Spain – Page 7 – TRAVEL WORDS

ambience and atmosphere

The street market in Barcelona, close to the cathedral, was buzzing with mid-afternoon crowds. Fairy lights and coloured balloons created a party atmosphere and the throb of the Barcelona street drummers, the whistles and cheers of the crowd, all added to the ambience. You could hear and smell this place before you arrived.

But let’s get down to the food:

Sweet things

naughty chocolates and pretty macarons (though I have to confess to never having tasted one)

tempting offerings from the sea, wrapped in newsprint

Pretty Hot Bouquets

Fast food on a stick

Strings of chillies

Quench the thirst

Sausages (Market)

and busy, busy stall-holders serving out their goods

We came across the food market accidentally, but so glad we did! There is nothing better than a good surprise.

Thursday’s Special

Paula (Lost in Translation) has developed a liking for the unfocused in photography. I must confess that this is something that I didn’t like myself several years ago, but like her I have become attracted to blurred backgrounds, bokeh, tilt and shift experimentation and creating movement.

This was an accidental photo – I was going for the vibrancy of the artwork on the security shutters of this shop in Barcelona. A couple of years ago I would have binned this shot, but now I love the movement of the passers-by and especially the pink and blue suitcases that match colours in the painting. Hope you love them too!

In the dark

Ailsa over at Where’s My Backpack has given me the perfect opportunity to post a few night shots from my recent Barcelona trip. As someone who now lives in the countryside, where the only light is that from the moon, it opened up new photographic challenges.

Placa d'Espanya — Placa Espanya – light trails (No tripod, just balanced on a fence rail above the road.)

Just Back from… Barcelona

It was going to be New York for my daughter’s 40th birthday getaway, until we saw the prices, and since we were only going for three days it made more sense to make it closer to home so we didn’t spend two of those days in the air. Yes we were going on another mother and daughter city break! Been a long time since the last one which was also to Spain just before my eldest grandson was born. He is now 14 years old. BA came to the rescue with some very decent European city breaks – hotels and flights for £350 each. We opted for Barcelona, a city neither of us had been to before and which has been well recommended by fellow bloggers. Thank you Restless Jo and Lucid Gypsy for all your help, advice and links.

Day One

A very early start meant we were arrived at Barcelona airport by 9 am – we stopped for a coffee before boarding the Aerobus into the city, tickets were prepaid for so no problems whatsoever and the buses are every 5 minutes so no waiting like you have to at Heathrow. A smooth drive with a drop-off close to the hotel where we were able to stash our luggage and head out to explore. First thing though was breakfast. We quickly found a lovely bar where we had coffee, orange juice (the Spanish make the BEST orange juice) and buttery croissants. Then we simply wandered for a few hours until it was time to join a free walking tour of the Gothic Quarter. The architecture in Barcelona is so interesting – I spent most of my time gazing upwards at the windows, carved entrances, wrought-iron balconies – Gothic mansions, Catalan Art Nouveau, and the magnificent imaginative Gaudí and taking far too many photographs.