in Barcelona

When I took this picture some months ago, last summer I think, and I was about to publish it here I suddenly found out that someone else had posted a very similar shot, from the same place. I thought the scene wasn't original enough to show. Things like that happen in public places, you are not the only one around shooting for the web. But now I think, hey, this is my picture, so what the heck, the fact someone posted it first doesn't make me a cheater. So here it is, back from my archives, a detail of one of Igor Mitoraj's itinerant sculptures against a very idyllic billboard at Rambla Catalunya. By the way, the lady, the pose, the golden reflections remind me of (now you will think I went crazy, hmm, more or less) that famous The Graduate scene where Dustin Hoffman is laying back on a beach mattress in the middle of the swimming pool with a hand behind his neck and wearing sunglasses. Need a little help?: The Sounds of Silence. I reckon the comparison is a little ackward, but you know how weird daydreaming can get to be sometimes. How about adding some common sense to the photograph by recalling other Mitoraj sculptures featured in Barcelona Photoblog in the past: A Closer Look on Igor Mitoraj's Sculpture , Grande Toscano, Mysterious Faces, Lying Head and Hold Me Tight.

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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