Bolets or Mushrooms You Can Buy at La Boqueria, Barcelona

I don't have the slightest idea about mushrooms so I am going to dare give names to these three species. According to pictures, the first ones on the left could be some variant of Tricholoma, in the middle and most attractive to the eye, Cantharellus tubaeformis or Cantharellus infundibuliformis aka Rossinyol in Catalonia and finally what seems to be Agaricus bisporus. But then again don't follow my word on this so as to go and collect some in the wild holding my image cause your life might be at risk. The photograph was taken last September at La Boqueria market. If there are boletaires (bolet is Catalan for mushroom and boletaire those who know about bolets) in the audience please help me with this one.

This is just a recommendation of course for you to have fun with media. And while you are at it, how about more than 7000 mushroom recipes to browse for fresh ideas and maybe add that final touch to your Christmas table?.

Sailing Boats Coming Out of Moll de Xaloc, Barcelona

A group of sailboats coming out of Moll de Xaloc right in front of Hotel Arts and Torre Mapfre in Barcelona. What seems to be a class or an organized tour of some kind is towed by a zodiac towards open seas. In the distance the beautiful silhouette of Hotel W Barcelona also known as Hotel Vela (sail) by Ricardo Bofill.

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Barcelona Predators: Seagulls - Strange Animal Behavior?

Food, speaking on global terms and not western world standards, is scarce, and this is valid for animals as well that urged by that innate code mother nature gave them tend to change their behavior and even their habitat pushed by this irrational human vicious conduct of throwing stones into our own fragile roof. It is well known that we are happily helping degrade our planet, "nobody lives forever so f*** the future" many think, therefore creatures of the earth find it hard to survive in such a mess. Who has not heard of thinner than ever polar bears coming into towns for food, birds not migrating when or where they are supposed to, insignificant fish captures due to drastic changes in ocean temperatures as a result of global warming of the planet caused by men. I remember those times, when a seagull used to be near the shore feeding on fish or crabs and carrying their prey to their nests in nearby hills. In Barcelona it has become rather common to see these noisy, cunning and robust birds nesting on the roof of our buildings, claiming their territory against pigeons and smaller species and in some cases attacking children in school backyards to steal away a sandwich. Seagulls are carnivores and sometimes scavenge a little so it is not strange that they kill a small sick bird or take profit from their decaying corpse. The ackward thing to me is to find it in the middle of the Ciutadella park surrounded by people, holding an animal so big as an adult pigeon and looking at me so defiantly in the most pure Hitchcock-The Birds style. Times are achanging my friend and for the bad.

Passeig de Lluis Companys - Barcelona: Dragon Face on Cast Iron Planter

Along Passeig de Lluis Companys, called Saló de Sant Joan in times of the Barcelona Universal Exhibition of 1888, there are these fabulous cast iron planters adorned with mythological beasts, menacing dragon faces watching passersby from each side of the urn. In fact, they look like gargoyles draining the water from the plant. Both these wrought iron urns on the balustrades and the fabulous gas lamps with benches by Pere Falques, must have been a wonderful attraction back in XIX. You should know that this promenade, that starts with the Arc de Triomf and ends at the Rius i Taulet monument in honor to the city mayor who was responsible for the embelishment of the "antechamber" to the event venues in the Parc de la Ciutadella, was in a way the red carpet, the vestibule to the first buildings of the famous exhibition. That previous surrounding area was kind of deserted as many of the buildings were about to be built like the Palace of Justice 1888-1910, walking down on the left, about half way of the road. On a picture I will post soon I will abound on the history of Passeig de Lluis Companys and the sculptoric elements that remain. For the moment enjoy the company of this horrendous animal basking in the morning sun or better yet, watch the exact planter on Google street view mode below and don't forget to surround the whole walk to see both the Ciutadella park and the Arc de Triomphe.


View Larger Map

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Casa Enric Laplana or Casa Mundó, Passeig de Sant Joan 6, Barcelona

Last Saturday I went for a walk down Passeig de Sant Joan to test my brand new Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX lens. I stopped before this building attracted by the beauty of the balconies. I did not know the name which I found later when I got home.

After some research online, I learned that it is called three different ways Casa Enric Laplana or Casa Mundó or Casa Estapé and was build by Bernardí Martorell i Puig in 1907.

This Catalan architect born in 1877 belonged to a wealthy family and received a good education. Got his architecture degree in 1902. He worked for some time in the Sagrada Familia and was a friend of Gaudi's.

His work is considered part of late Catalan modernism but some of his buildings have a touch of historicism. Many of his works were religious buildings like the Església de Sant Agustí in Sabadell, Convent de Valldonzella in Barcelona, Església dels Escolapis in Sabadell, Església i Convent del Santíssim Redemptor de les Oblates de Bellesguard in Barcelona or the Col·legi de les Teresianes in Tarragona.

