tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24721956421718639302024-03-14T09:43:36.909+01:00A Brit in BarcelonaMusings and observations from an ex-pat in the Catalan capitalUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-90141401051762616772012-09-24T00:52:00.000+02:002012-09-24T00:52:28.530+02:00THE HELLFIRE CLUB<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIcj5s6xBdMUOZbyW75C3pjVlEY4uya5dT854HWrmnHis1ywdHDdSiCZbHn06Ek7_E8WBwU_Is-n3U3_YnXg3uRZuHxjRvzVLYb4E4-5zuE79BUuifX70kXUASY7sPan3xgaYdSJcKJeM/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIcj5s6xBdMUOZbyW75C3pjVlEY4uya5dT854HWrmnHis1ywdHDdSiCZbHn06Ek7_E8WBwU_Is-n3U3_YnXg3uRZuHxjRvzVLYb4E4-5zuE79BUuifX70kXUASY7sPan3xgaYdSJcKJeM/s640/015.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>La Merce Festival</b> is supposed to celebrate the Virgin Mary,
but at times it looks more like a homage to Baalzebub, no more so than
at Les Bèsties de Foc Surten al Carrer (The Beasts of Fire Go
Out) Parade. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmpdmjmerMyYwfBxYlgHlPJfhIh0gUr0P9iv6EvP9wnoColdH7aalq1CXutXQl5ud5bKZ8T44_ErFD0QNkbpLdj9fKtvRHG3PBbiiX-9uMQ1-VlBOzQ6UAJ4Qo4tYAlcKaL6V2y4maZs/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmpdmjmerMyYwfBxYlgHlPJfhIh0gUr0P9iv6EvP9wnoColdH7aalq1CXutXQl5ud5bKZ8T44_ErFD0QNkbpLdj9fKtvRHG3PBbiiX-9uMQ1-VlBOzQ6UAJ4Qo4tYAlcKaL6V2y4maZs/s200/019.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The advice to spectators is to cover up, wear a hat and a
scarf (to cover your face) and long sleeves. Synthetics are a no no. This is a
clue to what is going to happen. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fire spitting dragons, Fire Devils and troupes of drummer
emerge from the "gates of hell" at the top of Via Laietan, and
parade to the Consolat de Mar. Les Bèsties de Foc Surten al Carrer is the
night when the devils and dragons are really let off the leash. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-sOE_o4HuMYrf6_0FxdZCQ-1mvLBUckD4dhKIJp7_yPKeFiziBLtYlkHRSigy54d8oSl0pPWOQDwDhsOXyu0Yvc5MXohMi5CHna5QIGkQuoAZaJVQZ8GaW7HvePGf_RGkrtRFoKWgLE/s1600/018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-sOE_o4HuMYrf6_0FxdZCQ-1mvLBUckD4dhKIJp7_yPKeFiziBLtYlkHRSigy54d8oSl0pPWOQDwDhsOXyu0Yvc5MXohMi5CHna5QIGkQuoAZaJVQZ8GaW7HvePGf_RGkrtRFoKWgLE/s400/018.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The fireworks seem stronger and longer lasting than at other events, the Devils break ranks, and charge the crowd, sending the masked onlookers scattering and tumbling as the gunpowder smoke and drumming fills the air.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Dragons spray the skies and the ground with torrents of flames and sparks, in which the brave, stupid and drunk dance like dervishes. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXCZRl-wzmdG5totiuhoaG_Qsa-KT17eD_sX4JcUk4dX60V-AtigI6gy6z3za4jWl8e-QZAkCu3XuZYzzKTcc9xprsohmV5hIs9BKnqEjNfj31ICPuwhBHKX25UNaY9cTchl4AsLl0iU/s1600/022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXCZRl-wzmdG5totiuhoaG_Qsa-KT17eD_sX4JcUk4dX60V-AtigI6gy6z3za4jWl8e-QZAkCu3XuZYzzKTcc9xprsohmV5hIs9BKnqEjNfj31ICPuwhBHKX25UNaY9cTchl4AsLl0iU/s200/022.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXcplms1NSkKmh5woffhD-WIBwmpbwc7BluJKW-o78ZJAeiJrXT5Jdo5u0aNdt5rYPX6qmFTrf_nzF0QSpPThf-UwSTT68L2Mx4llSI6dkixUI9Q3-fpLMPMkvOFQzvb02gxHZfLSheL8/s1600/028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXcplms1NSkKmh5woffhD-WIBwmpbwc7BluJKW-o78ZJAeiJrXT5Jdo5u0aNdt5rYPX6qmFTrf_nzF0QSpPThf-UwSTT68L2Mx4llSI6dkixUI9Q3-fpLMPMkvOFQzvb02gxHZfLSheL8/s640/028.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1Via Laietana, 34, 08003 Barcelona, Spain41.3853314 2.176954841.379374899999995 2.1670843 41.3912879 2.1868252999999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-80397601532801598412012-09-23T18:25:00.000+02:002012-09-23T18:25:01.547+02:00LET THERE BE LIGHT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCLkj1rKFjUALuobBZfRmUf6WblX8oYqXjxvk2pmecQfmwYmG-_wnR7LlcTDPJ00XOcoMnZHLozvNxMF4aBuPGGD8wOH1Qsz2DIeVnRUJ3YuDpIHjDsgKRM_RdL7PUMyGrJr7Mks80DUc/s1600/P1000342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCLkj1rKFjUALuobBZfRmUf6WblX8oYqXjxvk2pmecQfmwYmG-_wnR7LlcTDPJ00XOcoMnZHLozvNxMF4aBuPGGD8wOH1Qsz2DIeVnRUJ3YuDpIHjDsgKRM_RdL7PUMyGrJr7Mks80DUc/s640/P1000342.JPG" width="471" /></a></div>
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<b style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The last weekend in September </b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">sees the Merce Festival take
over Barcelona. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nominally a religious holiday, it is really the goodbye to
summer. One last blast before the autumn wardrobe is unpacked.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1yh-RpVqDYDmwZQC_8kvheVJHxM5Th5VErEw9vz22_gC2MfC6gU-Kw5ZfzBntNDQ3XiQcNUVJmz9GJlrbGa5lYeZpXgJUN2W4a0aw_yHvanu2zsw_z74DT6teD1b05khutCIbIxRoGE/s1600/P1000321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1yh-RpVqDYDmwZQC_8kvheVJHxM5Th5VErEw9vz22_gC2MfC6gU-Kw5ZfzBntNDQ3XiQcNUVJmz9GJlrbGa5lYeZpXgJUN2W4a0aw_yHvanu2zsw_z74DT6teD1b05khutCIbIxRoGE/s200/P1000321.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Falcons</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Across the city there are parades, concert, fireworks,
concerts and all manner of events, local teams of “Falcons” (human Pyramids)
and Devils (firework wielding dervishes)
pop up all over the place and giants and fire dragons parade the streets. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Q49bWKygT0MlCYsyBxkCfv6-L6dvJrdzgZn2TJdf_gGIATdLsDIBaLut3DsnCLRsMGwK4kPYHGBl-CHTYO9TzBujlt8suZj_nAf58hRFDh3MlFxRlQ0HWK3EAJ3Pfm_sY7MChlB9CnE/s1600/P1000347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Q49bWKygT0MlCYsyBxkCfv6-L6dvJrdzgZn2TJdf_gGIATdLsDIBaLut3DsnCLRsMGwK4kPYHGBl-CHTYO9TzBujlt8suZj_nAf58hRFDh3MlFxRlQ0HWK3EAJ3Pfm_sY7MChlB9CnE/s200/P1000347.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Giant Tetris </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Merce is really too big to fully get your head around, it is
best just to go for a wander and see what you find.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One event this year was
drawing large crowds, a light show at the Sagrada Famila by Canadian company Moment Factory.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsy-hJ8tmc8nJOGDUzbb6TJ-GGuIsjUuzFQuk-b7bfPEwYWfebaWyfIlWfMUo-c9WZeE3VeiSkJe2ru_l-tzA1dy9ev1OgDGADMaKzjE2DikoS_9ARC9PYUbEVd1whfS43tIUv4ESsAo/s1600/P1000324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsy-hJ8tmc8nJOGDUzbb6TJ-GGuIsjUuzFQuk-b7bfPEwYWfebaWyfIlWfMUo-c9WZeE3VeiSkJe2ru_l-tzA1dy9ev1OgDGADMaKzjE2DikoS_9ARC9PYUbEVd1whfS43tIUv4ESsAo/s400/P1000324.JPG" width="276" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Sagrada Famila is a storage enough spectacle as it is,
and the addition, lights planted about the building, projections and even a
crane scattering glitter, give the building an utterly surreal quality. Like a
Grimm fairytale the lights bring the seem to complete Gaudi’s weird vision with
the ornate stonework coming to life, growing and crawling,</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYF2ABZiPQ07ZjI1vyDcUVuJsEPQ9s1zHxMLUn-9UXaiZiZDTScdElSzOOwJx-w69TXrqje-_3rovcnqoN_AbGqcBDis0kYDAz1a6XX9ijQJ5_HAzVS87iHYQIpZ6CFPpjRnB97sHS0-w/s1600/P1000356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYF2ABZiPQ07ZjI1vyDcUVuJsEPQ9s1zHxMLUn-9UXaiZiZDTScdElSzOOwJx-w69TXrqje-_3rovcnqoN_AbGqcBDis0kYDAz1a6XX9ijQJ5_HAzVS87iHYQIpZ6CFPpjRnB97sHS0-w/s320/P1000356.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cybermen dancing in Parc Ciutadella</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6mCVfJ6N16BCGL6EogZ-7wclGfT7ciM-3Ew_GJGtvM8LBotp_csmVHLPHGweqP1yuNG0LVTNv9tG0rr4IBJpZ5JF_zmw9uzcyokr7ELeLk_dSU4q00CWzN5Ea24M9LkiU9FgiJKOLIM/s1600/P1000365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6mCVfJ6N16BCGL6EogZ-7wclGfT7ciM-3Ew_GJGtvM8LBotp_csmVHLPHGweqP1yuNG0LVTNv9tG0rr4IBJpZ5JF_zmw9uzcyokr7ELeLk_dSU4q00CWzN5Ea24M9LkiU9FgiJKOLIM/s640/P1000365.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Zydeco band, with samba drum troupe and fire Devils in Placa
Catalunya</span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Museu del Temple Expiatori de La Sagrada Familia, Carrer de Mallorca, 401, 08013 Barcelona, Spain41.4033945 2.175073741.3914845 2.1553327 41.4153045 2.1948147tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-48778326861040505182012-09-17T20:12:00.000+02:002012-09-17T20:12:04.048+02:00STRIKE A LIGHT<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><w:sdt docpart="4E8A4A8E82794849BC827E47CC7005EF" id="89512082" storeitemid="X_FE2F7B7D-214C-42D0-9F17-81E95B92E333" text="t" title="Post Title" xpath="/ns0:BlogPostInfo/ns0:PostTitle">
</w:sdt></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b>As Olympic legacies go</b>, Barcelona’s is better than most. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TVid0v0Vz6qnW1ehJ5hgnyOOqcfoVKf6BXEBbvSIyeL6e97nW7ks-hUTQOcvAZO_450pKb41VcHvcwT93BkH-k5FVRz_nayft9sD6C-wdmIwZEv1sTWR_1qAEyKZeGI_R2aHLNMq4b4/s1600/IMG_0110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TVid0v0Vz6qnW1ehJ5hgnyOOqcfoVKf6BXEBbvSIyeL6e97nW7ks-hUTQOcvAZO_450pKb41VcHvcwT93BkH-k5FVRz_nayft9sD6C-wdmIwZEv1sTWR_1qAEyKZeGI_R2aHLNMq4b4/s400/IMG_0110.JPG" width="311" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
stadium and diving pool complex may now be a bit underused, but the 1992
Olympics were the shot in the arm that revived the city’s fortunes and
propelled it into the first rank of international cities, a tourist hotspot and
regional hub for multi-national commerce.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One legacy is a however a forgotten curiosity the giant
matches are the Olympic site of at Vall d’Hebrón, uphill on the Barcelona’s
eastern side. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Swedish artist Claes Oldenburg produced this massive metal monument,
a book of matches on the side of a road, with others scattered around the
nearby pavements. It was a area that was greatly improved for the Games, and at
the time with all the excitement a visitors the matches must have been marvellous
to behold. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHivLUbSLATXqP71BAVGUHbcTlW3KJ8PBH7Y8NYX8FI3X_ZjMjVThOdAEEdEATPbDrDEULhI-vocV5TRiMWCHjy92Tlm_98JP17UGpu_wnewdBj8FvWAmsX-eccskCfUlN4EaeKG8xd90/s1600/IMG_0116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHivLUbSLATXqP71BAVGUHbcTlW3KJ8PBH7Y8NYX8FI3X_ZjMjVThOdAEEdEATPbDrDEULhI-vocV5TRiMWCHjy92Tlm_98JP17UGpu_wnewdBj8FvWAmsX-eccskCfUlN4EaeKG8xd90/s200/IMG_0116.JPG" width="199" /></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But the pop art styled statues have not stood the test of
time as well as other Olympian public artworks works and now look forlorn and incongruous
in the middle of a housing project, in an area that features on few tourist
trials. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEmEL81Z6xGg6J_Unh55a641ERm47USosPDr0fPV0OwmqjiMsZm0WDdF6quaq6u9B7SfHaZvHhyphenhyphenci1JY33S6IWHVwd-RE8UqBRbQBf7nGmLNG24k8znS4jLr9wFfHUFBZfIoEHt-VKHo/s1600/IMG_0111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEmEL81Z6xGg6J_Unh55a641ERm47USosPDr0fPV0OwmqjiMsZm0WDdF6quaq6u9B7SfHaZvHhyphenhyphenci1JY33S6IWHVwd-RE8UqBRbQBf7nGmLNG24k8znS4jLr9wFfHUFBZfIoEHt-VKHo/s640/IMG_0111.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you want to have a look at them the address is Av.
