CDP monthly theme day: a shop window
A shop for people who like cooking in their underwear, I suppose… Not a very good idea, no no no.
Click here to see more about this theme
One ephemeral bubble…
One most ephemeral moment…
Check out more photos about the theme ‘ephemeral’ right here
A bicyclette…
Promised, this is really my last bike photo! I just couldn’t resist, I just love this photo!
The post title refers to an old Yves Montand song…
A last one…
Back from too short holidays in the french countryside, sigh.
So, what about a last (kind of) bicycle, for the fun of it, before passing onto something else?
Theme day: bicycle
Sexy beaches of Barcelona… How could I not take this photo… Click on the photo to see her…tattoo.
More bikes here!
Barcelona Museum or Weird Things
This is bicycle, believe it or not. An expensive one, about 4000 USD, 3500 euros.
Ready for tomorrow?
Sorry about this…
Sorry about the bad quality of this photo, it was taken on the fly with a very basic mobile phone a few years ago, on the Plaza d’ Espana.
But then, the bad quality might be a good thing, at least for some …
This photo is not possible anymore. Until 2 years ago, public nudity was legal in Barcelona.
Another bike, getting ready for the CDP theme day!
The bike-house
Saw him all the time, for several years, a seemingly homeless guy with his house on his bike.Good luck to you, dude.
The bike tours
Quite a lot of tours of any kind in Barcelona, even bike tours. No need to BYO!
More bikes in their natural environment soon to come, getting ready for the great worldwide City Daily Photos one and unique Theme Day, on August 1st! Don’t you miss it!!!!!
A man with many names…
Cristóbal Colón, standing proudly on his column at the bottom of the Ramblas. You might know him as Christopher Colombus, Columbus’ name in English is actually an anglicized version of the Columbus birth name. According to most accounts, Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, as Cristoforo Colombo, which is obviously much more similar to the English version than is the Spanish one.
In most of the major European languages, Columbus’ name is similar to the Italian one: It’s Christophe Colomb in French, Kristoffer Kolumbus in Swedish, Christoph Kolumbus in German and Christoffel Columbus in Dutch.
Strangely enough, he is pointing not towards America, but towards Italy. Ashamed of what became of his ‘discovery’ of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Cuba, the massacre of the local tribes, refusing to convert, the european diseases, slavery… Maybe. Maybe not.
BTW, does anyone in America remember the italian cartographer Amerigo Vespucci? Aren’t you proud to live on an ‘italian’ continent?
And what about Leif Erikson?????
CDP theme day: upside down
Upside down… When I read about this coming theme, a few weeks ago, I drew a blank. But fortunately, we had in BCN the festa al cel, the festival in the sky.
Click here to see what other participants did.
Early morning
I love going through town very early in the morning, the city is so peaceful, no tourist hordes. Here I am, at the famous Kabul backpacker, on Plaza Real, just off the Ramblas. The best time and place for a coffee!
La Salchichona
Aka woman in mantilla. Picasso painted this in 1917, aged 36. A wonderful painting. A smooth face, surrounded by points (pointillist technique).
Motorheads are coming!
Can’t wait for the Harley Days to be back! Lots of weird and wonderful people, with their glorious machines!
Un café con hielo, por favor
Coffee in Spain is excellent. During our long summer, this is definitely my favorite drink, Café con Hielo. Take some ice cubes in a glass, have the bartender bring a Café solo (aka expresso, in other countries). Sugar, no sugar? You choose. Drop the Café solo onto your ice cubes. Et voila!
The best place for this, is obviously a shady terrace!
A word of warning
Barcelona is a wonderful city. Like any other place, it has it’s darker side. Take the Ramblas. A fantastic place for having a stroll, watching people go by, buy some flowers… And then, you are suddenly thirsty, or hungry. Bad thing… Be aware that BCN is like any tourist place… If you want an expresso on St Mark’s square in Venice, you pay the price! Same thing here. Also, be aware that all those restaurants with tables on the Rambla, serve overpriced and awful food. With very very few exceptions. My advice, leave the Ramblas, take any street into the Raval or the Barri Gotic, much better food, much less money!!! Not to mention the dozens (yep: dozens) of pickpockets, totally fearless due at the laxity of spanish laws. Maximum 3 days in jail if they are caught, and only if they stole more than 400 euros.