Bernardí was influenced by English neo-gothic and also had a passion for oriental art and architecture. He died in Hospital de Sant Pau in 1937 of acute myocarditis.

But I leave you watching the elaborate ironwork, the orange stucco façade with serigraphed flowers mixed with the bare bricks in the upper floor. In the picture you cannot see the ceramic tile cupola on top or the stone gallery of the first floor but you can follow this link to see the full view of Casa Enric Laplana or check it on the map. The lens worked out fine by the way although I'll save it for street photography.

Dragonfly: I am Watching You!

The chopper silently watched from atop, sensing every single movement of the stealthy squad approaching from the bush. They say they can only see from orange to UV but detect movements separated by 1/300th of a second and have almost 360º vision from their rack of 30000 telescopes on each side of their cabin. Darn, I've got to be invisible! Loading weapons, fire! That's it! Tango reporting to headquarters, the chopper is down, I repeat, the enemy is down. We've got the Dragonfly!!!

This war fiction on dragonflies and their resemblance with helicopters has been possible thanks to this wonderful article: Sight and Flight.

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Still Life: Wild Partridge Showcase, La Boqueria Market, Barcelona

Like a painting depicting hunting trophies or a still life portraying dead animals, specially those of hares and birds, appeared before my eyes, imbued with a ghostly bluish-yellowish light, the wild game stand in La Boqueria market. From the mixture of species on display, I cropped this rack of wild partridges so you could take a good peek at the strange artistic beauty that inspired painters in the past, at that mysterious blend of nature, food, life and death evoked with traditional austerity in many Spanish bodegones where dead animals hung from a hook waiting to be skinned and free of any banquet luxury or adornment so often present in similar paintings from other countries in Baroque times. I know this is just a picture of dead wild partridges and you may not find it artistic at all but I wanted you to think about this aspect of painting and the peculiar relationship between art, men and dead animals regarded as something aesthetic.

Mammoth At Large - Park de la Ciutadella, Barcelona

Beware of the mammoth! Yes, a mammoth is at large somewhere amidst the fountains, the promenades, the pavilions in Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona. Don't say I didn't warn you when you step on the glade and there's no one but you and the beast. Luckily I had time to fire the flash of my camera and sneaked away in the bush. You may not be that fortunate. Now being a little more serious, let me tell you that this stone mammoth was built based upon a model by sculptor Miquel Dalmau and as part of an initiative of Norbert Font i Sagué (1874-1910), writer, geologist and renown speleologist. Thanks to Norbert Font speleology was first introduced in Catalonia.

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Water Jug with Children, Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona

Sometimes a work of art is so aesthetically breathtaking that it would be a sacrilege to step away without going round to take a peek from the opposite side. This image is dedicated to all those who bother looking from another perspective for the sake of knowledge, for the sake of art. Check my first post about the Water Jug with Children for details.

Peeling Fava Beans - Some Like it Raw

One of the secret pleasures and most amusing of activities in life, at least for some Mediterranean peoples is to shell and then peel fava beans, broad beans or habas as we know them in Spanish and eat the fresh content, the seed or kernel raw, accompanied with some bread and sometimes other ingredients like cod, cheese, ham, etc. My wife loves them and refers to them as an authentic delicatessen. Bear in mind though that you may catch a disease called favism which causes anemia but only if you are genetically predisposed. Try to tell that to locals in Murcia, Andalusia and other regions of Spain! In my opinion, you need some skill to peel habas or at least I see experts pile up a good amount of shells in the time I need to utterly destroy one pod. In the image, notice the beans inside the cardboard box and a bunch of pods right in front in the plastic container. This was taken early in the morning at one of those open air veggie stalls set outside La Boqueria market. The picture is almost ruined cause there was too much light and I didn't have much time to set the camera properly and still get away with my candid. I brought it here so you could see what peeling favas looks like and learn about the tradition behind it, a tradition as old as humanity itself and only second to good old lentils but that is part of another story. To illustrate the culinary aspect of fava beans here is a list of videos either about the plant or recipes that might give you new ideas for today's meal.

• How to Grow Fava Beans


• How to Prepare Fava Beans


• Fava Beans with Ham (Habas con Jamón not a video but a favorite!)


• Tortilla de Habas Tiernas


• Egyptian Recipe


• Fava Beans and Chianti by Hannibal Lecter (not that good)

Stretching at Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona

The man was really doing some light push ups as part of his stretching routine possibly before starting jogging.

Parc de la Ciutadella is the perfect place to practice outdoor sports early in the morning but bear in mind that on certain days this hot spot in flooded with people engaged in some cultural activity. Have a nice weekend my friends.