Cardenal Vidal & Barraquer Cantonada Pare Mariana on buses 10, 17, 112 and
185.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Avinguda del Cardenal Vidal i Barraquer, 08035 Barcelona, Spain41.4298571 2.150955741.4239046 2.1410852 41.4358096 2.1608262tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-10752682358078145342012-08-15T12:24:00.001+02:002012-08-19T14:13:57.740+02:00NOT A PRETTY POLLY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7gQ9jDvpm0vg9-PaNnIwrlWrGoy78pyTmg5qkbRcgcgJWQ7LHz_IFLHDesn4JdpSn83aNI_cxGvuFTK25AkRqkzkvvOPlCtIx4B_2BlxlPp4o774S4FsFLs6xZGnTHcmoVXlgDBGmrQ/s1600/IMG_0071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7gQ9jDvpm0vg9-PaNnIwrlWrGoy78pyTmg5qkbRcgcgJWQ7LHz_IFLHDesn4JdpSn83aNI_cxGvuFTK25AkRqkzkvvOPlCtIx4B_2BlxlPp4o774S4FsFLs6xZGnTHcmoVXlgDBGmrQ/s1600/IMG_0071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><b>Does anyone have a recipe for parrot pie?</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7gQ9jDvpm0vg9-PaNnIwrlWrGoy78pyTmg5qkbRcgcgJWQ7LHz_IFLHDesn4JdpSn83aNI_cxGvuFTK25AkRqkzkvvOPlCtIx4B_2BlxlPp4o774S4FsFLs6xZGnTHcmoVXlgDBGmrQ/s1600/IMG_0071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7gQ9jDvpm0vg9-PaNnIwrlWrGoy78pyTmg5qkbRcgcgJWQ7LHz_IFLHDesn4JdpSn83aNI_cxGvuFTK25AkRqkzkvvOPlCtIx4B_2BlxlPp4o774S4FsFLs6xZGnTHcmoVXlgDBGmrQ/s640/IMG_0071.JPG" width="436" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"></span><span style="color: #20124d;">OK they are parakeets, or to be precise, Monk Parakeets,
also known as the Quaker Parrots, the smaller more belligerent cousins of the
pirates’ colourful companions, but the noise they can make belies their
stature.</span> </div>
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Flocks of the little green critters are to be found all over
Barcelona, usually they sit in high palm trees, squawking away at each other,
at people, at other birds or just for the sake of squawking. The important
thing is that they are constantly squawking, and that parakeet squawking is loud
but not a pleasant noise. </div>
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Other birds have learnt the hard way to leave the Parakeets
alone.</div>
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They may look like clowns, but they fight like mobsters. </div>
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Last year there
was a turf war between the Parakeets and the Magpies in lower westside Barcelona, it
was a noisy and bloody affair. Magpies are a very rare sight in these parts
nowadays! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SxYJrfLr6FrR9xtmqwzUZpA3yW6WWoo9hsbY3KppZOyUpAvrcfh350dgIgQYhHjSAq398UtEdArYpbyJN9wcH2rSdVHNsOqEIkNydiaRmhqTYrsA0RlA0ap5d3rLZUcmYoylJ-U9kTQ/s1600/IMG_0396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SxYJrfLr6FrR9xtmqwzUZpA3yW6WWoo9hsbY3KppZOyUpAvrcfh350dgIgQYhHjSAq398UtEdArYpbyJN9wcH2rSdVHNsOqEIkNydiaRmhqTYrsA0RlA0ap5d3rLZUcmYoylJ-U9kTQ/s200/IMG_0396.JPG" width="139" /></a>Occasionally they slum it and come down to ground level to scavenge crumbs
from tourists amongst the pigeons. </div>
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They also put on impressive <span class="st"> aerial displays</span>, forming little V-shaped squadrons that zoom down the streets just above head height, squawking as they go. </div>
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They are not, as might be generally supposed, blow-ins from
across the Mediterranean, they are probably originated from escaped pet birds
and have gone feral and established a sustainable population. </div>
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Apparently they
make good pets, but why anyone would want to share a house with one of
the noisy little blighters beats me. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Via Augusta, Barcelona, Spain41.3977938 2.136099941.3739713 2.0966179 41.421616300000004 2.1755819tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-66943804732355032102012-08-13T20:24:00.000+02:002012-08-15T13:48:29.155+02:00AUGUSTA IN AUGUST<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>So</b> what is missing from this picture?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAMMEOoPOBkFgMdNQlLSrYCEAr-6C0c4s6necVmJLmzAep0n0eQGza1vTvqpT2kTS72GbJ5SOz0gwVwO5CkKpAvayfeaQtNT3yTHANcU2Y8f4xRmeZyzeEkXSqc30CjsZAAitzkHLcV0/s1600/P1000306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeAMMEOoPOBkFgMdNQlLSrYCEAr-6C0c4s6necVmJLmzAep0n0eQGza1vTvqpT2kTS72GbJ5SOz0gwVwO5CkKpAvayfeaQtNT3yTHANcU2Y8f4xRmeZyzeEkXSqc30CjsZAAitzkHLcV0/s400/P1000306.JPG" width="348" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This is Via Augusta, one of the main arteries into Barcelona and
route to the city centre, and usually it is covered with cars, scooters, lorries, buses – you get the idea. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Not in August. Outside of the tourist hotspots Barcelona is closed
for the month.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In August Barcelona goes to the beach, and not the beach in
Barcelona, but further north on the Costa Brava were people own or rent holiday
homes. The clannish Catalans rarely venture beyond the provincial
borders. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Left your suit into the dry cleaner in the last week of July? Well
forget about seeing it until September.Need something fixed? Fat chance. Want to get a bus? Be prepared to wait for a very long time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Contractors will not respond to enquiries and even some
restaurants and specialist shops and services skedaddle until September. The
August exodus goes back to the days before air-conditioning when it was just
too hot to do anything, though Barcelona does not quite reach the scorching
temperatures of inland Spain. Nowadays it is just seen as a Spanish right
to close up the country’s businesses for the month. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Remind me again, just why is Spain’s economy in the crapper? </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Via Augusta - Ganduxer, 08021 Barcelona, Spain41.3977938 2.136099941.2075793 1.8202429 41.588008300000006 2.4519569tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-51862752578209019122012-06-28T20:29:00.000+02:002012-08-15T13:49:07.192+02:00Y VIVA ESPAÑA<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9bZNXK-rsBrmNuR-dyPXVPdI1_ul748fckKtwEVdlHCvDDTFjVr3aOjDgSIZxYx2VCEDTFF7MDRoi9ixKVXz7WEIIs-hBsAG7BLftg24OKcaxHA91m41QIx2-yN3GpYFbZnnCTDCL2oI/s1600/IMG_0584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9bZNXK-rsBrmNuR-dyPXVPdI1_ul748fckKtwEVdlHCvDDTFjVr3aOjDgSIZxYx2VCEDTFF7MDRoi9ixKVXz7WEIIs-hBsAG7BLftg24OKcaxHA91m41QIx2-yN3GpYFbZnnCTDCL2oI/s640/IMG_0584.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>After winning the European Grand Prix in Valenci</b>a, Fernando Alonso slowed down his Ferrari to collect, from an exuberant
marshal, a Spanish flag to wave as he completed his lap of honour. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia6-STpTJqM2TqZgEUXTOqJb8-yu8hExawywG6rBAgF_Sib0HbBFT1Qo89YeRSRuLDYj-Wg8x-JlGY7MgJ-sgbAgi1OnO7EuyymXs9lnS0Il_Kp5aED9P6odiGItqcxE2PjZCc72iyX-k/s1600/IMG_0580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia6-STpTJqM2TqZgEUXTOqJb8-yu8hExawywG6rBAgF_Sib0HbBFT1Qo89YeRSRuLDYj-Wg8x-JlGY7MgJ-sgbAgi1OnO7EuyymXs9lnS0Il_Kp5aED9P6odiGItqcxE2PjZCc72iyX-k/s400/IMG_0580.JPG" width="300" /></a> Flags and sporting victories, these things matter. </div>
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Here in Barcelona we know that very well. Those who seek
independence for Catalunya display Catalan flags from their balconies and make
a flambouyant display of supporting Barcelona football club. Spanish unionists generally
tend to keep quiet. </div>
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Recently something interesting has been happening: Spanish
flags have started appearing around Barcelona. </div>
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The Spanish national team is having a successful run in the
European ball kicking championships, and while some Catalans still adopt the
ABS (anyone but Spain) position, others have discovered their inner Spaniard.
“Span is not all bad” while Spanish unionists have become more emboldened
enough to show their colours. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Barcelona, Spain41.387917 2.169918741.292614 2.0119902 41.48322 2.3278472000000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-37897760080405317682012-06-20T22:16:00.003+02:002012-07-01T13:28:20.642+02:00NO BULL<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIs6yPJBnNS9h8VieM2Clci7844iA7QQFPSiZ92hBp1wwz0D-sQt0WTXprcUaJf-31XZkYAuvxro79BkHqmTntBMdodQYv_vNvPGcG2pW0wfL-GbcVf6JcAPOSjOrl73ts9Hhg5DmUJgM/s1600/1E6TD00Z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5NB49H7ErvSYla0J-uP0IAeg7znD6QgJfRSHVa-QJdXeFRtYawKX7EiG01xWPJ8cfQ_zla6yC-KAMNgNHbFWg22UYSXyac5djpQVs_DnMqBNhzn83dL43IG-fqDKziuRVE37wk9QVdc/s1600/002.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5NB49H7ErvSYla0J-uP0IAeg7znD6QgJfRSHVa-QJdXeFRtYawKX7EiG01xWPJ8cfQ_zla6yC-KAMNgNHbFWg22UYSXyac5djpQVs_DnMqBNhzn83dL43IG-fqDKziuRVE37wk9QVdc/s640/002.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIs6yPJBnNS9h8VieM2Clci7844iA7QQFPSiZ92hBp1wwz0D-sQt0WTXprcUaJf-31XZkYAuvxro79BkHqmTntBMdodQYv_vNvPGcG2pW0wfL-GbcVf6JcAPOSjOrl73ts9Hhg5DmUJgM/s1600/1E6TD00Z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIs6yPJBnNS9h8VieM2Clci7844iA7QQFPSiZ92hBp1wwz0D-sQt0WTXprcUaJf-31XZkYAuvxro79BkHqmTntBMdodQYv_vNvPGcG2pW0wfL-GbcVf6JcAPOSjOrl73ts9Hhg5DmUJgM/s200/1E6TD00Z.jpg" width="150" /></a><b><i>“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing,
and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.</i>”</b> Ernest Hemingway</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63so67hr5XIj3IFMAjRuuZ20d5i7WMbcWy90PGgPSVVDqD-9PbpMMSoxjz12Nxcj40e_5l4z7r9bYMn4VhbVGF7zXT1-ukDP4ZdNuIPIahlntSNCZEOhuJoe7skeapKp-S_KwdpZks0s/s1600/cartel_ultima_corrida_monumental.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63so67hr5XIj3IFMAjRuuZ20d5i7WMbcWy90PGgPSVVDqD-9PbpMMSoxjz12Nxcj40e_5l4z7r9bYMn4VhbVGF7zXT1-ukDP4ZdNuIPIahlntSNCZEOhuJoe7skeapKp-S_KwdpZks0s/s320/cartel_ultima_corrida_monumental.jpg" width="201" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: #20124d;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Poster for the last bullfight in Barcelona</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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We still have the mountain climbing, if you drive a couple of hours, and the Grand Prix,
albeit now every two years, alternating with Valencia, but there will be no more bullfighting in Barcelona.</div>
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Bull fighting ceased in Catalunya at the end of the 2011
season, banned by the Catalan parliament, ostensibly on anti-cruelty grounds,
but many people think that the political imperative was really about making a
symbolic cultural break with the rest of Spain. </div>
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You can still watch bullfighting from Madrid and Seville on
television, but on the rare occasions that I happen across it, the bull always
seems to be winning. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdiXkmiYWfn-3F0jV7y2AFF0h1VRRO1lrrHHj5ZScr1jAQ-CLEulCQ6iE3SIpnQZm6jxGBcknQ2ihg41tCczqx4ed9mU1XwtNuDAH64HRvzN3OGFn-q5ZSfRosf-39hTfEexl0aEoxzow/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdiXkmiYWfn-3F0jV7y2AFF0h1VRRO1lrrHHj5ZScr1jAQ-CLEulCQ6iE3SIpnQZm6jxGBcknQ2ihg41tCczqx4ed9mU1XwtNuDAH64HRvzN3OGFn-q5ZSfRosf-39hTfEexl0aEoxzow/s400/004.JPG" width="300" /></a> </div>
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Bull fighting was never really that big in Barcelona, though
the city did at one time have two sizeable functioning Plaza de Toros. </div>
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There was
little mourning over the passing of the sport, even families with long associations with
the spectacle, interviewed after the blood and dust from the final
catalan corrida was being swept away said it was an activity that had had its
time. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5NB49H7ErvSYla0J-uP0IAeg7znD6QgJfRSHVa-QJdXeFRtYawKX7EiG01xWPJ8cfQ_zla6yC-KAMNgNHbFWg22UYSXyac5djpQVs_DnMqBNhzn83dL43IG-fqDKziuRVE37wk9QVdc/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a> </div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">But what will now become of the magnificent <a href="http://www.barcelona.com/barcelona_directory/monuments/monumental_bullring_barcelona" target="_blank">Monumental Plaza de Toros</a>? </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCvV_hw5yeDoxVT6CUKmTDwhKW4oZD2OMAtvYHx7sE-jtey0EmC0SjZItMBguf7PfcsMENCdojmCxLVwwDoupQG9K0CzxhnyS9BKJ4EVojsF2eR7NAB9TM-NMiBHrAa2U0EeF4ofNcjg/s1600/IMG_0379.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCvV_hw5yeDoxVT6CUKmTDwhKW4oZD2OMAtvYHx7sE-jtey0EmC0SjZItMBguf7PfcsMENCdojmCxLVwwDoupQG9K0CzxhnyS9BKJ4EVojsF2eR7NAB9TM-NMiBHrAa2U0EeF4ofNcjg/s400/IMG_0379.JPG" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Arenas shopping centre</span></span></td></tr>