Just use common sense.
Jamoneria
One of many jamonerias (Jamón= ham) to be found all over Barcelona. All over Spain, that is.
You can buy a whole ham, or just some slices. Or any tapa, with a good vino tinto (red wine), the Rioja is excellent for this.
Siesta
A very good spanish thing… although I took this photo in Sintra Portugal. To be fair, they do it in many warm countries as well. In Spain, many shops and offices are closed in the afternoon, too hot to work.
A weekend reflection
Wish I was on the beach right now! Where are your favorites beaches?
To see more weekend reflections, click right here!
Stylish… and pretty!
OK, I confess… Now and then, I’m taking photos of pretty girls. Don’t tell my wife, LOL!
In this case, at the Fiera de Abril, andalus mega-party in the Forum area, every year in April (…). Place and time where you pay 10 euros for a can of Coke. BYO!!!
Stylish!
It’s theme day again, on the City Daily Photo portal! Summer is coming (in the northern hemisphere anyway), so let get stylish!
2 stylish people in a stylish car, bliss! Click here to see more photos on this theme.
Sant Jaume
Probably the very first church in BCN… Sant Jaume, well hidden in plain sight, on Carrer Ferran, just inside the gates of Barcino, the roman Barcelona, 1 mn from the Ramblas. It was renovated in 1388, but the earliest mention dates back to 985 AD, where it was called the old church…
Corpus Christi
If you are lucky enough to be in Sitges in 2 weeks, you will enjoy the floral festivities. The whole city is covered with living carpets made of hundreds of thousands flowers. This year, it will be on the 6th and 7th of June. Don’t miss it!
Palau de la Musica
A beautiful and flamboyant modernist building, dating back to 1905. It was built for choir music, very trendy a century ago. If you mind the longish queue, it is one of the must to visit! Here is the Wiki article about it.
No cheating!!!
Cheating in a queue, like here, at the Palau de la Musica? You don’t want to do it in Spain! You might incur the fury of some elderly righteous viragos, looking for a fight. You’ve been warned. Although they’re doing the same with tourists, saying “it’s our country, after all’! Scenes of real life… How is the queuing culture where you live?
Check out some more weekend reflections here.
Skywatch Friday
It is worth taking a Swallow, Golondrina, along the seafront, specially in the evening, the golden hour!
This is for Skywatch Friday, a fantastic meme! Just click here.
No airshow.
An airshow, a while back. The city hall, in it’s immense wisdom, decided to save some money, on this most popular entertainment. So, you’ll only have this photo, no more airshows I’m afraid.
Obama and me
Well, this is Barcelona, not Washington! Guess the president of some country over there is preparing for the… after.
Anyway, a place out of this world and time (1950es Kenya), with the best english breakfast money can get you in BCN!
And now ladies and gents, for the first time ever in the loooooong history of mankind and of this blog, a photo of myself with the overdude himself, Mr Barak Obama, President of the United States of America!
Aren’t we evah so stylish!!!!! And so shiny!!!
HOGs
A HOG meeting during the annual Harley Days in Montjuic. What’s HOG? It stand for Harley Owners Group. Nice people!
Lisboa
Let’s go out for the day… Many fantastic places you can reach easily from BCN, one being Lisbon.
Click here to see some black and white this weekend!
Keep on runnin’
No, it isn’t the Spencer Davis Group, lol! Just some guys running in their hotpants on the seafront.
Tables with a view
One of the restaurants with a better view in town. The one on Montjuic, next to the Miramar hotel, at the entrance of the cactus garden.
To see more ‘painted’ photos, please check my website!
Year 7
I almost forgot!!! 6 years than I’ve been doing this blog! Year 7 starts tomorrow. What can I say? Note to myself, quoting british TV from the 70es: CARRY ON, ROB!!!
Although I am not living in BCN anymore (sigh), I have enough photos to last me quite a few years!
A weekend reflection
This is the mirrored ceiling above the entrance of the Maremagnum shopping mall in the Port Vell.
More weekend reflections right here.
