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.
Keep on runnin’
No, it isn’t the Spencer Davis Group, lol! Just some guys running in their hotpants on the seafront.
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 World Trade Center and Barceloneta
… and in the back, one of the many reasons to come to Barcelona: playas!
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…
Planet Poblenou
You too can create your own planet! This is la planeta del Poblenou, complete with Hilton hotel and a beach!
Catedral del Mar
So many things in Barcelona are sea-related. Well, it is one of the main port on the Med.
Anyway, this is in my opinion the most elegant church in town, Santa Maria de la Ribera, the cathedral of the sea. You might have read Ildefonso Falcone’s book about about it, a local bestseller. More about the church here.
Peix
The whale, this is what we call this big structure on the seafront in Barcelona.
No, wait… According to Frank Gehry who built it for the 92 Olympics, it is actually a giant goldfish. Ok with this, it is red indeed, made of copper and steal.
About the style of this photo ((no, I did not paint. Although, I did…), more about it on my brand new website, the painting camera, merging photography and painting. Feel free to browse.And who knows, you might want to buy a picture…
I know what you did last summer!
Well, maybe I don’t. But I truly wish you were fortunate enough to find yourself a nice place to spend the summer, be it sea or mountain. And for me, AND I REALLY NEED SUMMER RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE!
Special message to some good friends of mine in the scorching heat of Western Australia (the hottest day in ages there): winter will be back. In a few months, wont be long now. Lol.
Barcelona blues
Blues, and other colors, of course. The Westin hotel, as seen from Barceloneta beach.
Rush hour in Barcelona
This is the ransom of success and popularity… Oh man, give me an empty beach any day!
Skywatch Friday
It was a nice Friday afternoon on the Barcelona seafront.
To see more Friday Skywatchers, click here.
A chiringuito evening
I spent an evening on the beach recently, at a chiringuito, or beach cafe, with some colleagues. One of the rare times when I’m on the beach at sundown. So, plenty photos!
How nice can the beach be…
…once the hordes have gone, after 9 PM. It is a great thing to have beaches, but there is also a big drawback about living in one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world. Tourists my friends, you are welcome! But sometimes I wish I had a bit more space for my towel… A beach should not feel like the London Tube at rush hour, don’t you think?
Well, we have a conundrum.
Beach season…
The beach season opens officially this coming weekend. This means that the following facilities will be available: toilets, lifeguards, police patrols, Wifi, a public library, bars, parties, and so on. Just add sun. Well, the weather is ok right now, 19 degrees today.
Miniature
This is the first ever time I use the miniature technique of photography, for Water World Wednesday. It is basically fiddling with the depth of field.
One of the ways of enjoying Barcelona by the sea, the fast way. I would suggest you to wait and do this during summer, but not right now.
Bacardi!
Sitges is the birthplace of Facund Bacardi i Masso, the founder of the eponymous rum distillery. And the municipality of Sitges had the very good idea not to put the statue of the man himself, but this rather wonderful statue.
I already posted this on my other blog, but I like it so much that I could not resist posting it here as well.
The water’s edge
It’s theme day again, youhouh!!!! This month’s theme is, you guessed it, the water’s edge. This is Badalona beach, 3 or 4 years ago.
Click here to see what other participants did.
Skywatch Friday
The Tibidado hill, seen from between the hotels on the sea front, near Diagonal Mar.
Skywatch Friday, right here.
C’est la Catalogne!
Greetings from the lovely french seaside resort of Argeles-sur-Mer, in Catalan Argelers de la Merenda. It is France, but it also still is Catalunya, or Catalogne in French. I like to call the french part of it Northern Catalunya, or Roussillon (in Catalan Rossello) The people here, some of them anyway, speak a very close cousin to our Catalan south of the border.
Confused? Click here!
We’re here to celebrate France’s 14 juillet, or Bastille Day, with fireworks and dancing, yeah!
Weekend Reflections
Yep, that’s Mandy and Rob, plus some stranger on the side. Feeling a bit sandy.
Weekend Reflections, right here.
Barcelona, 8 PM
… and now over to the weather report. It has been a hot day, 35 degrees C. No change for the next few days. It’s summer, folks!
Not a nude beach 2
I was in Sitges, 35 km/20 miles south of Barcelona, last Sunday. It was very hot, with a strange mixture of blue sky and very dark clouds. Therefore, this is for Skywatch Friday.
About the title… I posted this other picture with a similar title a few days ago…. and had a (not so) surprisingly high number of visitors. I am not into SEO, search engine optimization, but this is just… fun. We’ll see-)
A nude beach
Yes, public nudity is legal in Spain. No, you can’t walk naked through Barcelona anymore. Or cycle.
In Barcelona public nudity used to be regarded as a recognized right, although there have been successful prosecutions for public nudity even there and a local ordinance by the local council in May 2011 empowers the authorities to impose a fine for nudity and even being bare chested.
Basically, you want to be naked, stay on the nude beaches. No worries, there are plenty around!
Our world Tuesday, right here.
