Barcelona Photoblog

April 27, 2014

Meat Grinder for Sausages

Meat grinder for stuffing sausages

The color of raw meat, the remnants of a life that is no more, the blood and tissue that randomly entered the food chain on the expense of any odd pig to feed some any odd civilized and superior animal thanks to a sophisticated tool this very same primate took eons to produce: a meat grinder. This one in particular prepared to stuff sausages with a funnel. Please check previous posts about sausages: Rack of Catalan Blood Sausages and Botifarra: The Slaughter

April 22, 2014

Pigeon on Street Water Tap

Pigeon graffiti on water tap in Barcelona

Don't bother trying to feed the pigeon, in fact you can go and drink from the tap, the bird won't fly. It was funny, cause the fact pigeons are so many here in Barcelona and so exposed to a great range of illnesses, makes them look sort of unhealthy and you tend to regard them as rats so probably you wouldn't drink with one of them that close. This painting on the wall, did play a trick on me. It is so strikingly real. This picture was taken at a square next to carrer Carders. If you want to see more street art in our city please visit my previous posts: Crucifixion on Decay Wall or Graffiti on Ancient Door or follow labels street art and graffiti.

April 17, 2014

Fruits of the Forest Icecream in Barcelona

Fruits of the forest icecream detail

Warm weather is here and with it the everpresent icecreams. I spotted this lucious fruits of the forest icecream somewhere in La Barceloneta. Actually, I took a big pistachio scoop. Not that I don't enjoy berries but pistachio and mango are my favorites. Nevertheless, from all the possible choices for an icecream shot, I think forest fruits or frutas del bosque probably is the best. Which one is your favorite?

April 15, 2014

Paella Menus at La Barceloneta: Lover's Choice

Lovers kissing at Paella restaurant, Barceloneta

On a lovely sunny day of April, tourists and locals alike start storming the streets of La Barceloneta not only to have a first rendezvous with the beach but also to frequent one of the many restaurants along the promenade in front of the marina. Not that all locals are prone to choose at random in that area as it is well known that many of those restaurants offer pricey menus and could do better with the same old ingredients. The amount of tourists is so gargantuan that it is better to sit and catch the easy fish without a bait than to learn the art of angling. Of course there are nice restaurants along the walk, I have been there sometimes but be careful. Anyway, no matter the quality and the good taste or not, those terraces with people basking in the sun while having some succulent paella and drinking sangria do create a wonderful scene for the expectator's eye on the way to the waterfront. These lovers and their magic kiss unknowingly portray the happy atmosphere of a perfect day of Spring when you are about to enjoy the perfect meal with the perfect sight. On the glass panel, the paella menu, luring or deterring, make your choice.

April 12, 2014

New Trends: Facial Massage, Carrer Carders, Barcelona

Facial massage carrer Carders, Barcelona

Walking along carrer Carders in Barri de la Ribera, Barcelona there was this very chic salon where this guy was giving his client what it looked like a very proffesional facial massage. Massage is not something that I am very familiar with and thus I shouldn't be talking about here but the skillful hands gently rubbing the man's face, the light and the perfect design of the shelves in the background did make me snoop inside the shop with the camera. As you can see I could not remain anonymous in this case. The fact is that this neighborhood has grown in brand new trendy places such as this that in a way help clean the image of this part of town and attract tourists and locals alike to otherwise forgotten alleys of casc antic.

April 07, 2014

Top 3 activities in Barcelona




Barcelona History told by its graffiti

The walls of Barcelona are the secret keepers of its history, guarding who why and when many works of art were created and made visible to all the citizens around the city. But it’s possible to get those secrets out and analyze the modern art of graffiti to understand more of the evolution of Barcelona through its society and political circumstances. It’s a curious and overwhelming discovery that will make anyone look at the city in a different artistic way.
 
Sailing in the Mediterranean Sea
 
Barcelona sleeps and wakes up by the waves sound murmuring sweet and inviting words to the entire crowd around the seashore. However, sometimes that calling comes from a boat and there’s the option to sail on the Mediterranean Sea along the coast of Barcelona and enjoying the beauty of the beaches, the outstanding buildings and the almost infinitive blue while filling up the bellies with tasty tapas and living the life of a real fisherman.
 
Free fall the Barcelonese skies
 
The adrenaline, the fear, the desire and many other mixed feelings cannot be detached from the scare of losing the floor underneath the feet. But that is also what pushes someone out of edge; it is what drives someone to finally jump. Free falling the Barcelonese skies is a one in a lifetime experience! Accompanied by a professional instructor, the feeling of jumping, the falling at fast spend and the view around is truly breathtaking and as astonishing as it can be. 

