What Barcelona got right

There are lots of things that Barcelona does right as a city...

Great public transportation
Awesome Christmas lights
Preserving their great architectural landmarks
Cheap and good Spanish wine
Not making a big deal about Valentine's day. 

Thank goodness for that last one!  talk about an over-hyped manufactured "holiday" that drives me nuts!

But some of the window displays were pretty.

on Carrer de Carme in El Raval

Somewhere in Barri Gothic

Another cute shop in Barri Gothic

My friends & I were trying to find this great little wine bar we'd gone to on Friday night... and ended up walking some chocolate-lover's paradise of a shopping route.  I mean, we couldn't have found all these great chocolate shops if we'd been looking for them... but just because we weren't intending on finding cupcakes, cookies, pastries and chocolates - we couldn't turn a corner without finding another great shop.  Open on Sunday. 

What wasn't open on Sunday?
 That wine bar.

That first Rioja - Gavanza at EUR 3,50 - a winner!

This is the place.  They're smart to put a map on the back of the card... it's so hard to find places again.

Displaying the Seasons

There's this gourmet food store down the street from where I live, called Semon.  They sell a variety of goodies, from baked goods to delectable, savory side-dishes, to wines, cheeses, and gourmet pantry items like spices and fancy mustards or crackers. 


I love walking by there and checking out their window displays.  These pictures were from October. 

The crown of the centerpiece

I kept hoping for a shot when I wouldn't get a glare, but that never seemed to happen.  Either they were closed, or I didn't have my camera on me.   

The base of the same centerpiece

What you do see are Sweet Potatoes (called Bonitos, or something like that), chestnuts, bay laurel, cookies called Panellots (again, i'm killing the spelling, sorry), and other stuff that I can't quite identify.

They moved on to their Xmas display - at the beginning of November.  Well, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, so I suppose it's acceptable.  Their current display is kinda meh, so I'll wait and update it when it gets interesting again. 

Speaking of x-mas, I was walking down the street last week when they were testing out the xmas lights in my area. 

looking down Bori y Fontesta

Looking down Pau Casals toward the Diagonal

Each neighborhood has a different design.  But we're gonna have to wait another few weeks to see them all lit up.  These have been dark since I took the pictures last week.

Window Shopping

Sometimes I just don't feel like taking pictures...

But other times, the display is so striking that it needs to be recognized, appreciated, and shared.

On the Paseo de Gracia.

Good Friday & Eugene Atget

At the urging of my friend Jane, during a skype conversation that took place at 4am (her time), I bundled up to walk the deserted streets of this wet, cold, dreary Good Friday.

One of my favorite photographers is Eugene Atget - who's work I was introduced to by one of my favorite Art History professors, Maria Buszek.  There was an exhibit of Atget's photography at the Getty in Los Angeles years ago, and the beauty, yet haunting loneliness captured by his lens has stuck with me all these years.  I was hoping I could capture some of the empty Barcelona picture windows as he did of Paris.

The view up from Calle Pau Casals to Parc Turo (in La Zona Alta)

 

An elegant building off Pau Casals - usually packed with pedestrians

La Iglesia Redonda (the round church) just up the street from my mum's... this is one of my "landmarks" to know where I am (la Zona Alta)

Not so easy taking pictures when all you have is an iPhone, and most of the closed stores have roll down shades or metal grates that obscure everything.  But the streets sure were deserted.  Here's a little of what I did get here in La Zona Alta

a Futbol vignette made of chocolate... and the people in the stands are wearing blue & red for Barcelona's team - this was probably created in honor of el Classico - in which the King's Cup went to Real Madrid this past Wednesday.

 

 

 But seeing as it is Easter, there were some chocolate eggs & bunnies to be sold.  These were from a Patisserie called Farga.  There are multiple locations of this store - but this is on Beethoven St.

Oriol Balaguer is another confectionery paradise in the area... there is no shortage of xocolaterias (chocolate stores) in La Zona Alta.  This one is probably the most inventive in terms of the flavors, design, packaging... and their prices reflect it.  I've never seen any place like it... If you remember Boule on La Cienega - that still wouldn't even come close to Oriol Balaguer.

Next trip out, I'll use the hipstamatic lens to get some b&w shots...or antique looking images. It was just too unpleasant and windy to stand around taking digital shots from a phone.

Easter & Chocolate

Mum just sent me to pick up some chocolates to take as a gift - a "thank you" if you will, for a dinner invitation.  Go around the corner past the hairdresser (my mum doesn't even know the name of the streets) - and you can't miss their window display... nope, I didn't.  

VilaPlana - as their bag says, it's a pastisseria ~ xarcuteria ~ business lunch.  Yup, they mix languages on their own bags.

a complete scene out of chocolate!

an easter chicken?

even Hello Kitty!