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I hope that it does not go the same way as Las Arenas Plaza
de Toros and become another shopping centre. </div>
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It would make a great music and theatre venue though. </div>
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Is there the
market I wonder? A brash over the top Carmen in the Monumental Barcelona would
certainly have more appeal than he prospect of another dreary Aida in Verona. </div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Monumental, 08013 Barcelona, Spain41.4002663 2.179808941.3987773 2.1773414 41.4017553 2.1822763999999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-14506013252117145142012-06-07T21:30:00.000+02:002012-06-20T14:46:20.707+02:00TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwtWbRdId5jQQEsQZWRZWEL1ezUwLRScdfr55hyphenhyphenhs5ykeoJrPZxjd3VPt3Wg30GRIiKShgOkrjutVXMOIMq7CmeoWRYBFk_pV4aE5frHxZBOiyd8v-9KofmYM3H8pyHkmKIzDlu7hKOKk/s1600/IMG_0578.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwtWbRdId5jQQEsQZWRZWEL1ezUwLRScdfr55hyphenhyphenhs5ykeoJrPZxjd3VPt3Wg30GRIiKShgOkrjutVXMOIMq7CmeoWRYBFk_pV4aE5frHxZBOiyd8v-9KofmYM3H8pyHkmKIzDlu7hKOKk/s640/IMG_0578.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b> </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>“Herman the German</b>” (I call him that because he is a German and his name is Herman) is a decent sort of bloke, but unfortunately drives one of those huge Porsche Cayenne trucks, that makes it very difficult for everyone else to manoeuvre around the car park.</span></div>
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Thankfully the problem is being resolved as Herman has now been shown the error of his ways. The local wildlife gave him the hint, in the form of bird droppings all over the nose of the grosser-wagen. Not just the odd splat, but great cartoonish mounds of the stuff. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GW0IQM4_4hbmgrV8JmRydJ3inE5P4uZjup8qyjTMJTlM_RNEmTySk1BqS2CGsTNAlZDxLyvNhSUB-T7qI4zcQrnL6V8MaO1sF1PvSkiLC71tbx_lTwBJbOzxdBAwYlW8s3fF5d3XGAc/s1600/IMG_0572.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GW0IQM4_4hbmgrV8JmRydJ3inE5P4uZjup8qyjTMJTlM_RNEmTySk1BqS2CGsTNAlZDxLyvNhSUB-T7qI4zcQrnL6V8MaO1sF1PvSkiLC71tbx_lTwBJbOzxdBAwYlW8s3fF5d3XGAc/s400/IMG_0572.JPG" width="356" /></a>Herman had left it at the airport car park in a section where the parking spaces have little roofs to protect vehicles from the sun. Naturally the Porsche was too big to fit entirely under the shade. It is not clear whether the edge of roof was an established evening hang-out spot for Catalonia’s bird population, or if the feathered fraternity gathered especially to marvel at the astounding ugliness of the ungainly Porsche’s front end, but the result is that Herman has concluded that a more compact form of personal transport is in order.</div>
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Herman recounted the tale of the airport guano to me in mournful Teutonic tones after he saw me zipping into my parking spot in a Citroen C-Zero all-electric car, the office runabout that I commandeered. <br />
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He wanted to know where he could get one. </div>
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For getting to work and back, running to the supermarket and for the vast majority of normal motoring needs the electric car works just fine. The initial sensation is the ordinariness, an electric car drives pretty much like any other small car. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHq3PgN3dB_GJZSZ_ah4LWjLKvQeEQdeqG_yj9HrYxRYCxANin-U8uUzJHqhtzIS2YEWXUZjDwq-536R066FtkG5H-boOSudH6z6hpf58D8o2p5dTGis_im1wkZj0ChwRqE-x6gOR134Y/s1600/IMG_0574.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHq3PgN3dB_GJZSZ_ah4LWjLKvQeEQdeqG_yj9HrYxRYCxANin-U8uUzJHqhtzIS2YEWXUZjDwq-536R066FtkG5H-boOSudH6z6hpf58D8o2p5dTGis_im1wkZj0ChwRqE-x6gOR134Y/s320/IMG_0574.JPG" width="240" /></a>It has a surprising turn of speed off the lights, and while it is no road rocket, neither is it a liability on the streets. It is nippy enough to run rings around many big saloons and “off roaders” and is better drive than many small engined cars. The near silent running gives a flattering semblance of refinement, which goes some way towards compensating for the many features that have been dropped to save on weight and power usage, though it does have electric windows and air conditioning.</div>
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For the daily commute it needs charged just once a week, which I do in a couple of hours at a fast charger in the office car park, though it could also be done overnight from a regular domestic socket. </div>
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The jury is out on the environmental benefits of electric cars. Their manufacture requires some pretty exotic materials which have to be extracted from big holes in the ground and they probably do not significantly reduce overall emissions if your electricity comes from an aging coal fired power station, but it does displace the exhaust gases from city streets. However if you get your power from high efficiency gas turbines, nuclear energy or tidal power and you will be on bounus points in the cleaning up the environment stakes.</div>
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One welcome surprise of driving a dinky electric car is that it immediately boosts your popularity with the opposite sex; really it was better than a puppy for attracting female attention. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5vN9Of5OZEwdLcGDWbnccLT62d-LAhapI8fhnzI_9zgcxrvCBOuxpOIPLClmu2LrAg78JbyRrPgfOMPtx7yvlXHVYbe-btXG4-TALWfUSD1KFotPs8NQKeUnTQtzFhPFv4qZ0ciFoAIc/s1600/C01+plain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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The most irritating thing about driving an electric car is the constant irritation of people telling you that your car only has an 80 mile range, (“oh really, I did not know that, and there was silly old me planning a road trip to Kathmandu”), coupled with the knowledge that no matter how often you tell them that it is more than adequate for most motoring needs, you know that they are correct. I still need the Mercedes to get up to France. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5vN9Of5OZEwdLcGDWbnccLT62d-LAhapI8fhnzI_9zgcxrvCBOuxpOIPLClmu2LrAg78JbyRrPgfOMPtx7yvlXHVYbe-btXG4-TALWfUSD1KFotPs8NQKeUnTQtzFhPFv4qZ0ciFoAIc/s1600/C01+plain.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5vN9Of5OZEwdLcGDWbnccLT62d-LAhapI8fhnzI_9zgcxrvCBOuxpOIPLClmu2LrAg78JbyRrPgfOMPtx7yvlXHVYbe-btXG4-TALWfUSD1KFotPs8NQKeUnTQtzFhPFv4qZ0ciFoAIc/s640/C01+plain.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Barcelona, Spain41.387917 2.169918741.292614 2.0119902 41.48322 2.3278472000000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-16329057781639401572012-05-28T21:08:00.000+02:002012-09-17T20:39:03.079+02:00THE TOURIST SAESON<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Sometime</b>, about a month or so ago, a starting pistol was fired,
and a thousand mid-range passenger jets, took to the skies, ferrying the sangria seekers and culture vultures towards
Barcelona.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqRjPBJqA0XKbsTCDqtW8kBurY3MoZnIuW2zSzSkjm8_JeW2EnOlBSjr5y0bb4E10E31NakgUZSKzM5GdOuNaz-_I64OXfVJfFa4DDun6OErlJ1SE5t_jNqMmUC8EzQ4kXGEaxy3uY4d8/s1600/016.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqRjPBJqA0XKbsTCDqtW8kBurY3MoZnIuW2zSzSkjm8_JeW2EnOlBSjr5y0bb4E10E31NakgUZSKzM5GdOuNaz-_I64OXfVJfFa4DDun6OErlJ1SE5t_jNqMmUC8EzQ4kXGEaxy3uY4d8/s320/016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Around seven million people visited Barcelona last year, and there was the beginng of a debate as to whether that is too many. This year, what with Spanish the economy having fallen of a cliff, such grumbles will be muted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">It was a relief when they left last</span><span style="font-size: small;"> October and the city
was
returned to its residents, and it became possible to walk through town
without constnatly having to dodge people staring upwards through the
lens of an over sized Nikon camera.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYCM9p6QZJ7-Cu5cQTgPnr_i3Yo7t1Th2TWqeFUTvXhdfBTnsL_iQrkyrzh3sU1atE8La4CpJfqoJQ_3eCGdcQgfq4VTORscEgNQzIZs1GavyLPpz1hSvEBgwao53VyWQfsx31xb5XwZM/s1600/P1000128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYCM9p6QZJ7-Cu5cQTgPnr_i3Yo7t1Th2TWqeFUTvXhdfBTnsL_iQrkyrzh3sU1atE8La4CpJfqoJQ_3eCGdcQgfq4VTORscEgNQzIZs1GavyLPpz1hSvEBgwao53VyWQfsx31xb5XwZM/s200/P1000128.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">But it is also exciting to see the place come back
to life, the colour and crowds back on the streets and to hear the mix hotchpotch
of languages and accents. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The locals will soon be heading to their summer houses in the mountains or to their apartments on the coast, leaving the residential areas all but deserted. Fom July to September Barcelona becomes a completely international city. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Still it does mean that there are some places best avoided
for the next a few months...like Rambla del Mar. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Rambla del Mar, 08039 Barcelona, Spain41.3749823 2.181374841.3734928 2.1789073 41.3764718 2.1838423tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-87715194276409935112012-05-26T14:14:00.000+02:002012-05-29T22:23:00.933+02:00SOME PEOPLE THINK FOOTBALL IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpS1uhV5QV3JwEWX-RDifvw6q3l6S0X-KyBQpC0iofWjEBToIp7UGuP-Lyb9U0bTNLoGP_eSSf67pRnbd-VRf027mFHBifoxJa8dxylR_bh1V1JBdOMbjMQEJ3pjR53YOlCUn5nZfQIA/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipY8MBRo9B912b0A6gMneyBNXOEp3pwYbqViyuqUfxgNLV9qOBpvbbI8eLV2rxEZEdUOvVoedmCctVR_uEukBFmK5kW8lu4_h0o4sPkqTSBNsFg3SJS1cIMo-abqsn4rzSBD2UvcTa0o0/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipY8MBRo9B912b0A6gMneyBNXOEp3pwYbqViyuqUfxgNLV9qOBpvbbI8eLV2rxEZEdUOvVoedmCctVR_uEukBFmK5kW8lu4_h0o4sPkqTSBNsFg3SJS1cIMo-abqsn4rzSBD2UvcTa0o0/s640/014.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>…<b>I am very disappointed with that attitude</b>. I can assure you
it is much, much more important than that"</i> (Bill Shankley)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46ieA7Esnthln330oRZxFXw1QT0SBsw7MWQrabq8WCmC2-OAso89fiXbQNMct9-bj8HMacaR1hyphenhyphen_SQFGpKva5SSLTJHpSwCZol87YltRmokCuXee20Jywx07wCv3XoR8S2ZgUxcj8x-M/s1600/001.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46ieA7Esnthln330oRZxFXw1QT0SBsw7MWQrabq8WCmC2-OAso89fiXbQNMct9-bj8HMacaR1hyphenhyphen_SQFGpKva5SSLTJHpSwCZol87YltRmokCuXee20Jywx07wCv3XoR8S2ZgUxcj8x-M/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">In Barcelona football is something more than a religion and
like so much that happens in this city an expression of cultural and political
identify.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.fcbarcelona.com/" target="_blank">Barcelona FC’</a>s slogan 'més que un club' ('more than a club')
is a clear reference to the team’s central role in galvanising the community
and Catalan nationalist aspirations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In what has been a barren year for a club that is expected
to bring home several trophies a year, Barcelona’s last hope to gather in some
silverware came in the final of the Copa del Rey against Athletic
Bilbao. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYC6ScEcFlOZ43oefDZOyQvCcOUdslZmjhQqJ65JmyWDjI4u0jr7kQksyqvLApeZBGVxsy5UYh4WgdPN1FIPG73CVjWlxtdg8J2u4qU5UHVVb8vD7KTF9mojL9KMlJKtEheUdvLuY4foA/s1600/013.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYC6ScEcFlOZ43oefDZOyQvCcOUdslZmjhQqJ65JmyWDjI4u0jr7kQksyqvLApeZBGVxsy5UYh4WgdPN1FIPG73CVjWlxtdg8J2u4qU5UHVVb8vD7KTF9mojL9KMlJKtEheUdvLuY4foA/s320/013.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizlQ4paCk0h4mr5L_EiIzYC72ebYB2fZY-TllrF9mBIBwSTeTFLsH23F4p1SFVgO58LU2zduB-dkMLGX_N6aHEZUS0FiJFfzkaV5odYGHukB3_hbBVCKyAWe0JsRKeELybY4voDHOduQ/s1600/008.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizlQ4paCk0h4mr5L_EiIzYC72ebYB2fZY-TllrF9mBIBwSTeTFLsH23F4p1SFVgO58LU2zduB-dkMLGX_N6aHEZUS0FiJFfzkaV5odYGHukB3_hbBVCKyAWe0JsRKeELybY4voDHOduQ/s200/008.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">It was as much a political as it was a sporting occasion.
