Man withstands exile from pesty-razzi!

La Puerta del Angel is in the center of Barcelona with upscale stores, lots and lots of restaurants and cafés, small outdoor stalls and people -- many, many people.

In the middle of what I’ve described, my eye caught one person in a sea of many humans.

The yellow beret man walked proud and swift but not swiftly enough for my companion who was faster on shooting the camera than Annie Oakley was with her gun.

Lucho
Barcelona, 2007

Someone had cautioned the yellow hatted man of his picture being taken and he caught my companion in the act. Luckily, for me, their cautious meeting with one another gave me the opportunity to take my very own photo.

Lucho
Barcelona, 2007

The ice was broken and we enthusiastically introduced and explained ourselves and once he realized we were crazy and fun he posed and he seemed to have fun.

Who is Lucho? I have no idea.

What does he do in real life? I have no idea. But here's his card.

Lucho's business card
Barcelona, 2007

He does come from Barcelona, is Catalan, and “crazy fun".

Our kind of guy!

Enjoy!!

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Busy fella shoots fast hello

Buses and trains are a great way to learn about any city and Barcelona’s transportation system is nothing other than excellent and reasonably priced.

We have seen many parts of Barcelona via bus or train just on a whim.

This particular day we took Bus 92 which originates in la plaça de Gal.la Placidia and ends at Bogatell Beach.

It is about a little over an hour bus ride and the route it follows is better than any tourist bus. Of course, that is my personal opinion.

We decided to take pictures and for the first time we applied a theme to the photos as “pictures taken from the bus”.

Clever. Eh?

Along, the way, as the bus stopped there was a laborer sifting cement. Dust arose as he stirred the concrete and the brilliant sun shone made for quite a stunning picture, if I had the right camera.

Hello to you!
Barcelona, 2006

My Minolta is a slow camera. I shot 2 photos but kept missing my opportunity. You see, I wanted to capture the scene that first caught my attention.

He continued stirring the cement and I waited for as long as the bus would allow. When we began to move, he looked up.

He waved.

GOT him!

But … he waved first, I thought.

Hmm … looks like I was “GOT” first.

Enjoy!

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Noble Beast

To regal for the ground he walks on.

He strutted his stuff, in that John Travolta way, with attitude, self-confidence and gave the impression he knew he looked good.

And looked good, he did.

marcat de llibertat
Barcelona, 2006

He was cheerful, responsive and in full control of his mission to protect that bottle from anything, especially me.

So, some distance I gave, as much as he would allow.

He kept his bottle and I got my shot.

Enjoy!

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Is anybody listening?

As I mentioned in my post Un café con sombras a lado, I find la plaça de la Virreina to be a very, special place.

I remember the day I took this photo. There she was playing mostly alone and every now and then with a dog.

Quite a few times, she stopped what whatever she was doing and looked at what I thought was the sky.

But, as moments passed by, I realized that it was the statue on the top of a water fountain that was maintaining her interest and she my curiosity.

Hmmm. How fantastic it would be if she did anything special and what would that special thing be?

So, I got my camera ready and for those of you who have been following my blog, I was doing what I do best, adjusting and re-adjusting my camera.

All the while I had this child on my mind, watching her and hoping that she wouldn’t see me.

plaça de la Virreina
Barcelona, 2006

So, I walked around the plaça, took a few shots here and there. She suddenly stopped playing, walked towards the statue and to my amazement and wonderment she prayed.

I hope that day someone was listening ‘cause I was certainly watching.

She is one of the reasons why I love la plaça de la Virreina so very much.

Enjoy!

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Un café con sombras a lado

In the last week and half, I posted A Street that looks like and is Magic and The Magic Lingers. I wrote of a street named carrer de Torrijos.

Walk with me up carrer de Torrijos where I show you la plaça de la Virreina, a BIG FAV of mine and

Where I get my usual American coffee with milk.

But, for you, I order café con sombras a lado, a special coffee with shadows on the side, a title inspired by my very, own photo.

plaça de la Virreina
Barcelona, 2006

What makes this plaça so wonderful? The people. It’s a place of quirky characters with a tremendous amount of human and non-human activity.

Do you notice something missing in the picture?

Look hard.

It is YOU!

You might see some empty chairs right now but there are many days where it’s almost impossible to find a seat.

So, mark your table, rest, enjoy the light, the sun and its shadows.

It’s an area well worth exploring.

Hasta luego!

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Is this my best?

Mangled hair.

A torn shirt.

Shoeless feet.

Drew my attention to a forlorn young man sitting quietly with a look of contemplation and loneliness.

I wanted so much to take a photo of his face but I just couldn’t.

plaça de Catalunya
Barcelona, 2006

His body language with slumped shoulders and head bowed were enough for me to keep my distance but the human spirit or in his case an apparent lack of it could not stop me from capturing this moment … his moment became my moment.

What was he thinking, how did he get here and where was he going?

I wondered if he even knew.

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Five minutes, PLEASE!

