Category: Catalonia

What Use is a Balcony?

This week, for the Lens-Artists Challenge, PR invites us to present balconies we’ve met. I love leaning over a balcony, with the chance to relish a bit of sunshine whilst enjoying some people -watching. But it turns out that I haven’t got a single shot of residents enjoying their bit of outdoor urban space.

Lots of apartment-owners turn their balconies into gardens. Although the resident in my first shot hasn’t allowed a lack of an existing one to thwart plans. How about repurposing a few chairs? And the second one earns a place to show how so many Spanish and Portuguese balconies are tiled on the underside. Such a good idea!

Then – obviously – there’s Balcony as Washing Line. Here are two from Spain.

Vic, Catalonia
Sants, Barcelona

Sometimes a balcony is ideal for posting a protest. Here the citizens of Berga demanded Independence from Spain for Catalonia. Five years on, the cries don’t seem to be quite so strident. And in the adjacent images, citizens in a run-down neighbourhood in Seville sought a touch of cultural revival, accompanied by lively illustrations.

Sometimes it’s just about cheering up the neighbourhood. Here we are, first in Berlin, then in Málaga.

And sometimes, balaconies just wish to speak for themselves. Here are two fine examples.

This building is now the Tourist Office in Manises, a town near Valencia which was formerly one of the most important producers of ceramics in Spain. Sadly, its glory days are over.
A fine Modernista building in Mataró by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, the Casa Coll i Regàs.

And some people just don’t have a balcony. So they have to paint one instead.

Two examples of trompe-l’œil in Tournus, Saône-et-Loire, France

My feature photo is of an ordinary street in Argentona, Catalonia – where every house is sporting a balcony.

Thanks, PR – this was an inspired post to set us in the mood for summer travels, and mooching around to find balconies to admire.

Statuary for Small People to Enjoy

Monochrome Madness this week asks us to feature statues. I could show you Michelangelo’s David. I could feature statues of The Great and The Good, as featured in all big cities everywhere. Or Nymphs and Greek Gods from set-piece fountains everywhere. But I’ve decided to go low-brow and show you pieces destined to appeal to children, or adults in search of their inner child.

Let’s begin at the Arboretum at Thorp Perrow.

Then we’ll stay local and inspect the Alice in Wonderland characters you’ll find in Ripon Spa Gardens. Lewis Carroll spent part of his childhood in Ripon, because his father was a canon at the cathedral here.

I hope you recognise the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts.

Then there’s this fellow, part of a sculpture trail promoted recently in London by the children’s charity Whizz Kidz.

Here are some gargoyles, not necessarily designed for children, but certainly appealing to them: from the Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona, and the Església de Sant Julià in Argentona.

Monks and the Christian faithful – or certainly the masons working for them – generally weren’t above fashioning satisfyingly scary pieces. Here are two battered relics: one from Rievaulx Abbey, and the other from Rheims Cathedral.

My last image isn’t of a statue designed to be amusing. But Neptune at Studley Royal always makes me and any children I happen to be with laugh when the poor fellow is sporting a seagull headpiece.

And my feature photo? Are they even statues? Well, I don’t know what else to call these two. They’re from Valencia’s annual Fallas Festival, where humorous figures, originally made of wood, are toted round town in March each year to celebrate the arrival of spring.

For Leanne’s Monochrome Madness, hosted this week by PR, of Flights of the Soul.

And Debbie’s Six Word Saturday.

And Natalie’s Photographing Public Art Challenge (PPAC).

Reflections

This post is just an excuse to share a few photos from the outside of Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona and the modern buildings round and about. When I went, the music festival Primavera Sound was in full swing in the evenings – Emily and Miquel had been the night before – so whole swathes of the area were out of bounds. My plans to explore were curtailed.

So after I’d ‘done’ the museum (maybe worth a post later?) I caught a tram to the Port Olímpic.