Both teams represent nationalist and secessionist ambitions for their
respective regions and generally consider each other allies in a struggle for independence
from Spain. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Yet there they were, pitted against each other in a last ditch
attempt to win something, in the Spanish capital, Madrid, playing for the Spanish King’s Cup. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpS1uhV5QV3JwEWX-RDifvw6q3l6S0X-KyBQpC0iofWjEBToIp7UGuP-Lyb9U0bTNLoGP_eSSf67pRnbd-VRf027mFHBifoxJa8dxylR_bh1V1JBdOMbjMQEJ3pjR53YOlCUn5nZfQIA/s1600/012.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpS1uhV5QV3JwEWX-RDifvw6q3l6S0X-KyBQpC0iofWjEBToIp7UGuP-Lyb9U0bTNLoGP_eSSf67pRnbd-VRf027mFHBifoxJa8dxylR_bh1V1JBdOMbjMQEJ3pjR53YOlCUn5nZfQIA/s400/012.JPG" width="181" /></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In the event the Catalans proved to be better at runing </span></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">about and kicking a ball than the Basques, resulting in the traditional late
night city centre celebrations.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There was even the occsional basque country flag to be seen in the midst of the Barcelona melee. </span></span> </div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZFSaB_Cmyc8klQynVc3FFF76HvAzT___e-gX7p5euEwtfIBtDG1UX_pR5HQcSbsvyOp46tmHoU8L3K0VqZ5lBS48TlfBMQaLnWIqy4mE6-IZS8MI7C2ovaROyHyNyCB3BfwaRTFlgPQ/s1600/P1000239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZFSaB_Cmyc8klQynVc3FFF76HvAzT___e-gX7p5euEwtfIBtDG1UX_pR5HQcSbsvyOp46tmHoU8L3K0VqZ5lBS48TlfBMQaLnWIqy4mE6-IZS8MI7C2ovaROyHyNyCB3BfwaRTFlgPQ/s640/P1000239.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b>The little city of Girona</b>, about an hour’s drive north of Barcelona is a perfectly pleasant place,
with a quaint old town, a church or two, with some eccentric little shops, (one proudly displaying Marmite for sale) a reasonably grand
placa with a few decent restaurants and a goodly variety of bohemian tourist tat. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It is
also home to a quite a few nouveau-hippy types: squeaky clean dreadlocks, supercilious
attitude and lots of expensive gadgets called “I”-something. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPEzufNf3H9IcC9R7dKPlxFTeju-fbRo6XVy5QDf_1QeY5DdEdYfGeyH1oCE3Z78Vjl8DRmUkNRnLpgfjESJTXGyXnK2SQmj1oLEIfm2C_Du7fe3mJaMU43zAfB5d78qpOEjw03Mt2Ic/s1600/P1000275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPEzufNf3H9IcC9R7dKPlxFTeju-fbRo6XVy5QDf_1QeY5DdEdYfGeyH1oCE3Z78Vjl8DRmUkNRnLpgfjESJTXGyXnK2SQmj1oLEIfm2C_Du7fe3mJaMU43zAfB5d78qpOEjw03Mt2Ic/s400/P1000275.JPG" width="210" /></a></span><span style="font-size: small;">Girona </span><span style="font-size: small;">is for most of year worth seeing but not worth going to see (to paraphrase Samuel Johnson). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bFqQ8Tk7MIuRSGRPcCEzBtidFlJvNCFZs-SUPNgeZo-I7BZHfBCgpLRJ2-SdWcBn-4Gl4PG8OIQWorYApLy1ok8Isv9wNEtZmEgUI4cOg6uh011LupfdDCiBn7HPB0mMO158e3Q_3Fs/s1600/P1000259.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bFqQ8Tk7MIuRSGRPcCEzBtidFlJvNCFZs-SUPNgeZo-I7BZHfBCgpLRJ2-SdWcBn-4Gl4PG8OIQWorYApLy1ok8Isv9wNEtZmEgUI4cOg6uh011LupfdDCiBn7HPB0mMO158e3Q_3Fs/s400/P1000259.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">However around the third week of May every year, the world, or
at least a decent chuck of it, beats a path to Girona for the annual <a href="http://www.gironatempsdeflors.net/cat/index.php" target="_blank">Temps de Flors</a>
(Time of Flowers) festival. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">It is not quite as extravagant or as all-embracing as the
other local festivals. Rather than blanketing the place in blooms and throwing
grand petal laden parades the Temps de Flors is focused around a promenade of
eclectic displays some prominent<span> </span>in the
middle of public spaces, others tucked away in theatre lobbies, stairwells, shops,
courtyards, workshops and churches. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_mTI3oCzxvhAi8dm_BWTWZvJPekBkFk0eafnNjBH1Yiho_6l4LWTo6hgkJ-BVmDF-ap4z3SlkviHFKTVWtffCO9rR4M5wd71wSSrE5RfFyP742KlTuso488WEScH30BRbcKhtnGX3eo/s1600/P1000268.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_mTI3oCzxvhAi8dm_BWTWZvJPekBkFk0eafnNjBH1Yiho_6l4LWTo6hgkJ-BVmDF-ap4z3SlkviHFKTVWtffCO9rR4M5wd71wSSrE5RfFyP742KlTuso488WEScH30BRbcKhtnGX3eo/s320/P1000268.JPG" width="281" /></a></span><span style="font-size: small;">They range from the childish (because they
are made by children), through obscure and the remarkable to the outright
absurd. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">All in all, very Catalan. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFRrrcEt4PwQ1SxYhFnmERey2aN__3OygT2F4Rm0t6sY3_qOfv93durnqzjQiv1gxYgSl0LtdZoHt7LYGAc_2wp_nNsCinE7KDF6twWkg9SbzvqtlN1mIaCEkAJl7T4LHtf1tB9uISf0/s1600/P1000250.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFRrrcEt4PwQ1SxYhFnmERey2aN__3OygT2F4Rm0t6sY3_qOfv93durnqzjQiv1gxYgSl0LtdZoHt7LYGAc_2wp_nNsCinE7KDF6twWkg9SbzvqtlN1mIaCEkAJl7T4LHtf1tB9uISf0/s320/P1000250.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Girona, Spain41.9817957 2.823699941.9345817 2.7447359 42.029009699999996 2.9026639tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-78819298598901664702012-05-09T20:21:00.002+02:002012-05-09T20:31:43.172+02:00IT'S A KIND OF MAGIC<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br />
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<b>It is maybe the best show in Barcelona</b>, it runs several
times every night and it is free.</div>
</div>
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Every night hundreds of people gather around the main
fountain on Avinguda Maria Cristina, the avenue behind between the big square
towers at Plaça Espanya, which heads up to the four pointless columns in front
to the Palau Nacional on Montjuïc for the spectacular display of choreographed
water sprays and jets. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghi5i4wut3ZugOd4QGI_5eNNXPpYNMOc-SybSP1syZhORmI1Z-K9MBQd__UfGx6XfHYe_8FJp_FJnDUSzWh7LsMJFzkOwQppHc18O2Km9KMebt-PZ2tD2NjJ-7ZzyNRz37NzlQK3ytCyI/s1600/P1000225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghi5i4wut3ZugOd4QGI_5eNNXPpYNMOc-SybSP1syZhORmI1Z-K9MBQd__UfGx6XfHYe_8FJp_FJnDUSzWh7LsMJFzkOwQppHc18O2Km9KMebt-PZ2tD2NjJ-7ZzyNRz37NzlQK3ytCyI/s320/P1000225.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Sometimes accompanied by musical soundtrack, eighties revivial and movie themses usually, and
coloured by lights, candyfloss mists bloom across the fountain while massive
plumes of water leap into the sky.</div>
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Originally built for the 1929 World Fair, the <a href="http://www.bcn.cat/parcsijardins/fonts/EN/magica.html" target="_blank">Magic Fountain</a>
has more recently acquired the musical accompaniment, making it one of the
city’s top attractions. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidzyCHz-xXniWSgTIPyT5bnoRp5OkXFwz64-qVHLuWa5YILiY1wpQirGBR5qLzfJFrThtwZiz4OmwGDI5qhHj7UAVjLppLdzc6LDWQr3a_3w7B771JdelKhgVFb1GHBxJzCE4V8cdDcb0/s1600/IMG_0370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidzyCHz-xXniWSgTIPyT5bnoRp5OkXFwz64-qVHLuWa5YILiY1wpQirGBR5qLzfJFrThtwZiz4OmwGDI5qhHj7UAVjLppLdzc6LDWQr3a_3w7B771JdelKhgVFb1GHBxJzCE4V8cdDcb0/s640/IMG_0370.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">From twilight
to midnight, give or take, a new Magic Fountain show starts every thirty
minutes. In practice the timetable is a bit random. There are more shows
during the summer months than winter. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi55jt9PrQYOdmymUzLlvXu45u5V27JqSTbG2JPRDHZQtmNW1bT5oqk5VjeaubcjfSvRRinYf_8RipMZfbvvsQqkB8Onz6184PYplmVOdbUvXtCoe3hNtW60rXVyY0Z9gL-8Et_82zcpTw/s1600/P1000227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi55jt9PrQYOdmymUzLlvXu45u5V27JqSTbG2JPRDHZQtmNW1bT5oqk5VjeaubcjfSvRRinYf_8RipMZfbvvsQqkB8Onz6184PYplmVOdbUvXtCoe3hNtW60rXVyY0Z9gL-8Et_82zcpTw/s400/P1000227.JPG" width="265" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">At the height
of the tourist season viewing space is at a premium, with spectators packed
around the fountain and crowded onto the terraces leading up to the Palau
Nacional, which becomes something of a large open air chill out zone as the
night goes on, attracting decent quality buskers, jugglers, skater punks and
such like. </span></div>
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<br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">An
alternative vantage spot is from the viewing deck of the Arenas shopping mall
on the other side of Placa Espana, but it does not have quite the same
atmosphere there.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN7BuFBTaBiPueVm4tLxodKy9UP1qh_MjTj35eQXALsVZXHoDmRCNbj5eUFc29ISlDJmhrSyD97nfGL7L_979GesUEBc8vXoUMJLpRp7JP-Ui8d_96L-O3jzCkNv6XxVFYr98_Phn-2o0/s1600/P1000228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN7BuFBTaBiPueVm4tLxodKy9UP1qh_MjTj35eQXALsVZXHoDmRCNbj5eUFc29ISlDJmhrSyD97nfGL7L_979GesUEBc8vXoUMJLpRp7JP-Ui8d_96L-O3jzCkNv6XxVFYr98_Phn-2o0/s640/P1000228.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd997xTYVH81EwtQfwWjBlU0fONJm7MW0lf8099RMVPtiNhLndbgDy72dtk1A0byrAGXV9u2Y0Wl_YCd5gUJ9SEHKio6G6r7btU4krHe3jPF1uOiTGJWCtb8l7L6OD6jJP6xd1m9m0W10/s1600/IMG_0375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd997xTYVH81EwtQfwWjBlU0fONJm7MW0lf8099RMVPtiNhLndbgDy72dtk1A0byrAGXV9u2Y0Wl_YCd5gUJ9SEHKio6G6r7btU4krHe3jPF1uOiTGJWCtb8l7L6OD6jJP6xd1m9m0W10/s640/IMG_0375.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Plaça de Carles Buïgas, 08038 Barcelona, Spain41.371140633080174 2.151110172271728541.369651133080175 2.1486426722717287 41.372630133080172 2.1535776722717284tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-61185007129036054462012-05-06T13:06:00.000+02:002012-05-13T19:49:43.335+02:00FLYING THE FLAG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38mmPI-K__Fa4kehq3B9WszgqSXkZba1AwR7M_on8LpUw4cBh0ONFGllw00weVYoPDHrjXP-jkzdufMHASIEddD69B958nj-PIu_xXjzycBlRnVDdsI9sVt6UHddBrJ2qgFU4hs5AuIo/s1600/IMG_0172.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38mmPI-K__Fa4kehq3B9WszgqSXkZba1AwR7M_on8LpUw4cBh0ONFGllw00weVYoPDHrjXP-jkzdufMHASIEddD69B958nj-PIu_xXjzycBlRnVDdsI9sVt6UHddBrJ2qgFU4hs5AuIo/s640/IMG_0172.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Wearing a Union flag T-shirt in Barcelona is considered
quite cool</b>, but in Britain it would encourage a self righteous Fair Trade
enthusiast with a bad haircut to berate you as an evil imperialist oppressor / anti-European facist / a Klu Klux Klan member with a side line in child sacrifice.
