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.
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.
Theme day: street lamps
August. New month, new theme day. Guess you need a good light to do this job
Click here to see what other participants to the theme day did.
Getting ready for work…
… on Monday morning on the Rambla. One of the courageous people with this hardest of jobs: living statue.
Blue eyes
Should anyone have lost a blue eyed alien, he was in front of the cathedral a few hours ago, looking lost
Drawers…
Every lady needs to wear drawers, at least sometimes…
A new era for BDP has started. I will, for the foreseeable future, post a photo whenever possible, without feeling pressed to do so every day. So, Barcelona, a photo now and then, let’s be flexible. See you soon!
The Spotshines, post 1300
More musicians, today the Spotshines: Frankie Walker (guitar and voice), Juan Oliva (piano) and Rodrigo Sommi (guitar and voice). They gave a splendid rendition of James Blunt.
Music
Barcelona is a city full of music, at all times, street musicians, famous names, others not so famous… Amongst the better known in town this month, Madonna, the Cure, Norah Jones, Hugh Laurie (yes, he’s a musician as well as an actor), Love of Lesbian, Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga… Shakira does not count: she lives here.
And hundreds of buskers, some of them really good. Don’t miss the guitar player in the afternoon at Clot metro station!
Montpellier 1
We went up north, to the beautiful french city of Montpellier, and this is one of the first things we saw… This was to celebrate the opening of some new tramway lines. Montpellier’s tramways are the sexiest on earth, according to the New York Times!
Will show you much more!
Paella with a twist!
You don’t see this everyday… Well, in Barcelona, you do, right outside the cathedral! The guy is having a head-start with his paella…
Anyway, here is one of the many many real paella recipes.
Ingredients
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170g/6oz chorizo, cut into thin slices
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110g/4oz pancetta, cut into small dice
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2 cloves garlic finely chopped
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1 large Spanish onion, finely diced
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1 red pepper, diced
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1 tsp soft thyme leaves
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¼ tsp dried red chilli flakes
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570ml/1pint calasparra (Spanish short-grain) rice
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1 tsp paprika
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125ml/4fl oz dry white wine
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1.2 litres/2 pints chicken stock, heated with ¼ tsp saffron strands
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8 chicken thighs, each chopped in half and browned
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18 small clams, cleaned
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110g/4oz fresh or frozen peas
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4 large tomatoes, de-seeded and diced
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125ml/4fl oz good olive oil
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1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
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12 jumbo raw prawns, in shells
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450g/1lb squid, cleaned and chopped into bite-sized pieces
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5 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley
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Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation method
- Heat half the olive oil in a paella dish or heavy-based saucepan. Add the chorizo and pancetta and fry until crisp. Add the garlic, onion and pepper and heat until softened. Add the thyme, chilli flakes and calasparra rice, and stir until all the grains of rice are nicely coated and glossy. Now add the paprika and dry white wine and when it is bubbling, pour in the hot chicken stock, add the chicken thighs and cook for 5-10 minutes.
- Now place the clams into the dish with the join facing down so that the edges open outwards. Sprinkle in the peas and chopped tomatoes and continue to cook gently for another 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil with the garlic cloves in a separate pan and add the prawns. Fry quickly for a minute or two then add them to the paella. Now do the same with the squid and add them to the paella too.
- Scatter the chopped parsley over the paella and serve immediately.
The clown
Down Under
Now… Why is this guy upside down, you might ask… Well, several reasons. 1- he is an artist, an acrobat. 2 – he is Australian, he probably thinks we’re upside down, not him. Therefore the strange pose. 3- that’s the way he makes a living.
And a big HELLO!!!!! to all our friends, family, followers and supporters in Oz and NZ!
Twins!
We’re having visitors at the moment, from the land of kiwis and haka. So, even less time then usual to visit your blogs. We’ll be back soon!
Weekend reflection bubble
Came across these guys who are blowing giant soap bubbles, and I said to myself: what a wonderful thing! Let’s post it!
What is reflected in the bubbles themselves are the 19th- early 20th century buildings on Calle Laietana, one of the old town’s main thoroughfares. And what is behind the bubbles are what remains of the very old roman walls from the original Barcino. Almost 2000 years of architecture in the photos.
This, of course, is for James’s Weekend Reflections. Click here, and have fun!
Levitating
One of the mysteries on the Rambla, the levitating guy. Seen him a few times, always surrounded by huge crowds, but I still have to discover how he is doing it…
 Lady in blue
I posted a lady in red, a while ago. Here is the lady in blue, one of the celebrities on the Rambla. One of a kind.
That’s entertainment!
Some more Rambla workers. It’s getting really cold here, they must be freezing!
Let’s tidy up the mess!
…or so the city fathers must be thinking.
The Ramblas is the most touristic place in Barcelona. It is a long promenade, around a mile long, crowded with tourist, flower shops, caricaturists, pet shops, cafes, restaurants and street entertainers.