This is a guest post by Trip4Real.com

March 27, 2014

Catalan Modernist Ceiling at Hospital de Sant Pau to Celebrate Barcelona Photoblog's 2.000.000 visits!



This is one of the ceilings inside one of the many pavilions in the modernist complex at Hospital de Sant Pau.

All buildings have been restored  and opened to the public inside a complex called Recinte Modernista. Now a small fee is charged to enter and admire these beauties reborn.

This and other pictures I have, were taken with a cellphone and do not make justice to the real thing. The impression I get when I take a look at the result of such magnificent restoration is that everything has turned back to be like brand new, as if the hands of the skillful craftsmen had been working on those mosaics and those stain glasses yesterday.

A whole range of architectural wonder has been unveiled for all the world to see.

(By the way, I am happy to announce that today Barcelona Photoblog has reached 2.000.000 visits since it first saw light back in 2006. It's been years of hard work and of meeting very nice people here at the blog. I hope you have enjoyed it somehow. That really means something to me. Thanks to all those that made this incredible figure come true, thanks for your time and your comments. Happy to share my modest work with you all)

Update: In 2017 Barcelona Photoblog reached almost the 3 M figure but I decided to stop using the website that kept track of my visits.

March 17, 2014

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

Catalan blood sausage

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. 

March 10, 2014

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.

March 05, 2014

Barcelona Carnival 2014: From a Child's Perspective

Small girl wearing costume, Barcelona

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.

March 03, 2014

Carnival 2014 in Barcelona: The Actors



Last Saturday was La Rua's day of Carnival 2014 in Barcelona. La Rua is the Catalan name for the  parade that takes place in some carnivals around the world and as usual in these events people let their imagination fly. As you should know from previous posts here in Barcelona Photoblog about Barcelona's Carnival, there is the main parade and then there are secondary ruas in many districts of the city. Besides the floats and the parades it is very common to see shop clerks or market staff working in their costumes as you can appreciate in this picture taken at one of the stands in La Merce market. This week I am going to show some costumes both from the market and the streets and I would like to thank those who gently accepted to pose for the camera. Please check also: Some days of Pagan Joy, Carnival Costumes, Feather Masks

February 08, 2014

Frederic Mares Museum, Barcelona: An Act of Faith



A head, just a head, just a bloody head, sad fate, that of martyrs, eyes lost at the final moment,searching for a divine help that never came perhaps because everybody is meant to suffer in this valley of death, awaiting for that final judgement. Did they die in vain? The light falling upon this polychrome carving at the museum Frederic Mares in Barcelona remind me in a way of that last hope, that last glimpse of light at the end of the road, when nothing human can save you from your misfortune and you are all alone with nothing but your faith.

January 14, 2014

Love in Barcelona and Beyond

 [enlarge]
Couple kissing each other - Las Ramblas - Barcelona

Love is all around us, it is always there, it will never ask you when to come, it is in the air, on those leaves, on the bark of that tree, in the way the time freezes around this warm embrace. This is such a universal scene, it has been so many times portrayed!!!

When I take a picture of a couple sometimes I feel I am violating something sacred so I tried to conceal the faces. Who they are, is irrelevant. It should be. Love can happen to you, can happen to me. The way I see it, is that this is something so deep that I could write a book about it. I would only say, that for me, love is like washing away the rest of the scene. I am sure that Las Ramblas, this extremely busy street, disappeared for an instant around this kiss, passersby became but silent blurry ghosts, signs got distorted, and a sudden secret swirl of energy started to form around the lovers, that mysterious matter, that causes numbness inside our brains, that gives you a lump in your throat, pushes your stomach against your bones, right beneath your diaphragm, dilates your pupils, accelerates your pulse, sends shivers down your spine, opens up your pores, boosts up your senses up to the point you fall into a trance and you are no longer there, but somewhere inside the soul, not just your soul, but some other person's soul and that my friends, is the real magic of it all, to walk into somebody's beautiful soul, unexplored, full of treasures, full of light, richer than yours sometimes, because yours you apparently know already, which of course, is not completely true. But you don't want yours, you want to walk along this new path, to enhance your experience, expand your senses to the world beyond and the only tool you've got is something right behind your eyes connected to something in your chest that is capable of seeing without using your vision and transforming reality into whatever whimsical image you could think of. To be more precise, you are not precisely thinking. I am sure this comes from a place inside our hearts.

Lovers' hearts are prepared to catch the weakest universal signals and fine tune them into a perfect symphony without having super powers, without knowing about music or instruments, they are simply connected to the source and the source is not outside, it comes from within.

Let's respect the peace of this moment, this private kiss, let's envy in a way, the ones who are able to know love, real love and wish we can find it some day, in this life or in any other life.