(Delete dependng on your expereince.) </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIyBuQeU2aC2i-p4MsFMnRIbYsGI3Re1V9-24qw7oJDT5_us6qq2-TdtxsJlKIGQF-fpN3erP9MxErnYuNTdVbYmmWDh9jYiLMQC7KMKxM6JOjsLgr2U0xuFiFbG2DBskwzaLYfyD3vg/s1600/IMG_0074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIyBuQeU2aC2i-p4MsFMnRIbYsGI3Re1V9-24qw7oJDT5_us6qq2-TdtxsJlKIGQF-fpN3erP9MxErnYuNTdVbYmmWDh9jYiLMQC7KMKxM6JOjsLgr2U0xuFiFbG2DBskwzaLYfyD3vg/s320/IMG_0074.JPG" width="320" /></a>In shops across mainland Europe, all manner of household
items area decorated with the Union flag. </div>
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I have seen this enthusiasm for the British flag elsewhere
in Europe. I am sure people just like the design as a fashion item and the
association with the swinging sixties, Cool Britannia and all that, but dig a
bit deeper and you find an altogether more interesting explanation. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrpMgFkk_HQROaHYYPIKAjMpdQaU76umuFHChWz3xVaupnOOiLsH6Zy68PUCM1Mq2m4r_VGLVVBNgW9_1kh3DF8R8tqR_N2uN9FF9EFAGErnnwJcUvQenDecUlo3jtNOHnohCV0hX4cw/s1600/IMG_0214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrpMgFkk_HQROaHYYPIKAjMpdQaU76umuFHChWz3xVaupnOOiLsH6Zy68PUCM1Mq2m4r_VGLVVBNgW9_1kh3DF8R8tqR_N2uN9FF9EFAGErnnwJcUvQenDecUlo3jtNOHnohCV0hX4cw/s200/IMG_0214.JPG" width="109" /></a>The abiding European interest in Brutishness is an amalgam
of many things, including history, heritage culture and attitude, but mainly
that Britain is something a little apart, a little dangerous and maybe even a
little arrogant. Britain has “bad boy” appeal.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrdh8GeIKjD8ZeKo4JFCBSQE6srwS-Ey1MyXp6LfR4lkOt11rpaARd5Y30O9PUn5Xx4Mq60qXPqH8UrgxEROBSesYvl3M49kD-90FoWIz9RT2MN59F86dUwJjGMpGg1_JHJkTBJRXadtk/s1600/IMG00042-20120430-1559.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrdh8GeIKjD8ZeKo4JFCBSQE6srwS-Ey1MyXp6LfR4lkOt11rpaARd5Y30O9PUn5Xx4Mq60qXPqH8UrgxEROBSesYvl3M49kD-90FoWIz9RT2MN59F86dUwJjGMpGg1_JHJkTBJRXadtk/s200/IMG00042-20120430-1559.jpg" width="200" /></a>While British liberals wail at the moon with anger and
misery whenever our politicians refuse to kowtow to Brussels, Europeans quietly
cheer them on, wishing that their own passive politicians were made of sterner
stuff and who would similarly stand up for their own. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObSw2SMKPCoFW55YkuonOtsAIMiUi9WpLRA09Ot4tfJXNUG0ObyP1WT00V1jTrdcAEuYsaI66Rc2bj02UBEd1ew0URL-7OPtO1El25ncP818wiscws65mrNLB5TBLUHNot-43bdTm67A/s1600/IMG_0513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObSw2SMKPCoFW55YkuonOtsAIMiUi9WpLRA09Ot4tfJXNUG0ObyP1WT00V1jTrdcAEuYsaI66Rc2bj02UBEd1ew0URL-7OPtO1El25ncP818wiscws65mrNLB5TBLUHNot-43bdTm67A/s320/IMG_0513.JPG" width="238" /></a>Britain is seen as the global breeding
ground for youth and pop culture, starting with the swinging sixties and continuing
with heavy metal, punk, two-tone and latterly Britpop. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiheLbW98jTbnche03Anu8dlMmMnEUWjzbR8VrowSKhKRH8e1v1C9QTO6YSTFR5dZ02ie4tr7GX9HKVA6PZ0x7mHV2lhCClrSTJhhkODUJ111KOHJMPf5yH0yeAkgQHbQKrixqh7y4c1Fk/s1600/IMG_0338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiheLbW98jTbnche03Anu8dlMmMnEUWjzbR8VrowSKhKRH8e1v1C9QTO6YSTFR5dZ02ie4tr7GX9HKVA6PZ0x7mHV2lhCClrSTJhhkODUJ111KOHJMPf5yH0yeAkgQHbQKrixqh7y4c1Fk/s200/IMG_0338.JPG" width="136" /></a>Older people still see Britishness has a symbol of quality,
an association that advertisers are all to keen to exploit.</div>
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Interest in the British Royal family continues unabated, and
with a Jubilee in the offing that interest will continue to grow. </div>
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<img border="0" height="569" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDqfXhV_yATvM6IIlH1QlQH6aICiKhn0wR_J79bHXMaCcN1mZN0Q6jceB5K8wRlMiSdMKcQvKZbxqWm_X2FhBdEnVVPe3O7Xihfcbh4m60cmXweqlWktVJF3HCwYo-yGGnANFgwyGaeE/s640/P1000214.JPG" width="640" /><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Paradoxically Britain is also known for not being
too deferential, we will let Lemmy take it from here:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrdh8GeIKjD8ZeKo4JFCBSQE6srwS-Ey1MyXp6LfR4lkOt11rpaARd5Y30O9PUn5Xx4Mq60qXPqH8UrgxEROBSesYvl3M49kD-90FoWIz9RT2MN59F86dUwJjGMpGg1_JHJkTBJRXadtk/s1600/IMG00042-20120430-1559.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/4IbFk6ydJNs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38mmPI-K__Fa4kehq3B9WszgqSXkZba1AwR7M_on8LpUw4cBh0ONFGllw00weVYoPDHrjXP-jkzdufMHASIEddD69B958nj-PIu_xXjzycBlRnVDdsI9sVt6UHddBrJ2qgFU4hs5AuIo/s1600/IMG_0172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-40298965070470602032012-04-24T21:36:00.002+02:002012-04-26T23:25:07.914+02:00BY GEORGE<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK5nJ619-Ytvb_qQf6TPE-Tzf0Rhx9dFdd58hMQRhtlw6eVCRGORkSVgWno2KGNiEBf_3UtgOOhuGhIdMFdfqxqeKoawcFtkWo_d1chAaygAWu8WGPH7P2rMMi1VWk9y1lDpjbNDuot-Y/s1600/P1000207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK5nJ619-Ytvb_qQf6TPE-Tzf0Rhx9dFdd58hMQRhtlw6eVCRGORkSVgWno2KGNiEBf_3UtgOOhuGhIdMFdfqxqeKoawcFtkWo_d1chAaygAWu8WGPH7P2rMMi1VWk9y1lDpjbNDuot-Y/s640/P1000207.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>St. George</b>,
or St. Jordi as he is known hereabouts, is the patron saint of many places: <span style="text-decoration: none;">England</span>, <span style="text-decoration: none;">Egypt</span>,
<span style="text-decoration: none;">Bulgaria</span>, <span style="text-decoration: none;">Romania</span>, <span style="text-decoration: none;">Ethiopia</span>, <span style="text-decoration: none;">Greece</span>, <span style="text-decoration: none;">India</span>,
<span style="text-decoration: none;">Iraq</span>,
<span style="text-decoration: none;">Lithuania</span>, <span style="text-decoration: none;">Palestine</span>, <span style="text-decoration: none;">Portugal</span>, <span style="text-decoration: none;">Serbia</span>, <span style="text-decoration: none;">Ukraine</span> and <span style="text-decoration: none;">Russia</span>, and also <span style="text-decoration: none;">Catalonia</span>, and in particular Barcelona. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Not bad going for a
bloke who was never actually canonised and whose main claim to fame is the
slaying of a beast that never existed (and if it did, I am sure dragon slaying
would be frowned upon nowadays by the animal rights brigade). </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipaz5fCuE3Gb27N9twcFLZP1gEdi8jxUflUS7yhAQwNxKJZp-wZQAzbvc1Y0MM3Ws1Hn8CmxQfkFIpG4QzspLvTFibnsmYGHHww8hSuEv3cf2LIogbX-fEENSUFbkylBqfBT75OqXdb-s/s1600/IMG_0511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipaz5fCuE3Gb27N9twcFLZP1gEdi8jxUflUS7yhAQwNxKJZp-wZQAzbvc1Y0MM3Ws1Hn8CmxQfkFIpG4QzspLvTFibnsmYGHHww8hSuEv3cf2LIogbX-fEENSUFbkylBqfBT75OqXdb-s/s320/IMG_0511.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">The Roman soldier
and early Christian martyr apparently did make a miraculous intervention during
the crusades, but by and large it is the dragon slaying made him famous. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">His feast day, April 23,
is celebrated in many ways. The English like to paint their faces and drink
lots of beer, while in Barcelona the tradition is to give books and roses, in prodigious
quantities. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The tradition has gone global in the guise of International Book Day. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKbanw_kqxJ_vsO2bOYOp4YqLCIZLO4CU6V9E7zVodmYDBB_4FMV8zUEOmY3izOCVxUCONCGdrZCmi2ePDluFij8zMFri68X-YyLoKAuHZiCXqZgZrq0bGUnPFj0tdaZG7JdWT-gEvjBo/s1600/P1000211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKbanw_kqxJ_vsO2bOYOp4YqLCIZLO4CU6V9E7zVodmYDBB_4FMV8zUEOmY3izOCVxUCONCGdrZCmi2ePDluFij8zMFri68X-YyLoKAuHZiCXqZgZrq0bGUnPFj0tdaZG7JdWT-gEvjBo/s320/P1000211.JPG" width="275" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> All over the
city little street corner stalls spring up, all decorated with the colours ot the flag of Catalunya. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Strangely given the fuss that that is made of the event, St. Jordi’s Day
is not actually a holiday, so it is not until the evening that crowds throng to the city centre where authors pitch
their tents to sign copies of their works, and all manner of rose themed knick
knacks are available.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Amongst the
jostling and commerce there is also a distinctly romantic air to the day, as
St. Jordi serves a similar role to the Catalans as St. Valentine does elsewhere. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8-EWCeaxWAM8C4FCqX4hsLhlkpDWpD-WJ12LUHVRanzFQjHILrDuBnDvl1dyPZ7pkpNIsnRh7pvRhCHvdWwv4GMTr420yrrIj4zGIsAx8p9hdCojRK8uOnOw10GiQZCxelBi2y4vUEo/s1600/P1000177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8-EWCeaxWAM8C4FCqX4hsLhlkpDWpD-WJ12LUHVRanzFQjHILrDuBnDvl1dyPZ7pkpNIsnRh7pvRhCHvdWwv4GMTr420yrrIj4zGIsAx8p9hdCojRK8uOnOw10GiQZCxelBi2y4vUEo/s640/P1000177.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Passeig de Gràcia, 1, 08002 Barcelona, Spain41.387917 2.169918741.0079305 1.5382047 41.7679035 2.8016327000000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-21790257793305989352012-04-22T20:01:00.000+02:002012-04-22T20:54:30.836+02:00DRINK BEER, SMOKE FAGS, DRIVE FAST CARS<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqq1lkGH08AZmk01bLPuvwljJWHr8emBYbvheED3uFk5hq470TmdHM772Ma09d50kqRAwr3KlSQAYAzs3HhWwsLh7VaIO_BIxudMaTHJR4CcbiXzoAtOoO3meJyv5irvN05dr5fUBzFg/s1600/P1000182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqq1lkGH08AZmk01bLPuvwljJWHr8emBYbvheED3uFk5hq470TmdHM772Ma09d50kqRAwr3KlSQAYAzs3HhWwsLh7VaIO_BIxudMaTHJR4CcbiXzoAtOoO3meJyv5irvN05dr5fUBzFg/s640/P1000182.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b style="color: #660000;">Guinness and Rizla</b><span style="color: #660000;">, now that is the sort of sponsors you do
not see too often today. The safety Nazis do not allow you to see such
dangerous images.</span> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUlu8er1sT9tZSI_RDlvGUxmr52nA1WEoOrKcH-_Km7xb3MKa94gJ1EM3RiZAEPwnYUf6bm0tDatkkk-app5wSR7SZODUvuiKtDl61Aiu0Z0bl8fv2kzGwTMZTs0gBgiQn6GA8Kvyjk8/s1600/P1000188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUlu8er1sT9tZSI_RDlvGUxmr52nA1WEoOrKcH-_Km7xb3MKa94gJ1EM3RiZAEPwnYUf6bm0tDatkkk-app5wSR7SZODUvuiKtDl61Aiu0Z0bl8fv2kzGwTMZTs0gBgiQn6GA8Kvyjk8/s400/P1000188.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">The <a href="http://www.espiritudemontjuic.com/" target="_blank">Espiritu de Montjuic </a>historic festival at the <a href="http://www.circuitcat.com/en/" target="_blank">Circuit de Catalunya</a> provides a glimpse of how motor racing used to be, when cars and
motorcycles screamed around the old street circuit at Montjuic in Barcelona. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The weekend meeting featured F1s, GTs, Can Ams, sportcars,
touring cars and motorcycles, all hitting the tarmac in anger. </span></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVSJ6EiZPgl7k2rczafjgUDGV16zIrf_wnzaMYN5c3BNh5wov0W8FZ6Bha8TcFRfgnXj6L5jfdrQM-ans55vy-SsMoFYL1GtGIEgPC4m_rXVvF-4OPifwChx8r0hqtSvqvi9w-Z3cYRuQ/s1600/P1000191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVSJ6EiZPgl7k2rczafjgUDGV16zIrf_wnzaMYN5c3BNh5wov0W8FZ6Bha8TcFRfgnXj6L5jfdrQM-ans55vy-SsMoFYL1GtGIEgPC4m_rXVvF-4OPifwChx8r0hqtSvqvi9w-Z3cYRuQ/s640/P1000191.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">For any motor racing
fan, there was the great selection of truly historic cars to spot, including my
personal favourite the F1 JPS Lotus. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawKDZrBA8Zg2n56ohm8E2rsU2ed2VDGgepPc78gWTqP23DA52q2DLhRY4GjLOAbgCrBMHJk5-R-F1m36U-yMirADIHXrBI4AL6bNpv4eWaGL-It9J9ADwSwj917hKT-TsknAyUgZV_GA/s1600/P1000185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawKDZrBA8Zg2n56ohm8E2rsU2ed2VDGgepPc78gWTqP23DA52q2DLhRY4GjLOAbgCrBMHJk5-R-F1m36U-yMirADIHXrBI4AL6bNpv4eWaGL-It9J9ADwSwj917hKT-TsknAyUgZV_GA/s200/P1000185.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Pretty much every famous marquee was
