Maremagnum at its finest!

In Barcelona's district of Port Vell, there's a magnificent shopping center called Maremagnum.

As you cross its bridge, you will find fantastic landscapes of Barcelona, outdoor cafes, anchored boats of all sizes , many many seagulls and much much more.

On the other side of the bridge and to the left there's a restaurant called Tapa Tapa (yum yum), and at the very end of the boardwalk is a small nook ... the very one you see and want to be at --- a place you can sit in solitude or with a loved one and a fine bottle of wine.

Maremagnum at its finest!

Hey! Be sure to use Google Chrome, like me. I was an avid Firefox user but I certainly like Chrome for 2 reasons, mainly, the its low usage of memory and its translator.

plaça de Narcís Oller

In the barrio of Gràcia, between Via Augusta and the Travessera de Gràcia, there's a quaint park called the plaça de Narcís Oller.

Visually, it doesn't compare to other plaças in the barrio in terms of size and crowds and that's okay with me. I like the small plaça for it has a fun seating arrangement, a running water fountain, 5 restaurants or cafes, a small grocery store, a wellness spa called the the Flotarium, a computer repair shop and wonderful architectural structures.

The plaça is small, like I said, but on special days when the weather is great you hear children playing, and you see dogs running into the fountain to cool off.

Speaking of dogs, I believe it's been about 3 years since el barrio de Gràcia has placed dog leash restrictions. I can understand why without arguing a pro or con stance. In the day when the dogs roamed it was fun to see them play with one another and enjoy frolicking in the fountain like children.

Time surely flies as the days of today quickly become the days of yesterday, more than I want.

"Whither Thou Goest", "You Got Me Singing"

Why Don't You Try to Take This Longing I have, to meet you.

Here It Is, If It Be Your Will to wear the Famous Blue Raincoat that Everybody Knows Ain't No Cure For Love.

Hallelujah. It's Closing Time.

Ok. Ok. Before you think me so clever and talented, admittingly, I cheated and used the titles of Leonard Cohen's songs to jumpstart a story for this photograph.

I wish you could've seen the man in the picture in real life. Yes ... while he looks like the "mature" Cohen of today, it is not only the way he holds his jacket over the shoulder with ONE finger --- how cool is that ---but the slow, deliberate strut of a confident man ... a Cohen strut.

And, by the way, I believe he knew his photo is being taken. No one could walk any slower than he … each step seemed to hum, I’m Your Man, but he really Really isn't. No. It’s true.

But … It Just Feels that way.

Hair of many colors

I never saw her face and that's okay with me.

She is the reason why I like the streets and the reason I love photography.

Her hair, dress are different from the average folk and her walk is sassy and confident.

I like those attributes.

How about YOU?

The Art of Negotiation

For anyone and everyone, finding peace and quiet in this tumultuous world can be difficult.

And, for the cute little girl who was sitting on the ledge, content and happy, her time of peace and quiet was invaded by the loud demand of a little boy wanting to take her space.

She stood her ground, but after much hand waving, cajoling and whining, the little boy won but not before he gave her some candy.

Out of the box

She's red ... that's what I notice.

The day is after 5 pm and the sky is slightly overcast. We're walking down Passeig de Gràcia and I'm thinking that for shooting photos, this is going to be a dull day.

As I cross the street, my eyes perceive some bits of outstanding color. And, there she is.

I like the way she is sitting, I like the way the skirt drapes over her legs.

She has a complete unawareness of anyone or anything around her, (I wonder why)

And the color RED on her clothing KNOCKS my eyes out of their sockets. She's so RED!!!!

I did hardly any processing ... just a bit of cropping and I increased the exposure just a tad,

And the rest of the photo was out of the box (the camera).

Meet me at the apple store!!

I took this photo from the top of the Cortes Ingles (department store) restaurant.

There's a reflection of a young woman to the right of the photo ... whom I don't know, because, ah ... you guessed it, there's a window between me and the city.

And, for your information, I and height don't mix, so, I'm very proud of this picture.

La playa Bogatell

What a surprise to wake up this morning and feel how chilly Barcelona is!

The apartment was cold and dressing in my street clothes felt like ice trickling down my back.

Eleven days ago the sky was sunny and WARM like a July day in November.

Hard to believe then and hard to believe now.