Have you ever felt this way? How would you describe love?

December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas by Carlos Lorenzo - Barcelona Photoblog

Christmas Stand, Barcelona, Spain [enlarge]

I wish all of you my dear visitors Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Here is the stand at the entrance of Mercat de La Merce in Virrei Amat looked last weekend. Good luck and good health, prosperity and all the best for the rest of the season and coming 2014.

December 23, 2013

Ohla Hotel Barcelona Dressed up for the Holidays

Ohla Hotel, Barcelona [enlarge]

Ohla Hotel in Via Laietana, 49 looked this way last Friday night. The picture is taken with my cellphone. I liked the illumination for the holidays. If I were to select a hotel with good access to casc antic (old part of town) this one would be one of them. Ohla Hotel has a Michelin-starred restaurant, a rooftop swimming pool with great views over Barcelona and modern design rooms. Nearby you have Palau de la Musica, Las Ramblas, the Cathedral, Plaza Sant Jaume and Plaza Catalunya among other important main attractions.

December 19, 2013

Palau Baro de Quadras - Ramon Llull Institute's Brand New Headquarters



Built between 1904 and 1906, Palau Baro de Quadras, is a beautiful sample of Catalan modernisme. This palace was designed by architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch for Baro de Quadras (baron of Quadras). The building's main entrance is at Avinguda Diagonal 373, where you can appreciate a very elaborate façade of European Gothic influence blended with Neo-Plateresque style.

From across the street you seem to be standing before a Renaissance Italian palazzo rich in lattice work. Worth mentioning are the gargoyles and floral adornments on this side of the palace. On carrer Roselló there is a backdoor entrance. That side, features a Modernista style with some hints of the Wiener Sezession school (Vienna Art Nouveau or Jugendstil).

This emblematic place was known till last October as Casa Asia, which is a public cultural institution devoted to the promotion of projects to strengthen relationships with that continent and that is going to inaugurate its new premises inside Hospital de Sant Pau's modernist complex. For those who don't know, the old Art Nouveau buildings there have been restored and will be used for other services.

Palau Baro de Quadras has been donated by the City Town Hall to Ramon Llull Institute. As part of their mutual collaboration, the City Council will integrate in the institute's consortium with the intention of participating in the international promotion of Barcelona and Catalonia.

Institut Ramon Llull is a public body created to foster Catalan language studies at international universities and to promote Catalan cultural production in all artistic areas.

But let's return to our palace. Notice in the image above, the stairway to the upper floor. Upon entering through either the main gate or the backdoor, you arrive to this place which has a small fountain to the right over a beautiful mosaic floor. Besides the profuse adornments surrounding the stairs, you really ought to see the stained glass ceiling that is slightly shown in the upper part of the photo. Some other day I will show you the gallery in the second floor and other details of this wonderful building so well preserved.

I hope you enjoyed yet another Barcelona photo here at Barcelona Photoblog. Perhaps you want to check this previous post about Palau Baro de Quadras.

But to know a place you need to see it for yourself and not just an image. Take a look at this very short video with slides that show the whole palace.



December 07, 2013

Cheap Flights from London to Madrid or Barcelona: Pros and Cons

Aerial View of Mountain Range [enlarge]

Before talking about cheap flights from London to Madrid or Barcelona and giving my personal opinion, let’s check some stats and facts first:

About 400 international destinations are visited on board of flights departing from London airports: Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Southend, Stansted, London City Airport. Altogether, the six airports handled 133,709,327 passengers in 2011 including both domestic and world travelers. Considering only EU flights, there were 122 107 837 passengers moving in and out of London Area Airports that year, a 7 % difference with respect to 2010. Nevertheless, according to an annual passenger survey on passenger numbers at Britain’s airports carried out by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority in the UK) 2012 was completely different due to the Olympic Games. 800,000 passengers passed through London’s airports for Olympic-related journeys during July and September last year.

In the case of Spain, 2,496,921 traveled between London and Madrid and 1,661,301 between London to Barcelona back in 2011. The lure of Barcelona and Madrid attracts people from all over the world via London airports. Taking into account figures from Heathrow airport, 737 571 passengers landed in El Prat airport, Barcelona in 2012 (Easy Jet, Monarch, Vueling and British Airways) and 1.190.486 flew to Barajas airport in Madrid. As you can imagine, the volume is considerably higher if we count the other five airports.