represneted, with a particular preponderance of Minis, and, inevitably, Ferraris, old and new for the track and for the road. (Is it just me or are Ferraris beconing common and cliched?) </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKvGtA64AcDj5sJ0eETZ16cPbyp5-hpYjCmRQ0NQ4u-SVFrhtcz_l5hkSfwS0EO7L9rvrnwUmvX4cUqFU1yhY_SbSTFv6yhUmxNURRRsTLcD99tPy-4gCb9hpJ1JkV_0k7Mz6Pu1RCwU/s1600/P1000197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKvGtA64AcDj5sJ0eETZ16cPbyp5-hpYjCmRQ0NQ4u-SVFrhtcz_l5hkSfwS0EO7L9rvrnwUmvX4cUqFU1yhY_SbSTFv6yhUmxNURRRsTLcD99tPy-4gCb9hpJ1JkV_0k7Mz6Pu1RCwU/s320/P1000197.JPG" width="283" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">For those who do not quite get the appeal of man and machine
in balletic battle with opponents and physics, the paddock featured a goodly
variety of distractions including classic car displays, a smal fun fair, a Beatles tribute band, stalls and
the opportunity for some period posing.</span></div>
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T<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;">oo rare
these days, the pits were open for the public to go gawp and kick tyres. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;">The old Montjuic circuit is too dangerous for a large scale revivial, but the </span></span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Espiritu de Montjuic </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">festival, looks set to become an annual event. It perhaps lacks the gloss and depth of some other historic racing festivals, but for easy-going openess I do not think it can be beat.</span> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_WuLPJhRWlO7Ct4lAzs__PHQvJJhTJjp-VMh8B8wTnKbyRzxPPgFXOB0Z_jgktJAXBUfAr5ufHOsL6pCvW7p1YNSMffcKpkfviSkprJr1sjnn3yDhnht1QK0jC4VdUsFlyBH6wVIuCY/s1600/P1000201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_WuLPJhRWlO7Ct4lAzs__PHQvJJhTJjp-VMh8B8wTnKbyRzxPPgFXOB0Z_jgktJAXBUfAr5ufHOsL6pCvW7p1YNSMffcKpkfviSkprJr1sjnn3yDhnht1QK0jC4VdUsFlyBH6wVIuCY/s640/P1000201.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Circuit de Catalunya, 08160 Montmeló, Spain41.5725031 2.255759541.5665636 2.245889 41.578442599999995 2.26563tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-23460133582951452772012-04-15T12:42:00.000+02:002012-06-20T14:44:34.613+02:00THE ATTACK OF THE 30 FOOT CRUSTACEAN<br />
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<b style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It isn't a Rock Lobster</span></span></b><b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></b> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZ59jdeJRS83fn7FjJ-wOTlb-fKR50w54AjOH488ZhPtwDI3-xdSadHFrwQHm5msHCaycmlF3r1jPXJMmIcCPyjWKnTB0dqb-XokU3SsahrHmOn-aqOfQYofnLOHNwF_xwdhYS-QdDKo/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZ59jdeJRS83fn7FjJ-wOTlb-fKR50w54AjOH488ZhPtwDI3-xdSadHFrwQHm5msHCaycmlF3r1jPXJMmIcCPyjWKnTB0dqb-XokU3SsahrHmOn-aqOfQYofnLOHNwF_xwdhYS-QdDKo/s640/013.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgk4zgVK3AM3kaWsjYDfpTBkemdHAOl4rO1i8YPJg8QmnNvXlKeBXFdbr58G0HjcPrgGfQJ9dnizJ1SeesA5V-WBaCNNCXZ10GZkWCYnFq3s4IVPHihdy99Trh85CGKrmoZdeo36AFbPM/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgk4zgVK3AM3kaWsjYDfpTBkemdHAOl4rO1i8YPJg8QmnNvXlKeBXFdbr58G0HjcPrgGfQJ9dnizJ1SeesA5V-WBaCNNCXZ10GZkWCYnFq3s4IVPHihdy99Trh85CGKrmoZdeo36AFbPM/s400/015.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s a big plastic lobster with a silly smile near Port Vell.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It used to sit on top of a sea food restaurant; the eatery has gone, but the lobster remains to amuse, bemuse and confuse.</span><br />
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(And yes, that is a Roy Lichtenstein work in the background.)</div>
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The Lobster is the work of Javier Mariscal, aka “the Peter Pan of Spanish design”. The Barcelona based artist, also designed "Corbi", the mascot for the 1992 Olympics. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZCr0O0RNB34eJ6l7KTwcR5-YGRDO9ri_tHJH6n7LJbEEzTGuj0FAgZpCW8yn5vDoAnISC7tMhSzsW4JS7JPwy1p8oufu4swSehxlhr_jSGXRn1T3EGGrrXHkZYW-EqZNnDPyCwlTWk54/s1600/Cobi.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZCr0O0RNB34eJ6l7KTwcR5-YGRDO9ri_tHJH6n7LJbEEzTGuj0FAgZpCW8yn5vDoAnISC7tMhSzsW4JS7JPwy1p8oufu4swSehxlhr_jSGXRn1T3EGGrrXHkZYW-EqZNnDPyCwlTWk54/s200/Cobi.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofkzvM7Skxg&feature=related" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGmnOqtpoPJ7JUfxzpHuJTy-UlVOuSivIxmDxHcOJYAezXpKTXQE0KT3VXn251oTc9g_69FbEgYc_7FXmOa_bh4S5DVsjZuOegDnFBkl_v_Z7kuhtyu1Sl5LNTd_bDKoIMNpjc_K-1Hf8/s200/Lobster_telephone.jpg" width="200" /></a>Perhaps a nod in a direction of Dali's experiments with crustaceans? </div>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">...a</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">nd an excuse to link to a B52's video. (Lift the phone.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Passeig de Colom, 11, 08002 Barcelona, Spain41.379899957153917 2.180786132812541.367985457153914 2.1610451328125 41.39181445715392 2.2005271328125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-30275386155188181082012-04-09T23:06:00.000+02:002012-04-22T19:16:30.216+02:00STREET LIFE, EASTER MONDAY<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="clear: left; color: #660000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Random pictures <span style="font-weight: normal;">with a small camera:</span></span></span></h2>
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_817810630" style="text-align: center;"></a>(click smaller pics to enlarge)</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="433" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJL24NcW68CGkIUZrddT4FFiTPE913QRx2qDVt3NGoXBmX_pFU0sUcGm7dReQ1-miZoWSVrv1WKXPWhqeZOJQwRrn1ruTCsFzh9r9cvp-TqyYnptPh4fxbXCikCgVsh-5xEQTfMx2uVOw/s640/013.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr align="justify"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A couple dance to a jazz band busking in </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Avenida</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"> del </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Portal de l'Angel. The band are called the New Orleans Pussycats and are available for weddings, Bar </i><i style="background-color: white; color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Mitzvahs and funerals.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_817810630"></a><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6bqWkFGsaFULVzPRvvV-vqbWosQthpzLH5dk368F3uQtIJ4qsfenaTRauAeLRlL9WpTFSdmj8h5qEctaRNy2Q9MppLSBuVJvbr1hit0Bn6mL3feN3LGY5gvlTD2QP4Len2-Y0mzIsaks/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6bqWkFGsaFULVzPRvvV-vqbWosQthpzLH5dk368F3uQtIJ4qsfenaTRauAeLRlL9WpTFSdmj8h5qEctaRNy2Q9MppLSBuVJvbr1hit0Bn6mL3feN3LGY5gvlTD2QP4Len2-Y0mzIsaks/s320/015.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Mr. Happy gets a shoeshine</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZNX_M6NtX0TaXxPXAcucgfzpk8HdkyEb-au4z2nCh3zHVhfhf1e2Wmw7k5Bt4nLsv3d3EF1HXEY2a4lJHCUJI2eqdjWgq0UAVNgqSWI2TEgUO8Ojch1ejgv0o11N2AOQJuFuLnOxpMM/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZNX_M6NtX0TaXxPXAcucgfzpk8HdkyEb-au4z2nCh3zHVhfhf1e2Wmw7k5Bt4nLsv3d3EF1HXEY2a4lJHCUJI2eqdjWgq0UAVNgqSWI2TEgUO8Ojch1ejgv0o11N2AOQJuFuLnOxpMM/s320/014.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">High heels in low places, Raval</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ruODzdspcnvsgO4ZQnTNzzFJSRYTEnBjeTwYXYgHPrQBmD9TO8Rkn4IlK1REQbsLZplgdAdL9QujJimldf2RxVEz9u51ePON7v2rAQtTndJibnOeG9aDg4CGwQhsLNDpXnr9CKSHDm8/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ruODzdspcnvsgO4ZQnTNzzFJSRYTEnBjeTwYXYgHPrQBmD9TO8Rkn4IlK1REQbsLZplgdAdL9QujJimldf2RxVEz9u51ePON7v2rAQtTndJibnOeG9aDg4CGwQhsLNDpXnr9CKSHDm8/s320/007.JPG" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The audience arrives at the<a href="http://teatro-tivoli.com/" target="_blank"> Teatro Tivo</a></span></i>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUC9oA6ObO4kZ4ssc_P5YT3G01xgPojLgKHmnY0Q5-MbN3_ddzOPswtwxtpq45j2lkybrFurTO9EcaYYcDVeOriLTE7rmefEj98T8UTlnDYA3SfaxGFcCRQ5-BwBCmuMx2m0_5X993HsU/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUC9oA6ObO4kZ4ssc_P5YT3G01xgPojLgKHmnY0Q5-MbN3_ddzOPswtwxtpq45j2lkybrFurTO9EcaYYcDVeOriLTE7rmefEj98T8UTlnDYA3SfaxGFcCRQ5-BwBCmuMx2m0_5X993HsU/s320/016.JPG" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Japanese tourists, getting their bearings.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-46888488137412382892012-04-08T15:20:00.000+02:002012-04-22T19:17:59.951+02:00IT’S NO SMALL BEER<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuBkX_dDALHS_1xarkZ0sw3S4w63iO3NIDfqzNIVszquulUo2LOg-KRC-uVIaaKFbHw6YBdr3Ksg5mqQ4Y6Uirf3uwXJfYkmFDkwqQ1Vty_bE5c5lMVNHMtDa2NpXPmzEEgror6k2INhY/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuBkX_dDALHS_1xarkZ0sw3S4w63iO3NIDfqzNIVszquulUo2LOg-KRC-uVIaaKFbHw6YBdr3Ksg5mqQ4Y6Uirf3uwXJfYkmFDkwqQ1Vty_bE5c5lMVNHMtDa2NpXPmzEEgror6k2INhY/s640/014.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Size matters</b> when it comes to beer in Barcelona. </div>
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In most bars you can order a small or large beer. A “pequeño
cerveza” is usually anything between .25 litres to .33 litres, an unpretentious
and innocuous little refresher.</div>
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A “grande” is half a litre, and is often served
in some preposterously shaped glass that is supposed to enhance the “experience”
of the particular blend of water, hops and fermented grain juice that you have
selected.</div>
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However if you go into one of the many English and Irish
bars and ask for a grande cerveza the bar staff will usually respond: “you mean
a pint”, and a pint you get in a traditional British pint glass. No truck with the
new fangled metric system in the theme pubs! </div>
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Generally the price of beer is reasonable. Cheap even, by taxed-out
British standards. </div>
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But beware; wander down to the tourist trap bars and
restaurants at the bottom end of La Rambla and the system changes. Here small
means a half litre and a large is a full litre, served in the sort of glass
that is usually only to be seen photographed against the bosoms of buxom wenches
in Munich during October. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtibRIxcJsKHGHy9NR6ZQ26BxyIhWZ_xP50fFuMlgOptXhdrqoTZxpgMtdmK1aR7RDMsu_qpJj7ebd3y2SUqeq20acGDYRFHqwiYaGlJVLWkfV_dr-4MjORupHp8iJCBgm6b3R3rY4tcQ/s1600/018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtibRIxcJsKHGHy9NR6ZQ26BxyIhWZ_xP50fFuMlgOptXhdrqoTZxpgMtdmK1aR7RDMsu_qpJj7ebd3y2SUqeq20acGDYRFHqwiYaGlJVLWkfV_dr-4MjORupHp8iJCBgm6b3R3rY4tcQ/s400/018.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The price, rarely advertised in advance, is also
considerably larger, pushing €13; which suddenly makes the €12 set menu (excluding
drinks) a lot less value than it looks at first glance. By the time the bill
comes the happy holiday makers are usually too tipsy to put up an argument. </div>
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It is a tourist rip-off that has invoked the ire of the
local newspaper ‘La Vanguardia’. Not that the restaurateurs are paying attention. <span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">If that is a bit rich for your wallet, there is always