Check other posts about Ciutadella park that give you an idea of the superb scenario to practice open sports: Cascade Ciutadella Fountain or Barcelona Trees: Our City Lungs

Barcelona Tram: Route T4 Start Point, Ciutadella - Villa Olimpica

This is the start point of T4, one of the Barcelona Tram routes, going from Ciutadella (Olympic Villa) to Sant Adria. To be more specific it is at the end of Wellington street just next to the zoo entrance. To digress a little, I would like to remark how difficult it is for me to choose a proper, original title for a post. Difficult in the sense that I am always conditioned by SEO to make my site noted on the web. To tell you the truth, the sole fact of being so tied to niches, keyword phrases and so on is really a nuisance aka a pain in the a**. Maybe now you'd say, well go ahead and choose whatever title you want. Well, perhaps you wouldn't be reading this cause the post would be lost at the bottom of Google's obscure twilight zone. Yep, I am clearly digressing now. I should have called this something in the way from A Street Car Name T4 to Wheelchair Adapted Transportation. Does anybody know how to give artistic titles to a post and make it hit first pages of Google search results? I would like to give details about our modern tram system but there are sites offering great information on this and this blog is not associated in any way with Tram BCN. Where was I?...

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Colored Stone Wall

What can I say. This is a wall. Originally a very dull one. The place, somewhere in Barcelona. Another play with colors and textures. Hope you like my stone wall.

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Man, Bike and Wool Knit Hat

First of all, I have to say it was the woolen hat that struck my attention. This was another lucky shot (see also last post). I was right in front of Hotel Arts and Torre Mapfre by the end of this concrete pier facing the entrance to the marina. There's a privileged spot right after you descend the small set of stairs by the end of the road. You can comfortably lay your camera upon a chest-high wall and capture the sailboats on their way towards open water. As I was saying, I couldn't believe my luck since I realized that right from ground level I could see people enjoying the seascape, lost in their own thoughts. So here was my favorite from that day, a man, a bike and a Catalan wool knit hat.

Jogging, Burning Calories Before Christmas Holidays

The other day I was talking about how I was following an extreme pre-holiday diet. So far I've been able to lose about 5 kilos but in a very passive way. Of course a good option would be jogging or a combination of both.

Although I play soccer on Sundays, I don't feel like jogging anymore as I used to. I still remember how euphoric I felt after my long sessions in a park near home. So I envy this girl's splendid shape.

To tell you the truth I was shooting the benches from a low level angle when this athlete suddenly appeared in my picture. Thanks for that!

Bicolor Flower Fantasy

It's Friday. I am tired and felt like watching some movie. Got home from work and thought I might as well play with an old picture to see what came out. After some time and not without changing looks on many occasions I went for a more surreal touch. Have a nice weekend everyone!

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Looking for the Perfect Chocolate Display, La Boqueria Market, Barcelona

Whether you are on a strict pre-winter-holiday diet like me or you are prone to go on an unleashed dessert-swallowing spree more than often convinced as you are that gluttony is no sin, you have to admit that an attractive display is 90 percent responsible for our brains to start sending green light signals to our less rational stomach. Take the case of this impeccable chocolate stand display so well kept by this young employee at renown Barcelonian market, La Boqueria.

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Boatman Rowing - Parc de la Ciutadella Lake, Barcelona

Rowing is not as easy as it seems. Everyone getting on board of a boat for the first time stranded in the middle of one of those beautiful park lakes will probably agree with me that coordinating both arms to make the ship move in the right direction is not a piece of cake, so guess what it should be like towing almost a dozen boats the way this dexterous boatman does in the Parc de la Ciutadella. Should you want to row a boat on the lake, check the price:

30 Minutes:

2 Persons 6 EUR
3 Persons 9 EUR
4/5 Persons 10 EUR

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Graffiti from Barcelona, Spain

Just another sample of good Barcelonian graffiti. Street art is everywhere in our city. Maybe too much sometimes but when nice it is really refreshing and stimulating.

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Aurora and Chariot: Golden Horses Detail

I had promised to continue with the full story on the Cascade fountain in Ciutadella park but I was busy and chose another detail of one of the many elements in the sculptural group and monument: the horses drawing Aurora's Chariot. Aurora obviously is not on sight due to this low angle. The fact is that the lady is only visible from the square in front of the cascade. I was not carrying the proper lens to zoom in so I had to come closer. By the way, Aurora is the name Romans gave to Eos the dawn goddess according to Greek mythology. Notice: there is also a renown art deco wall relief by the name The Chariot of Aurora and also just to make a bad joke, Eos has nothing to do with Canon.