The circus
A black and white rendition of the circus we went to a few weeks ago, for Dragonstar’s Weekend in Black and White.
Keeping fit, aka post 999
Well, ok, this photo was taken 2 weeks ago, during a normal winter day. Now, we’re having a cold spell all over Europe, you might have heard of it. The coldest winter in Catalunya in over 25 years, nothing less! Temperatures have gone down and down and down… Minus 23 in the mountains, minus 1 here. Which makes it even more important to keep FIT!
Watery Wednesday
Couple of simple things you can do with your photos. For this, I used a small but nice program called Artizen. It is a HDR program, but you can use it for tonemapping single photos as well.
Watery Wednesday, right here.
No cheating!
What could be better than spending your Sunday afternoon on the beach playing dominoes? Or so these gentlemen think. Saw them before,last summer, and they’re still here. We really had a wonderful Sunday afternoon, sun, 18 degrees C (mid-sixties, Fahrenheit). Spring!
Our World on Tuesday indeed.
The circus, part 3
Our World on Tuesday, of course!Circ Raluy
We went to the circus last night, for the first time in many many years (over 30 for Rob)! Was great! The Circ Raluy, traditional Catalan circus founded in 1911, and still operated by the same family, Raluy. Will show you some more of it in the coming week.
I was particularly moved by the many references to Federico Fellini’s La Strada.
Watery Wednesday
Close to freezing temperatures in the morning… So here’s a bit of summer!
Watery Wednesday as usual, right here.
Swans
Let’s get out of Barcelona, even Spain, for a bit. Some swans in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, some time ago.
Carpe Diem
We came across them a few weeks ago. Happy people. And here is their website. See for yourselves.
A lady
She came prepared. Slippers, gloves, jacket, folding chair. And of course the umbrella to ward of the very hot sun.
She came to see the airplanes, the airshow.
And to be really sure to stay fresh on this very hot day, she sat next to the… shower.
Watery Wednesday 158
We got this extremely nice panorama-making program the other day. Here is one we did last sunday. 11 photos stitched together… Very happy about the result!!!
Watery Wednesday, have a look!
Action!
Just before arriving at my favorite beach, there is this skating ground/place. As I was a bit early for the airshow on sunday, I decided to risk my life, and got a bit closer to the action. This is what came out, some guy almost landing in the bold spot on top of my head! Was close!
This for Our World Tuesday. Have a look!
3 flags…
…the Spanish…
 
Watery Wednesday
One of the great things to do here…
This is for the weekly Watery Wednesday meme. Click here!
Les Artisans du Spectacle
No Merce would be complete without several big fireworks. Here is one, by the french company Les Artisans du Spectacle.
Skywatch Friday
A nice and quiet sky above Barcelona a few days ago.
Yesterday was not only the first day of autumn but also the official start of the yearly Merce festival. La Mercè is the annual festival (festa major in Catalan) of the city of Barcelona. It has been an official city holiday since 1871, when the local government first organized a program of special activities to observe the Roman Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Mercy, La Mare de Déu de la Mercè in Catalan. Although the actual feast day is September 24, the festivities begin a few days beforehand.
So, this weekend, big party! Hoping to see and to hear some good music, some major fireworks, giants, devils, human towers, Swan Lake… on a lake (yep), etc. Will show you all this, of course.
Meanwhile, this photo above is for the weekly Skywatch Friday meme. Click right here to see more about it!
Watery Wednesday
Leaving Barcelona…. for about 90 minutes.
This is for the Watery Wednesday meme. Click here to see more fabulous watery photos!
Lolita y Encarnacion…
… are 2 of the Golondrinas (swallows) taking tourists around the port and along the coast. It is a very nice thing to do when you’re visiting Barcelona… and the sea is not too choppy!
Encounter of the third type: the Barcelosaurus
Coming out of his nest now and then: the oldest inhabitant of Barcelona. By far. Kids love him! There is a mammoth in Ciutadella Park as well, but he is obviously at least 70 Mio years younger, duh!
Wasting time…
Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun
I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time
Thanks, Otis, you’re still the best!
Watery Wednesday, the place to be!
Strategy
That’s the way it’s done, boys!
Incidentally, I learned yesterday that in what once was one of the biggest fishing port in the Med, there are only 45 working fishing boats left in Barcelona, barely making a living, and often coming back empty. Shame.Â
Our World Tuesday,right now, right here!
Black and white Port Vell
The Port Vell, or Old Port of Barcelona, with the ferry terminal and the World Trade Center.
The Weekend in Black and White. Check here to see more!
Watery Wednesday: looking at the Big Blue
Watery Wednesday… Looking at the Big Blue Med from the Forum area, with a few lamps in the foreground for the happy yachtsmen and women.
Watery Wednesday
The lifeguard, keeping the Sitges coast line safe, in his red pants.
Please check out what other participants posted for this week’s Watery Wednesday meme!
Watery Wednesday
Had a nice afternoon at the beach. It was extremely windy! Perfect for sailing, surfing, windsurfing and fishes. Not so for swimming, as the yellow flag was raised first, then the red one.