supermarket larger at a very reasonable 25 cents a can.</span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwCs0OytO3E27cc4FSb2D0H26m93PeV07DpZ0VIMFr8AWU-cE6f0_XDAornJHy6ijCeRCGoNOT5qj10qfy1hSm3jWHLGq7t-tnPBAMKKxlbRLDybluKGHYAMmBf__pcS7HmEBrk8m8bIM/s1600/IMG_0120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwCs0OytO3E27cc4FSb2D0H26m93PeV07DpZ0VIMFr8AWU-cE6f0_XDAornJHy6ijCeRCGoNOT5qj10qfy1hSm3jWHLGq7t-tnPBAMKKxlbRLDybluKGHYAMmBf__pcS7HmEBrk8m8bIM/s640/IMG_0120.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Plaça d'Antonio López, 17, 08003 Barcelona, Spain41.38196080315538 2.181730270385742241.376003803155378 2.1718597703857423 41.387917803155382 2.1916007703857421tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-67527797537869246642012-04-01T14:26:00.000+02:002012-04-22T19:16:45.948+02:00IS JACK SPARROW HIDING OUT IN BARCELONA?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMQCUSob6GwBF4ddceJEvM_ChXBHgsEpclOUxfJ7PJLl20l2Um5QTTPgO_i7QcPu68gs0pw5sSXiQW5zKvKfmE3OO3ckRqZGZZzt3oXrUBg91UezTyUQIbSp3u65849fefkDHRwBHCmA/s1600/PB1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMQCUSob6GwBF4ddceJEvM_ChXBHgsEpclOUxfJ7PJLl20l2Um5QTTPgO_i7QcPu68gs0pw5sSXiQW5zKvKfmE3OO3ckRqZGZZzt3oXrUBg91UezTyUQIbSp3u65849fefkDHRwBHCmA/s640/PB1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>A mysterious black ship</b> has tied up in <a href="http://www.marinaportvell.com/" target="_blank">Port Vell</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The official line is that it is a recently completed
recreation of a 16th century Spanish ship the Nao Victoria, moored in
Barcelona for educational purposes and tourist visits organised by <a href="http://www.fundacionnaovictoria.org/" target="_blank">Fundacion NaoVictoria</a>. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAKDBU80fvjRxJ-bs6XbYR77_8H3hpoFUDBKV9Ae9gK1kM6Bjhmb_1btDaFYPSc9J0N1HqONmUwL8h1t9n9UAGwmH37fTn12hC3mpbqkZGkLetUYaw9yrdJLS7Toi56nRXN7LdN591q0/s1600/P1000047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAKDBU80fvjRxJ-bs6XbYR77_8H3hpoFUDBKV9Ae9gK1kM6Bjhmb_1btDaFYPSc9J0N1HqONmUwL8h1t9n9UAGwmH37fTn12hC3mpbqkZGkLetUYaw9yrdJLS7Toi56nRXN7LdN591q0/s200/P1000047.JPG" width="150" /></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In 1522 the original Nao Victoria became the first ship to
circumnavigate the globe, and the only one from a fleet of five vessels
commanded by Ferdinand Magellan that completed the voyage. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">However fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean films might
think differently. The ship bears more than a passing resemblance to the
notorious Black Pearl.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOlZx0hdAi4TwNWUSkGpHO0Q6eXczw6AwAO6wLhT42VD-15xce1rhuLYddunwmFo0QGKBU5M2z3y4FQmgGEKPKhXCEoIdLQ5zcE3ffNtis_uq1PYS13hlbscho7ifUxv0e5ktzFznQlA/s1600/jack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOlZx0hdAi4TwNWUSkGpHO0Q6eXczw6AwAO6wLhT42VD-15xce1rhuLYddunwmFo0QGKBU5M2z3y4FQmgGEKPKhXCEoIdLQ5zcE3ffNtis_uq1PYS13hlbscho7ifUxv0e5ktzFznQlA/s200/jack.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Is it possible that Jack Sparrow is engaged in some
supernatural time travelling escapade and is in Barcelona to conduct a belated
raid upon the treasures of the Spanish Main? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">After all there are parts of the city where the Black Pearl’s
flamboyant camp captain and motley crew could pass without attracting attention. </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Port Vell41.376808565702333 2.179584503173828141.370851065702333 2.1697140031738282 41.382766065702334 2.189455003173828tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-38558229371105810322012-03-29T22:59:00.000+02:002012-04-22T19:17:04.713+02:00BABYLON’S BURNING<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjVCFgCd2wlQkUuOAHzT0sFZZEoTjrkSv4JQUgGl302Pqfc34Uh94BWz4H8th14tMJrBe9MbBxhh1DjOrYzt0nEEf-zRNJj9_NMqf7uvsYQ9S1BUdV4qumvZjRQUWhm0-0yIcnqfRSj8/s1600/IMG_0468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjVCFgCd2wlQkUuOAHzT0sFZZEoTjrkSv4JQUgGl302Pqfc34Uh94BWz4H8th14tMJrBe9MbBxhh1DjOrYzt0nEEf-zRNJj9_NMqf7uvsYQ9S1BUdV4qumvZjRQUWhm0-0yIcnqfRSj8/s640/IMG_0468.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Well not really</b>, compared to Kreutzberg on May Day, or Belfast most weekends, the rioters in Barcelona are lightweights. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwiZ1LVi40hS9TyzMi2xLwe185H5DCcCXP8Mhiq6TzQNyB9rGu06IfCTNbN8iCPsq6Gte241E-KAumLwUHlzKxEuFQxpojuj14x4wddrIOj63VV3tA03W5VjLa0vL6H21rhGua5UxYbhk/s1600/IMG_0464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwiZ1LVi40hS9TyzMi2xLwe185H5DCcCXP8Mhiq6TzQNyB9rGu06IfCTNbN8iCPsq6Gte241E-KAumLwUHlzKxEuFQxpojuj14x4wddrIOj63VV3tA03W5VjLa0vL6H21rhGua5UxYbhk/s320/IMG_0464.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">But then again only the poor bloody infantry were put into the field today: the garden variety trade union shouty types, whitey-dread crusties and old hippies. There was no sign of the hardcore Black Bloc elite anarchists.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There were a lot of firecrackers, whistle blowing and half hearted shouting but when the more adventurous fancied a bit of agro the police clamped down fast and hard. The particularly brave, or stupid, received an old school pelting with baton rounds. (That is going to hurt in the morning.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">At 8.00 o’clock everyone knocked off and went home for dinner. It was rather amusing that the strikers / protesters were moaning that they had to wait longer than usual for a train.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvO_Wusi3nvsfEnOFPBvA6rQhY5V3VUrQS56HtwhOfLBHDrUZaePUaqneS6ajkbz3QBkml09q1TmyJYOl1AaRiBd3qgQeJyAZ4Wi4m_gRWtMvLLHMCwipRiCb6F5tIwRSTAWwGC3GQvIo/s1600/IMG_0440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvO_Wusi3nvsfEnOFPBvA6rQhY5V3VUrQS56HtwhOfLBHDrUZaePUaqneS6ajkbz3QBkml09q1TmyJYOl1AaRiBd3qgQeJyAZ4Wi4m_gRWtMvLLHMCwipRiCb6F5tIwRSTAWwGC3GQvIo/s320/IMG_0440.JPG" width="272" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Spain’s general strike and day of protest, which had been well flagged up in advance, turned out to be a bit of a non-event.</span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There were attempts to block roads during the morning rush hour, but everyone just had a bit of a lie in and a long breakfast before dandering into work around 10.30.The Metro and buses were running, albeit with a reduced service, and the big stores were open for business. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Apart from the odd Belfast-style street barbecue (quite nostalgic driving over burnt tarmac) and a few scuffles most people went about life pretty normally. The riot police are becoming a tourist attraction. </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Only the small shops seemed to really suffer. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Given the scale of the economic mess in Spain it is hard not to have some sympathy with the frustrations of unemployed, but you have to wonder what this achieved except to inconvenience those trying to get the local economy back on its feet.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Despite the graffiti and posters, recent elections have demonstrated that the protests do not have popular support and trying to wreck the joint is not going to make them any more friends. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAchlcuE1mhbAbxAEiAEvjMTH45D5zsIZUwcxwyjA5HQK-J94Eecqs1wStgAZ25nv-J1bT2ptjeBjWLbWXxLvTVIvPIWPldQiwOl5EVpqzdNVWu5cV0hHyn6ruMJ_hu4v5UoL0FkyiO-Q/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAchlcuE1mhbAbxAEiAEvjMTH45D5zsIZUwcxwyjA5HQK-J94Eecqs1wStgAZ25nv-J1bT2ptjeBjWLbWXxLvTVIvPIWPldQiwOl5EVpqzdNVWu5cV0hHyn6ruMJ_hu4v5UoL0FkyiO-Q/s640/Untitled.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>…you should have seen them go, go go.</b></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgIcSNDj4p9s3PoDUuKDKrRMs0gijJyrMdK-sd7_jmlS73bSlgPjAxzUmPBynnmTnlHdZAN4Yzcbo4GBlABPkKnr4OzR0mn7W4IE1052JHgEbTN66UTYYq8PgQRmjaKZWF5y-AxA9rvgA/s1600/120.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgIcSNDj4p9s3PoDUuKDKrRMs0gijJyrMdK-sd7_jmlS73bSlgPjAxzUmPBynnmTnlHdZAN4Yzcbo4GBlABPkKnr4OzR0mn7W4IE1052JHgEbTN66UTYYq8PgQRmjaKZWF5y-AxA9rvgA/s200/120.png" width="200" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It was one of those random tings, I picked up a CD a while back by a band called The Pepper Pots, because I liked the album cover. </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The music was brilliant, sort of Motown meets Northern Soul.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">For the last couple of months I have been puzzling as to where <a href="http://www.thepepperpots.com/" target="_blank">The Pepper Pots</a> came from: Philadelphia? Camden? Detroit? Whitby?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOoZX3XB2DyHbhABgRAgeV651vK6rdrs9PVc-42e5SBRs-cmC7oetRqVM6863L0ZOCyqlt0SJWiXwPTWZfIzopuJbXEvKHNiVEjunRhOzEVoVqlhyUVRVjfH9SV3fqsFHhPqxCSZ0BM20/s1600/soul-train-fest-21-03-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOoZX3XB2DyHbhABgRAgeV651vK6rdrs9PVc-42e5SBRs-cmC7oetRqVM6863L0ZOCyqlt0SJWiXwPTWZfIzopuJbXEvKHNiVEjunRhOzEVoVqlhyUVRVjfH9SV3fqsFHhPqxCSZ0BM20/s200/soul-train-fest-21-03-12.jpg" width="141" /></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It turns out they are from just up the road in Girona, so I popped along to the Sala Apolo in Barcelona when they were in town topping the bill for at the Soul Train Fest. <a href="http://www.sala-apolo.com/" target="_blank">Sala Apolo</a> is a splendidly shabby music hall, and just the place of this old school soul show. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There were three bands on the bill, and what a show is was, but the night belonged to The Pepper Pots. The ten piece combo is as tight as a duck’s arse and as sharp as a Savile Row suit. </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">They lay down the sweetest of sweet soul peppered with a dash of ska with rampant sax attacks and some beautiful guitar work all driven along by bloke with a throbbing organ. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Out front three girl singers dispense broken hearts and the sort of sounds and show rarely seen since <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">Diana Ross</span> left the Supremes.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Pepper Pots are touring the UK soon. Catch them </span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">while they are fresh – you won’t regret it.</span></div>
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<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/-Pmk_oskItg/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-Pmk_oskItg&fs=1&source=uds" />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Here's another video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-D3srElDTw&feature=fvwrel" target="_blank">>>></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Carrer de Vilà i Vilà, 69, 08004 Barcelona, Spain41.374103477647573 2.169456481933593841.368145977647572 2.1595859819335939 41.380060977647574 2.1793269819335936tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-71065209274553542502012-03-18T14:09:00.001+01:002012-03-30T09:33:53.960+02:00THIS FRIEND IN NEED IS AN ADDRESS TO ADD TO THE SPAM LIST<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>You may at some stage in the near future receive an email from a friend who has been mugged in Barcelona;</b> and who urgently needs you to come to their assistance. They will provide instructions as to how to send them the necessary, and generous, funds to prevent them from perishing horribly</span>. </span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiml0q8cMGnZuHR701l2D56ABiGy4vmzOoyn_gQ6m5FQhUeyqlbNvG1bs-ujySrJkpmcQgwcHHrDg4Pb7vLd7RMO9kJbAcfXtJUigqfs9XL9sRXvckRVvbW5Txf_9BhKhQhCM7oXBklPf4/s1600/IMG_0355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiml0q8cMGnZuHR701l2D56ABiGy4vmzOoyn_gQ6m5FQhUeyqlbNvG1bs-ujySrJkpmcQgwcHHrDg4Pb7vLd7RMO9kJbAcfXtJUigqfs9XL9sRXvckRVvbW5Txf_9BhKhQhCM7oXBklPf4/s640/IMG_0355.JPG" width="617" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Hit the delete button.</b> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most of all, do not send me an email asking me to go the rescue your stricken acquaintance. