Catalan Blood Sausage or Botifarra Negre, Vallverd d'Urgell, Catalonia

Here is a rack of Catalan blood sausages (Cat. botifarra negre). Originally they are red and become black during the boiling process that takes about 15 minutes. Later on they are hung to dry before they are finally grilled. This picture was taken during a local annual gathering (265 people this year) in a town called Vallverd d'Urgell, in the Catalan province of Lleida. Once a year a whole town meets to prepare what is known as freginat, a mixture of white beans (fesols), caramelized onions (ceba) (cooked slowly during 4 hours), ribs, liver and chunks of pork. This delicious dish is served with two sausages, white botifarra and black botifarra which are elaborated right on site after the killing (matança) of two pigs early in the morning or the day before celebrations. 

Cistercian Architecture: Poblet Monastery, Catalonia

This cloister gallery with its rib vaults and pointed arches can be admired at Poblet Monastery, a wonderful example of Cistercian architecture founded in the XII century that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. Cistercian architecture is a great legacy of medieval architecture. Early Cistercian architecture shows a transition between Romanesque and Gothic architecture and this monastery at Poblet, in the comarca of Conca de Barberà, Catalonia, is a good example although other styles such as Barroque and Renaissance are also present as the institution underwent later transformations. The different buildings integrating the complex are extraordinarily well preserved. Please check my previous post about Monasteri de Poblet for more information.

Barcelona Carnival 2014: From a Child's Perspective

Barcelona's Carnival 2014 is coming to an end, as today is Ash Wednesday. Images from the parade will remain vivid in our memories but who knows how magic they can be in the eyes of a child. The world seems so different through the lens of an innocent soul that even from the distance while sticking her face against this glass, this girl must think the parade is some sort of fairy tale, full of giants, weird creatures and creepy monsters that decided all of a sudden to jump out of her parents' bedtime stories. This girl is my goddaughter.