Anyway, Watery Wednesday again. Lots of water on this photo!
My World on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday…….
 Yeah, why not.
A novelty way for tourists to move around town, in herds. Would love to have one to go to work!
Skywatch Friday
Skywatch Friday again! This is an archive photo, the sky over the biology research institute on the seafront.
We’re off to France again this weekend, yiipeee!
Skywatch Friday
Yes, it’s Friday! And I’m off to France till Monday, without computer, so it’s gonna be automated posting this weekend.
Should you want to see more photos from this wonderful Skywatch Friday meme, just click here!
Skywatch Friday
I posted this photo on another blog a few days ago, but I love it so much that I just have to show it here!
The shoreline, almost all of it. This photo works best if seen as big as possible. Enjoy all the other photos on Skywatch Friday as well!
PS… I think this is the second ever B&W photo on this blog, as we usually go for something rather more colorful (see the last 730 or so posts). I am learning the art of B&W (and I love it!), so tell me what you think of it.
Levitating…
Next photo on my little (cable-car induced) levitation, the swimming pool. It is quite popular for a very simple reason: beaches here are man made. There might be some nice sand on the beach, but underwater, it’s gravel. And as the ground drops immediately, you’re in the depths in 2 steps, the water is cold, very cold. So, a swimming-pool can be quite nice!
Watery Wednesday
W…ell, another Wednesday, a Watery one as usual. Still ‘levitating’, I came towards the high rise Westin hotel. Quite a new place, it opened a year ago, or so. Last time I was there, Shakira was filming one of her clips there, you might have seen it (forgot the title, not being a fan of the lady’s music). Right there, on this very beach.
I posted another picture of the Barcelona seafront, all of it, here, if you are curious (and it’s healthy, being curious!).
Watery Wednesday of course!!!
Skywatch Friday
Had some fun reworking this originally pale and grey photo of Sitges for Skywatch Friday!!!
Dramatic Skywatch Friday
Nice dramatic sky off Sitges.
Check out Skywatch Friday, it is worth the visit!
Surf’s up!
We’re having a bit of wind lately, and the surf was magnificent on Saturday evening! Nobody in the water though
Weekend reflections
Proud oriental warrior? Maybe… Meanwhile, he is a doorman at the entrance of a club on the seafront. What you see in the back is the reflection of a city bus.
This is for James’s Weekend Reflections. Click here to see more.
Watery Wednesday
An afternoon at the beach, 2 days ago.
This is for Watery Wednesday, the ultimate weekly meme you just have to check out, right here!
Watery Wednesday
Silver and gold, one evening, with a very long lens, and some post processing.
Watery Wednesday, just click here!
Frank Gehry’s Fish
El Pez, the Fish, by Frank Gehry. It was built to be a focal point for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and is, with its 45 meters height, one of the worlds largest sculptures. The tower next to it is the Arts Hotel, with it’s 10.000 euros a night suites.
Let’s go into the fishes belly…
And a closer look at it’s skin… 
And finally, this must be the guy feeding it, complete with fancy hat…
More about Frank Gehry here.
PS: whilst researching for this post, I noticed that it is Gehry’s birthday today. And then it totally slipped out of my mind. Happy 82nd, Frank! And thanks, Genie, for reminding me!
Skywatch Friday
The Arts Hotel, where all the celebs go to when they’re around. Who did we have here lately? Scarlett Johanson, Woody Allen, Shakira, Antonio Banderas, Tom Cruise I think. The Pope was here as well, but he stayed somewhere else.
Their better suites can cost up to 10.000 (that’s ten thousand) euros a night.
We have some youth hostels in town as well.
This is for Skywatch Friday. Please click right here to see more!
Post 475: going somewhere?
We are going to Lourdes next week (not by boat, as it is a mountain town). Are you going somewhere nice in the near future?
And welcome, bemvindo to Rui FT Santos, a very excellent portuguese photographer, our 335th follower.
Watery Wednesday
Barcelona seafront on a warm summer evening. Must be 8.30 PM, probably the best moment of the day for a swim. Going there tonight.
As every wednesday, this is for Watery Wednesday, episode 102. Please click right here to see more participating pictures.
Skywatch Friday
8 PM on the beach…
Skywatch Friday, season 4, episode 6. Please click here to see many more sky photos.
Skywatch Friday
Can’t think of a more romantic place to sit with your boy or girlfriend, and to watch…
Collioure, north Catalunya, France.
This is for Skywatch Friday, season 4, episode 52. Please click here to see more photos!
Weekend reflections
Some of the surrounding urban and industrial landscape reflecting on the W Hotel.
This is for James’s Weekend Reflections. To see more of it, please click here.
The violinist
Sitges, last sunday, on the seafront. We spotted this excellent violinist playing to 2-3 people, on his fancy electric violin. Hope he got some rewards for his music!
And don’t forget: The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils.
William Shakespeare
Barcelona Daily Photo 
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