With such figures, it is not surprising that there is a fierce battle between aviation companies and between travel agencies to attract the most clients and catch as many fish as possible in the turbulent waters of an always seasonal and uncertain market. Low cost carriers and regular airlines, offer cheap flights for last minute birds or for methodic passengers that plan ahead. Most of them, try to get the cheapest flight while avoiding the lousier companies. Yes, some of them are really frightening. Just to give you an example, very near one, I am traveling with the family to London, next January. I have already booked the flight with a low cost company, EasyJet after weighing different options. Some of them were really insulting, especially when you have to fly at 6.00 am in the morning and come back almost at midnight, on a plane with a ridiculous narrow corridor, stuffed in a narrow seat, assisted by a horrible and ill-mannered air hostess with your feet over the handbag you couldn't stick into the compartment. I finally got a decent flight, at a decent hour and I hope that with a decent company I know of from other flights. If I were you, I would check twice before buying any odd cheap flight from London to Madrid or to Barcelona. Many times, it looks cheap and then you get a big surprise when they add extra charges for the credit card at the end of the transaction. Beware of that. I would like to suggest a site or two to find your cheap but safe flight although there is a huge list out there to choose from. I almost always use Kayak.com to search for my flight, although I might use, eDreams or Expedia sometimes.

Those that are looking for London-Madrid Flights should definitely try the services of Easyvoyage.com, which I've seen has good reviews from customers and I tried myself sometimes.

December 03, 2013

Casa Comalat Backside at Carrer Corsega 316, Barcelona

Casa Comalat: Balcony and Windows

Casa Comalat is one of those secret places of Barcelona everyone would like to discover but sadly it is closed to the public. This Modernista house has two completely different sides which have been featured in Barcelona Photoblog in the past. There is the front side, magnificent, full of adornments, but sober in comparison with the backside façade, at carrer Corsega 316, which I find much more interesting and attractive.

But before we start, you should know some facts: The building is named after the its proprietor, Sr. Comalat, a moneylender that commissioned it to architect Salvador Valeri i Pupurull (1873-1954). Salvador Valeri built a house that is slightly different to other Modernista houses of the times, very rich in ornaments, very decorative, it became a perfect sample of Late Modernisme. Maybe you need a video to fully comprehend what Late Modernisme looked like and to discover what only a local Barcelona TV has unveiled, the inner secrets of Casa Comalat. The video is not in English but you really ought to watch it.

With regards to the Barcelona photo of the day, Casa Comalat Backside, you can appreciate the elaborate  ceramics on balconies and windows by artist Lluís Bru i Salelles and the over-undulating shapes framing wood blinds for the first time in Modernisme. Rigalt i Granell, a renown company at that time, was in charge of the stained glass works. Certainly, never backsides were so much better than front doors.

Previous posts:
Art Nouveau Balconies

November 28, 2013

Artistic Postcards or Reproductions of Dali Paintings Near Dali Museum, Figueres, Girona.

Artistic Postcards Dali Museum [enlarge]

It is not strange to find stands outside museums with people selling their 'artwork', on many occasions, artwork, directly related to what is displayed inside the museum. In this case, we are talking about the Dali Museum in Figueres, Girona. Just next to the main entrance, there was this nice fellow selling these small postcards or painting reproductions featuring Salvador Dali and his works. I am not sure about some of them, I am not a Dali expert but you can see Portrait of Picasso, the Meditative Rose and Young Virgin Autosodomized by Her Own Chastity. Yes, strange name indeed. I like the way the reproductions compose a single collage. Do you find any other work of Dali here that you know of?

November 26, 2013

Collections at Frederic Mares Museum, Barcelona: Hispanic Sculpture and Polychrome Carvings

Sculptures at Frederic Mares Museum, Barcelona [enlarge]

There is an important collection of religious art at Frederic Mares museum in Barri Gotic, Barcelona. Impressive sculptures such as the ones in the picture can be admired in the premises as part of a rich sample of Hispanic sculpture in which polychrome carvings deserve special emphasis. Frederic Marès (1893-1991), sculptor and founder donated his private collection in 1944 to the city of Barcelona. Worth mentioning too are the courtyard, a very idyllic and peaceful garden with a beautiful fountain, and what is known as the Collectors Cabinet, a vast collection of antiques that go from all sorts of pipes, to match boxes, cameras, fans, jewelery, watches, scissors, reliquary bottles and much more, each of them a reminiscence of 19th century scenes, people, fashion and brands. There is also the library that specialises in Hispanic sculpture, the world of collecting and decorative arts.

Address

Museu Frederic Marès (MFM)
Plaça de Sant Iu, 5

How to get there

Metro: Line 4 (Jaume I)/ Line 3 (Liceu)
Bus: 17, 19, 40 and 45
Tourist Bus: Red Route. Barri Gòtic stop

Opening hours

Tuesday to Saturday: 10 am to 7 pm
Sunday and Holidays: 11 am to 8 pm
Monday, except Holidays: closed
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