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFGFbGCGQKD2VQGKFqJXyMyZ56q7mDM0WC7k90wKyzIjGtb0W7JfEuuxW60mlEST-oExAtMXl1QmKfCppF4TfHjvoEDKxJllyONoNBGSP6wWbZYn1mGGRJMpGIRZg5-tKUhuLF0PCwHns/s1600/barcelona-badges-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFGFbGCGQKD2VQGKFqJXyMyZ56q7mDM0WC7k90wKyzIjGtb0W7JfEuuxW60mlEST-oExAtMXl1QmKfCppF4TfHjvoEDKxJllyONoNBGSP6wWbZYn1mGGRJMpGIRZg5-tKUhuLF0PCwHns/s320/barcelona-badges-007.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes, Barcelona does suffer from a infestation of a breed of mouth breathing parasites who prey on careless tourists, but be assured that your friend is in all probably not in Barcelona and certainly does not need you to send money to the rather odd location that they say is really the only possible way that you can come to their aid. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However you should give them a call and tell them that their email account has been hacked by some knuckle dragging techie scum and they need to invest in some PC security software. </span></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-64163075198949751702012-01-06T12:27:00.000+01:002012-01-06T12:27:03.289+01:00THREE KINGS REIGN<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Version>12.00</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-GB</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6NO6A8oAldo_VAPPfU4qDvR8DGfO0D-JYEiziMlpY_F1Bz6yiEDlMp-gT5-K6F17ds_ZW1qHabxSFjRHSzYx7hEGb8s8pINtEVgDM4wC68gGQXKeAAgoVYoh8QO3N-LDIHZ0ySSmrI78/s1600/P1000105.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxdCA9tUfKSklOAmoM1nIkmxzNNniT9NoJqBGKJYgfFHUdsFCnkY2EHZOI3MEvljqXs1RDSWe5k-0Z68Dzl3deoKxOWxcfa7_ZvphbhUxEGkQG8_cULd4BzMyRlpaqPfZUvW9KtcB2Tk/s1600/P1000102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxdCA9tUfKSklOAmoM1nIkmxzNNniT9NoJqBGKJYgfFHUdsFCnkY2EHZOI3MEvljqXs1RDSWe5k-0Z68Dzl3deoKxOWxcfa7_ZvphbhUxEGkQG8_cULd4BzMyRlpaqPfZUvW9KtcB2Tk/s640/P1000102.JPG" width="640" /></a><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b style="color: #660000;">Christmas in Barcelona</b><span style="color: #660000;"> is less intense but more drawn out than in Britain. The streets are lit and decorated, and it is done tastefully, but not to the extent that they are in London, Berlin or even Nice. You get a distinct sense that Barcelona would like to keep the season simple and dignified, but is being pushed into adopting the whole none yards Christmas celebrations with extra Jingle Bells on.</span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Santa Claus’s are few and far between and there is a distinct absence of drunk girls roaming the streets wearing cute little reindeer antlers. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Christmas Day, December 25, is a bit of a non-event, and what local traditions there are tend towards the scatological and are perhaps best glossed over.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ur76P8lO3nx3VlAQY15idPEirMPnL_a4lqizu8CgnvMUlW8GhAfKIyWNRywcSDaXXbUxJlTOzyGwE9Ft-CJgVUQKMF82pJ5yhWwxQyB7ovSlh1MokySgNWERpfvN7HzaGEhmOQS0T1s/s1600/P1000084.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ur76P8lO3nx3VlAQY15idPEirMPnL_a4lqizu8CgnvMUlW8GhAfKIyWNRywcSDaXXbUxJlTOzyGwE9Ft-CJgVUQKMF82pJ5yhWwxQyB7ovSlh1MokySgNWERpfvN7HzaGEhmOQS0T1s/s640/P1000084.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Big Day her is January 6, “Twelfth Night” or Epiphany, which celebrates the visit of the Magi – the Three Kings - to Bethlehem and the revelation of the newly born Jesus as the Messiah, either that <span> </span>or a convenient way for the Christian Church to eclipse Jewish Hanukkah celebrations. The theologians amongst you can argue that one in your own time. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The celebration of the three kings begins on the 5th, with their arrival at Port Vell, from where they proceed by car to Parc de la Ciutadella for the parade.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0cfAzD6BlmMDyMs96-RSgg6EX3Q4Ozp_2SwjVWgIYLgtenFTfCzLPTwwbAIXjcSrdMdlqDeZehT7_-riUhc_sKMRouDRe5uaBKOiVQxb05hmBxaLmvjMECrSBL_Epxr-ODHiy7H9tE-M/s1600/P1000088.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0cfAzD6BlmMDyMs96-RSgg6EX3Q4Ozp_2SwjVWgIYLgtenFTfCzLPTwwbAIXjcSrdMdlqDeZehT7_-riUhc_sKMRouDRe5uaBKOiVQxb05hmBxaLmvjMECrSBL_Epxr-ODHiy7H9tE-M/s320/P1000088.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">The parade is a spectacular event that progresses through the city for about three hours, with dozens of floats reflecting Barcelona’s distinctive brand of the surreal, and the all too real. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The brigade of mounted police and musicians had a small fleet of street sweeping vehicles following the horses. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6NO6A8oAldo_VAPPfU4qDvR8DGfO0D-JYEiziMlpY_F1Bz6yiEDlMp-gT5-K6F17ds_ZW1qHabxSFjRHSzYx7hEGb8s8pINtEVgDM4wC68gGQXKeAAgoVYoh8QO3N-LDIHZ0ySSmrI78/s1600/P1000105.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6NO6A8oAldo_VAPPfU4qDvR8DGfO0D-JYEiziMlpY_F1Bz6yiEDlMp-gT5-K6F17ds_ZW1qHabxSFjRHSzYx7hEGb8s8pINtEVgDM4wC68gGQXKeAAgoVYoh8QO3N-LDIHZ0ySSmrI78/s320/P1000105.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-N1sOQJtPmfWPFN8aLC8m0NggV9KRYKG8qbxoKGcAV2oaKSY_CbUGqX0JyDn-kmSO_KTsbY7EmfESD3r941haz0qtFoPzfBpLRVJRs5lf_9KNBsLdlvv2aFiawTLQxFAMAYGvfXpmS1Y/s1600/P1000095.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: small;">A popular feature of the parade are the millions of sweets that are thrown into the crowds, often with the aid of large medieval style catapult devices, sending the kids and a few adults scrambling. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">They are damned hard those sweets and I was glad I was wearing a hat. In the UK “elf and safety” would have put an end to this practice long ago. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Some things do not change through, no sooner had the last hard boiled sweet bounced of somebody's head in Placa Catalunya than the shops had were preparing for the sales, which are only allowed to start after </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">Epiphany. </span><span id="taw" style="margin-right: 0;"><span class="ac"><b></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-84437592219864046172012-01-04T20:05:00.001+01:002012-01-04T20:08:58.366+01:00THE SAND-GRADA FAMÍLIA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #20124d; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SZTm9dOtmTQ/TwSiHPwCyTI/AAAAAAAAAIw/qWvOxLt_TW0/s1600/P1000050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SZTm9dOtmTQ/TwSiHPwCyTI/AAAAAAAAAIw/qWvOxLt_TW0/s1600/P1000050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SZTm9dOtmTQ/TwSiHPwCyTI/AAAAAAAAAIw/qWvOxLt_TW0/s640/P1000050.JPG" style="color: red;" width="640" /><span style="color: #660000; font-size: small;"><b> Beach life</b> in Barcelona does not stop in the winter!</span></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Barcelona, Spain41.379158755699514 2.19292132451175841.303549755699514 2.1060983245117582 41.454767755699514 2.2797443245117579tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2472195642171863930.post-62767983760080731972011-11-13T14:05:00.003+01:002011-11-13T20:30:11.495+01:00MANCHESTER & LONDON, BARCELONA.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3nEWofScs38z6X5Zv76iwYqgAJmxbJ_Kefsk0CiDRt8wDgxx6qBX_ck06O4IUNlEvgTJ7gH0rzUhFfabvkgqLb8pzpYiNuGypbrLaNpLB65aItd-h7BpwrDyfHmL3qb4GnVZaOsVjDLw/s1600/IMG_0250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3nEWofScs38z6X5Zv76iwYqgAJmxbJ_Kefsk0CiDRt8wDgxx6qBX_ck06O4IUNlEvgTJ7gH0rzUhFfabvkgqLb8pzpYiNuGypbrLaNpLB65aItd-h7BpwrDyfHmL3qb4GnVZaOsVjDLw/s640/IMG_0250.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>With the Stone Roses reforming to bring loved up harmony back to the baggy trousered masses</b>, it seemed appropriate to pay a visit <a href="http://www.manchesterbar.com/" target="_blank">The Manchester Bar </a>in Plaza Milans, in the Barrio Gotico district. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Tardis-like venue, much larger inside than the outside suggests, is themed around bands and music from the Mad-chester era. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq0UtWpoH8Kf7BIJsJx-Oe5POhbVToKJ_aMfr72UVwE0lLCnvx3I39mpJhXGstZq6TR5evkR8KkDaI68PAwlBcFVQ7hZivkheLOEqak3UC_Dt7kdf4oxDE9eLV3Yc4ztxPn-PR6QlqrF0/s1600/Mani.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq0UtWpoH8Kf7BIJsJx-Oe5POhbVToKJ_aMfr72UVwE0lLCnvx3I39mpJhXGstZq6TR5evkR8KkDaI68PAwlBcFVQ7hZivkheLOEqak3UC_Dt7kdf4oxDE9eLV3Yc4ztxPn-PR6QlqrF0/s200/Mani.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dominating the bar is a picture of Ian Curtis and the sound system plays back to back baggy anthems, all night, every night. It is a bit of a celebrity hang out to, with Mani known to drop by and do a shift behind the bar between tours with Primal Scream, The Stone Roses and Freebass. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> </span></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc48_aXuldD5Gxwm2ifASeCLfOqmGvjyOGjs1CwcfCJ19cPE-L43scEzyL9C58aWexEJZFBH2Fow9oGDUP9Gdf1E2DiRIcfL_XwDxcYeDm0KkfTbnkFisJJ7PMoGhXbnhV2W8qOOHa08g/s1600/Snapshot+2+%252822-10-2011+15-35%2529.bmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc48_aXuldD5Gxwm2ifASeCLfOqmGvjyOGjs1CwcfCJ19cPE-L43scEzyL9C58aWexEJZFBH2Fow9oGDUP9Gdf1E2DiRIcfL_XwDxcYeDm0KkfTbnkFisJJ7PMoGhXbnhV2W8qOOHa08g/s320/Snapshot+2+%252822-10-2011+15-35%2529.bmp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">James says The Mnachester it is a great place to meet ladies</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mani was not in town the night we visited, but James Elliot of cult Belfast alternative popsters, <a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/emilyryder" target="_blank">Emily Ryder</a>, was to be found practising his best enigmatic poses by the door. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">So why a Manchester bar in Barcelona. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Who Knows? And who cares? As Ian Brown (is alleged to have) once said: “It’s not where you are from; it’s where you’re at.”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Things are a bit more easy-going in the London Bar</b> on Carrer Nou de la Rambla, in Raval. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-E_rABFkJIg3CaovfEeRQZAhOIQ8plEmJvb_656Vx7eCE1fInKNJ_bN2NnjWMTNNOTJ80LQdcloUtGHC3DXQ1jGlqil6VojrphfsCvqmm1Y4YNI5sE1fSq_-zv5krgZRCp9MRHV1DyNY/s1600/IMG_0344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-E_rABFkJIg3CaovfEeRQZAhOIQ8plEmJvb_656Vx7eCE1fInKNJ_bN2NnjWMTNNOTJ80LQdcloUtGHC3DXQ1jGlqil6VojrphfsCvqmm1Y4YNI5sE1fSq_-zv5krgZRCp9MRHV1DyNY/s640/IMG_0344.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Originally a haunt for circus performers who would gather there after hours, the bar still stays open until 5am, this historic watering hole became famous as a hangout for artists and writers including Miro, Dali and Ernest Hemingway. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDsOjrRude_k2fTbJZF5mseiu7ekycMO8GyFPzvD3A5c4FFoAcBp5CmlL6XfnG-0XNmTxqmPHlw97J40ETaYY0HyOj7Bd4OjAF-ekVIC5cyQVeyGDY_rUOHpdkTHMBLrpUxMneemeAFKM/s1600/IMG_0347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">It is a charmingly unpretentious bar; in part rough and ready, in part historical treasure chest with circus and other memorabilia scattered to be found around the place. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Popular with the more relaxed type of ex-pat it is one of the few places where locals and visitors seem to mingle comfortably together. There is a great blues duo on Friday nights.</span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDsOjrRude_k2fTbJZF5mseiu7ekycMO8GyFPzvD3A5c4FFoAcBp5CmlL6XfnG-0XNmTxqmPHlw97J40ETaYY0HyOj7Bd4OjAF-ekVIC5cyQVeyGDY_rUOHpdkTHMBLrpUxMneemeAFKM/s1600/IMG_0347.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDsOjrRude_k2fTbJZF5mseiu7ekycMO8GyFPzvD3A5c4FFoAcBp5CmlL6XfnG-0XNmTxqmPHlw97J40ETaYY0HyOj7Bd4OjAF-ekVIC5cyQVeyGDY_rUOHpdkTHMBLrpUxMneemeAFKM/s640/IMG_0347.JPG" width="524" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Plaza Milans 5, Barri Gotic / Barrio Gotico, Barcelona41.387917 2.169918700000039341.3137835 2.0830957000000394 41.462050500000004 2.2567417000000392