Oh yeah, that’s me in the photo…
Bridges
Bridges become frames for looking at the world around us. Bruce Jackson
Bruce H. Jackson is an American folklorist, documentary filmmaker, writer, photographer. He is SUNY Distinguished Professor and the James Agee Professor of American Culture at the University at Buffalo.
Night ferry
We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
A hidden gem
This is the Pati (patio) Manning, a former Casa de Caridad, hospice for the poor from 1803 till 1957. It was founded by the Duke of Lancaster. It is now the CCCB, center for contemporary culture of Barcelona. Interesting place.
Eye revolution
Let’s go to me olde home for the day, London. Fancy a few revolutions on the London eye?
More sky photos on the excellent Skywatch Friday meme!
Viva la revolución!
May 1st. This month’s theme day is revolution, la revolución! This is what happened in Barcelona, Madrid, London, and so on, a while back, youth fed up with politicians and bankers, of course all of them corrupt. A political party came out of it, Podemos, we can, the second strongest party in Spain. Many good things to say about them, many bad things as well (their ideal seems to be Chavez, in Venezuela………)
Click here to see what my friends from the City Daily Photo family did.
Drama on the high sea
This is the Sorrento, italian registered ferry, entering the Port Vell in BCN. He was doing the route Barcelona-Menorca. I used to see him every day at around 8 PM, from my office at the World Trade Center.
The Sorrento caught fire last night, between Palma de Mallorca and Valencia (other route, other markings), and sank this morning. All 156 passengers and crew were fortunately evacuated on time, nobody was hurt.
Photo from the El Periodico news website.
Gone fishing
And that’s how you do it, chicos, said the old man.
Our World Tuesday is a very cool meme, and it is here!
Playing with light
Now and then, I like playing around with old photos, mainly with Adobe Lightroom (not a Photoshop fan, me) and with NIK filters. What do you think? Are you rather a SOOC -Straight Out Of the Camera- fan?
The Sagrada Familia church seems so close to the beach… Well it isn’t, it is well inland.
The tap
You all have taps in our house, I suppose… This one, in the cloister of the cathedral, is better!
Big girl
Saw this girlie one day at the MACBA. It was an open day for kids at the modern art museum. Cool! The kids loved her!
Will and George
23 april 303… The day a young soldier from Lod, in present day Israel, an officer in the Roman army in the Guard of the Emperor Diocletian, lost his life for failing to repudiate his Christian faith. He was called George, he was 28. The rest is legend.
In Catalunya, his name is Jordi. Today, according to tradition couples exchange gifts: a book for the men and a rose for the women. The Rambla is filled with book stalls, and rose vendors, doing brisk business.
The picture above (no photo today) was created by 2 very talented people: my friend Leonardo Rodriguez, and his daughter Laetitia. Here they are, actually creating this poster.
Also…399 years ago… 23 april 1616. The day the greatest playwright ever died. Rest in peace, Will Shakespeare.
Time to reveal something about me… I am Rob, but my second name is Georges. Beware, dragons, bankers, politicians!
Earth day 2015
Today is Earth day. In Barcelona, we celebrate it with a big fair this weekend at the Arc de Triomf, and…with a lot of very international food! Celebration + Barcelona = food, what else. And also a lot of music, events, alternative things to buy. Go there, it’s my favourite event of the year!
Il Signore Capone, capo dei capi
Big Al is having a Havana near the Ramblas… No idea why, but his statue sits in a passage going to the Villa de Madrid square. Anybody knows more about this???
Friendly looking chap, wouldn’t you say?
With a little help…
Donations needed, at the local hospital. In 1785, for the poor.
So many people need help around you. Any help. Who did you help today?
Staying on the subject…
Perfect for circumnavigation… Some kind of revolution: the movement of an object in a circular or elliptical course around another or about an axis or centre, according to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.
The clue is in the link…
A weekend reflection
A weekend reflection… Wishing one of those 60-footer IMOCA class monohulls in the Port Vell was mine… Friends and sponsors, start saving: 70 days left until my birthday!!! I need a bit of south Pacific, it’s good for the soul! And no worries, I can handle this! Oh well, it’s easier for 2 people. Care to join me?
More Weekend Reflections here. You know what to do.
Skywatch Friday
Skywatch Friday, today in the north, aka the south of France. Many more sky photos to be seen here.