Both areas are full of glass-clad buildings reflecting images of the space in which they stood. Connecting with them, just too late for me to pop them into Donna’s Lens-Artists Challenge: Connections. You can connect with me too – two and a half times – there I am in the last photo of all, snapping away.

For Ludwig’s Monday Window.

Just Looking …

There were times during my recent trip to Spain when I was part of a street-side audience. But there were those who had a prime viewing spot. They lived in an apartment immediately above the action. I have a few shots of them peering down at the events below.

On my first Saturday, we popped over to Barcelona, for a neighbourhood festival: La Festa Major de la Esquerra de l’Exeimple. Early in the morning (well, early for Spain) we happened upon a communal keep-fit session. So did this older inhabitant, who chose to maintain her distance.

This is what she was missing:

Then the next weekend, nearer home, was Rebombori, which I reported on here. As the gegants plodded through the streets, at least one chap had a ringside view.

And when they arrived in the town square, one set of young people had the best view of all:

My header photo is another from the Festa Major, when we were all ‘just looking’ at the Gegants de la Pedrera, the neighbourhood’s very own gegants, celebrating Antoni Gaudí, whose buildings are generously scattered throughout the area. And indeed at the locals who were adding a bit of colour (if not in this photo) by dressing up quite splendidly in Edwardian costume.

For Leanne’s Monochrome Madness, hosted this week by Sarah of Travel with Me.

Water, Water Everywhere … Perfect for a Dog Walk

An early morning walk on the beach in Premià guarantees you’ll see the dog-walkers out in force. Perfect for that all-important daily exercise, for catching up with your friends, and for getting in some scrolling-time.

If I keep digging, I’m bound to strike water …

For Jez’s Water, Water Everywhere.

Sant Cristòfol de Premià

My last day in Premià for the time being, so of course I need a quick walk through my favourite square in town. The oldest church is here: though all is not as it seems. As you’ve probably guessed, it dates from the 18th century. As you probably haven’t guessed, this building is a copy of the original, which was completely destroyed by Franco’s forces during the Spanish Civil War. It’s been rebuilt: an exact copy. So here’s a single church with a double history.

For Leanne’s Monochrome Madness.

The Gegants are Coming!

Gegants – huge human-type figures propelled by actual humans hidden within them – have been a feature of Catalan festive life since the 15th century. Then, they were part of a religious tradition. From the 19th century, they became more and more a celebration of the lives of the community they sprang from. So here in Premià de Mar – Premià-on-Sea – they represent piratical derring-do.

And the Gegants came out to play today as part of a low-key local folk festival, Rebombori. They took over the streets of the town, as did cohorts of child drummers, child dancers, child comperes and slightly disconcerting child Gegants.  And we the townsfolk followed wherever they led, coming across more and more friends as the morning turned into afternoon: an excellent time was had by all.

These were all taken on my phone, and better shots are – I hope – to be found on my camera. But phone-posting is my lot at the moment, so … make do with these please, for now.

The Gegants come out of hiding.
The slightly creepy child gegants
Young dancers
Osman towers above the crowd.
Waiting their turn to dance
I never worked out who these medium-sized Gegants were.

Renewing Family Ties

It was just five years ago this week that my whole family revealed the outcome of a Cunning Plot, months in the planning. Every single one of my chidren (three) and their partners and children conspired to get themselves to a holiday house in Catalonia, and then get me (and Malcolm of course) there too, without my suspecting a thing, to celebrate – extremely belatedly – my 70th birthday.

We had a whole weekend of catching up, of playtimes, of long lazy meals and silliness on the beach …

… and the memories will last me for the rest of my life.

For Becky’s #SquaresRenew Challenge, she’s inviting us to post square – only square – photos on the themes of Burgeoning; Moving Forward; Reconstruction; or Renewal.

‘Eat Breakfast Like a King …’

That’s what the old saying says: ‘Eat breakfast like a king; lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper’. In other words, make the first meal of the day your best. And it’s easy enough with a bakery like this just down the road: easy to renew your energy and begin the day – even on Sunday!

For Becky’s #SquaresRenew.