Here I am practicing my lasso trick, something I’ve been trying to do for 20 years. I’m alone, having great fun and not bothering anyone ...

plaça del Sol
Barcelona, 2005

When along comes a grown-up whispering in my ear.

plaça del Sol
Barcelona, 2005

What the heck is he doing?!

Doesn’t he realize that I can’t and don’t want to be interrupted?

But apparently his needs are more important than mine. He goes on

plaça del Sol
Barcelona, 2005

And on,

plaça del Sol
Barcelona, 2005

Oblivious to my indifference.

And he just doesn’t seem to know when to quit.

Finally! Sheesh!

Okay fella! Enough. For YOU, a 5 minute time out.

plaça del Sol
Barcelona, 2005

He’s cranky, crabby, captious and cross.

Grown-ups!

When will they ever learn?

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Picture in Picture

On the corner of Passeig de Gràcia and to the right of Gaudi’s Casa Batllo, was a building undergoing renovation.

You don’t see any ugly scaffolding because the entire edifice was blanketed with a cloth of many colors.

So, for your viewing pleasure, and much easier than writing, I show you what I call a picture in a picture photo.

Passeig de Gràcia
Barcelona, 2006

You can see the enormity of the display and its vibrant, pulsating and candy-like colors.

Fun! Eh?

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Barcelona celebrates Palm Sunday, 2007

Today is Palm Sunday, where Christians celebrate Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem for the Jewish festival of Passover, and a reminder of his pending arrest, death and resurrection.

From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, the week here is known as Semana Santa.

In the United States, Catholic Churches give their parishioners blessed palms as they leave Mass, but here in Barcelona palms are purchased in supermarkets, flower shops and even on Rambla de Catalunya.

On la Rambla, my eye caught a friendly face with a warm and inviting smile.

A friendly face with a warm and inviting smile
La Rambla de Catalunya, Barcelona, 2007

I motioned to him in that way one asks for permission to take a photo and he smiled, and began to proudly “pose” his wares.

Fine tuning
La Rambla de Catalunya, Barcelona, 2007

Poor guy had to contend with not one but 2 people clicking away but he didn’t seem to mind.

Walking further down, the street was rich with multi-colored bows, palms, people and the warm inviting sun.

La Rambla de Catalunya,
Barcelona, 2007

As I turned to leave, the old gentlemen called me over.

He gave me a tiny palm he had woven into an intricate pattern.

A gift just for me
La Rambla de Catalunya, 2007

A simple gesture on his part and for me I saw rainbows.

Enjoy!

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How a Finn relaxes

Meandering our way towards la plaça de Sant Jaume after a long day of shooting photos, there in a little corner of a 2 table outdoor café was light, shadow and a man.

He looked so serene, sitting there drinking his cup of tea. (I only supposed it was tea.)

I was about one car length away from him on the opposite side of the street and I wanted so much to take his photo.

And so I did.

la plaça de Sant Jaume
Barcelona, 2007

I took about 2 shots when, lo and behold, a 6 group mommy caravan of children and strollers stopped right in front of my shot.

From there, it was downhill.

And,

He discovered me.

Motioning for me to come over, he asked if I had been taking his photo. A little jittery I was, for you see, I am not so sly and not so adept in castellano to laughingly work or worm my way out of delicate situations.

After admitting I had, he introduced himself as a vacationer from Finland, gave me his card and requested photos be sent as a testimony of his visit to Barcelona.

He had no camera so it was a little hard for him to take a picture of himself.

Ah! Those pesky tourists are sometimes a pleasant surprise.

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Qwurky man escapes from painting

Slips in photos like typos in writing are springboards to magical impressions.

So it was with this photo.

I liked the bold colors painted on this storefront’s persiana and I wanted to add human interest to a somewhat sterile corner of this area.

My partner in crime was that human interest. He had moved in such an ethereal way that I knew instinctively I had the photo I wanted.

qwurky man escapes from painting

barrio de Gràcia, Barcelona, 2006

Before my very eyes, he seemed to melt out of the persiana and unto the sidewalk. What a dream!

To get this photo was not without work on my part.

You see, he was fascinated by his own “works of art” and completely oblivious to my “present needs”.

qwurky pose 1
barrio de Gràcia, Barcelona, 2006

I am grateful for the very top photo, and the following pictures show his qwurky posed poses

qwurky, pose #2
barrio de Gràcia, Barcelona, 2006

that illustrate my endurance. HA!

qwurky, pose #3
barrio de Gràcia, Barcelona, 2006

Oh, the patience and tolerance I have.

Like a child, I had a difficult time keeping him in tow.

qwurky, pose #4
barrio de Gràcia, Barcelona, 2006

See what I mean?

Enjoy!

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Passing by the life that’s passing you by

One of my favorite pastimes other than taking photos is enjoying store window displays and posters.

Another activity I enjoy is doing what I do best … adjusting and readjusting camera settings and clicking here and there.

When I came home this day and sifted through the cornucopia of pictures, (thank goodness for the chip) I saw with delight this shot.

Barcelona, 2006

I could sit here and write in philosophical terms the meaning of what we I see and of what you might see. But, why should I.

Either way,

Sigh.

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