World food, with overgin
Empanadas! Anywhere, anytime! An empanada (Spanish pronunciation: [empaˈnaða]; also called pastel in Brazilian Portuguese) is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Latin Europe, Latin America, the Southwestern United States, and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread.
In Spain, empanadas and empanadillas are two different types of cooking a similar thing. Empanadillas are often made from a rather thin, pliant, but resilient wheat pastry, cut into a round shape, stuffed and folded. The filling varies, but tuna, sardines, or meat are used most commonly in a tomato puree, garlic and onion sauce. Spanish empanadillas are often fried in olive oil but can also be found baked.
In Galicia, the empanada can also be prepared similar to a pie, with a variety of fillings like cod, pork loin, cockles, mussels, or octopus, the empanada galega. Empanadas can be eaten at any time of the day. As I mentioned before.
They are everywhere! More about them here.
No comment about overgin (open up the photo to know what the heck I’m talking about). Someone’s sense of humor at the Boqueria market, I hope…
Coming through!
Coming through the mobile bridge at the Maremagnum shopping mall, after a day on the water. Nice.
Taxi!
Taxis, waiting for clients, near the casino. More specifically: waiting for clients with enough money left to pay for the fare. No dinero? Take the metro!
Billion dollar view…
A lot of big fancy yachts in Barcelona… One of them is said to be worth 1 billion dollars…
Jamón, Jamón
April… Let’s start the month with the City Daily Photo theme day, won’t we! Theme: my camera-shy self portrait. Well, here I am on Calle Pelaio, hiding behind the hams reflected in what used to be the Happybooks shop. It is now a so-called a Jamóneria, a ham shop. I am always very sad to see a bookshop closing, btw.
You know what to do… Click here to see what my friends from CDP did with this theme.
Rhapsody…
…on a theme of Paganini. This is what he was playing, on a blue violon. By Rachmaninoff, originally for piano and orchestra. He gave it his own twist, a difficult task, more Jean Luc Ponty than music school style. It was cool, he was cool. The beach-addicts in Sitges just threw him a passing glance.
The World Trade Center and Barceloneta
… and in the back, one of the many reasons to come to Barcelona: playas!
Camera-shy weekend reflection…
It’s weekend, therefore weekend reflections… Can you see me? Only a few days till the CDP monthly theme day, camera-shy self portrait!
Evening on Plaza de Catalunya
I have been around a fair bit… But Barcelona, which I left 1 year ago, is and will always stay for me the best ever place for a leisurely evening stroll. Winter or summer, rain, snow (not very often!), there is always something to see, something to do… A photographer’s paradise!!! I took some 110.000 photos there in about 6 years… And you?
Shy me
On April’s Fool Day… Join us for the monthly theme day. The theme will be: my camera-shy self portait.
Us? We are the City Daily Photo gang, all 720 of us. Have a look, and join us! You could be number 721!!! Get ready to browse your photo archive!
Anyway, here I am. Can you see me?
In Gaudi’s shadow
What is your bedside reading right now? I am in some good old sci fi, Ark, by Stephen Baxter.
More b&w here.
Off to work I go…
A common sight on the ramblas, Mr Goldie Boy. Not that street entertainers left, only 15 in the morning, 15 in the afternoon, according to municipal laws and rules.
Soon…
…it will be xiringuito season, aka the best time of the year: SUMMERTIME, YEAH!!!
A xiringuito, or guingueta, spanish chiringuito, is a beach bar, serving mostly drinks and snacks. Usually, some of them are fully-fledged restaurant. The bars tend to be really crowded after 2 PM, or in the evening, when the beach parties start. Excellent places to meet people…
Parque Guell
No, no moon photo today, but one from Parque Guell, which used to be free, but isn’t anymore. Oh well, it is really, I mean really, worth a visit.
MNAC
This is the rather magnificent cupola at the MNAC, the national catalan art museum, on Montjuic hill. An absolute must see! The view upon Barcelona from up there is gorgeous as well!
The pond at the MMB
There is this lovely pond at the Museu Maritim de Barcelona, complete with statue, goldfishes and 2 turtles. A little haven, a perfect place to have a cafe solo and to watch tourist go by.
Barcelona Daily Photo 
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