I walked down the Ramblas a few weeks ago, and counted almost 40 living statues, living deads, guys with no head, fake Marilyns, panda bears and other strange creatures. Now, the city has decided it would be nice to include the Ramblas in the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. So, how can we do that? Easy: let’s tidy up the mess! Therefore, 10 flower stalls will become one. And the street entertainers, the living statues? Well, they will have to pass a test proving their skills (the first one moving is out???), and their numbers will be reduced. There will be 15 designated spots. 15 entertainers will be allowed to perform from 10 AM till 4 PM, and 15 more from 4PM till 10 PM. Problem: what will happen to the other ones, the less skilled, the ones that moved during selection? They will join the 20.5 percent unemployed in Spain. Easy.
As for the touareg on the photo: buena suerte, amigo, best of luck to you, my friend.
Talking heads?
Well, at least one of them is, talking that is. More street entertainers on the Ramblas, this never ending source of photos..
Breaking news: alien attack on the Rambla!
Sigourney Weaver must be in town…
Sorry about the photo being slightly blured, I was busy running away.
Break time
I don’t think I could be a street entertainer. Many hours without moving, sweating in a heavy costume, being ignored. Gonna keep my day job.
Blessed by an angel…
This is what happened… Walking down the ramblas to go shopping, I was blessed by this angel. Hope the same will happen to all of you! There are angels around you, just find them! Come on, it’s easy!
4 hours later: good news, the blessing worked, we have internet. Gosh, got a lot of catch up to do!
Bubbles and squeaks
This afternoon, the old town was full of bubbles and delighted squeaks!
So… What if we burst the proverbial bubble?
Let’s see…
This is a part of James’s Weekend Reflections. Please click here to see more delightful reflections!
Post 365: the victim?
A relative newcomer on the Rambla scene, the golden boy. The victim. Depending on the time frame, he could be a victim of either King Midas, or of Goldfinger. Or, more likely, just another fashion victim.
This is our 365th post, the final post in our first year. Tomorrow, may 10th, we’ll celebrate, and start a new year! After the chinese new year, the Barcelona Nuevo Año!
theme of the month: statues
1st of may. Happy day to all workers out there, specially to those actually working today. I just wish it didn’t fall on a saturday.
Anyway, theme day today: Statues. Which is a bit bad for me, as I showed you my favorite statues in Barcelona, the giant lobster, Botero’s ‘Gat’ and ‘el cul’ several times already. So…. Barcelona is famous for it’s living statues on the Rambla. Here is one, announcing spring a few weeks ago.
Angels and demons…
…and other strange creatures are to be found almost everyday on the Ramblas. A little assortment of them.
For those who don’t know, the Ramblas are large avenues, former riverbeds in fact, very nice places for a stroll in the sun.
Thankful Dragon
For the invisible man we posted yesterday, it must be quite easy during summer: I suppose he just takes his clothes off, puts on some suncream, and keeps the hat, supposing, of course, that he really is invisible. If he isn’t, no big problem: enough people roam the streets totally naked in the summer in Barcelona. Legally.
Must be much more difficult for this Dragon Man, in his very fancy, and seemingly very hot costume.
And a warm welcome to Regina from Kilauea, Hawaii, our 250th follower!
Il fait 13-14 degres en ce moment, voici le meilleur moyen de rester chaud: se deguiser en dragon. Mais le pauvre va souffrir cet ete! Pour l’homme invisible d’hier, c’est beaucoup plus facile quand il fait tres chaud: il lui suffira d’enlever ses vetements et de garder le chapeau. En supposant bien sur qu’il soit vraiment invisible… S’il ne l’est pas, ce n’est pas tres grave, beaucoup de personnes totalement nues dans les rues de notre bonne ville en ete, tout a fait legalement…
Vampires in Barcelona/ Vampires a Barcelone
Here is the story… You are a perfectly innocent passerby (are you really?), looking for nothing in particular, just walking down the Ramblas, enjoying the day.
Or maybe you are looking for a bit of excitment.
You might be new here, maybe a tourist. You’ve heard that Barcelona is a city that never sleeps.
And then this: you’re attacked by some vampires lurking on the streets or in the protection of some conveniently situated coffin.
And you smile, thinking they are just some more street entertainers.
But are they really???????????
Alors voila. Vous etes a Barcelone, vous profitez d’ une semaine de vacances bien meritees. Vous vous promenez sur les Ramblas, ne pensant a rien de special. Il fait chaud, vous devez avoir soif.
Et soudain, vous etes attaque par des vampires!
Et vous souriez, pensant qu’ ils sont des statues vivantes, communes sur les Ramblas.
Mais le sont ils vraiment?????
Not before I’m ready!
One can only admire these living statues on the Rambla! They stand or sit there for hours, not moving, in the heat, in the cold, waiting for someone to drop a coin in the basket or hat, but being mostly ignored. Ignored, laughed at, but mostly ignored.
As there are always at least 25-30 of them on the Rambla, I suppose it is worthwhile. Not sure if I would have the strength or the patience to do it.
If you want to see another of those street entertainers, here is one I posted a long time ago.
Barcelona Daily Photo 
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