With a days hard work I was tired by afternoon, when I had to start my journey from Bristol(UK). As I always do, just once the flight was in the air, I just dozed off. Having reserved the A1 seat, I had the privilege to spread my legs and sit (rather sleep) like a V.I.P. on the plane with the cute spanish air hostess sitting right in front of me and passing flirty smiles. Well when I did open my eyes (as well as the window, which I had shut due to the harsh mediterranean sun), I could see something interesting outside. Never really thought I will witness something like this. It was beautiful.
and then some more..
..there was this huge (though it looks toyish small here, but considering the altitude the plane is at this point, it must be a huge) cloud, casting a shadow on large area of land, kinda like from the movie independence day. Before I could drool over such view for long, we were close to our destination airport, Reus. Landed in a deserted airport and experience was one of a kind (which might just make it to another blog post). Somehow I had a long wait and took a bus > a train > a train > metro and finally a short walk to reach my booked accommodation for a 'good night's sleep.
"So I made it to Barcelona, safe and sound and had a good sleep (and a shower before that). Very next morning at the breakfast table, with some help from Janet and Valencia (two german girls I met at the hostel, who were my first friends there and kinda friendly and matured out of the lot), I was all set to explore the city. Rushed back to room grabbed some euros (bit more than needed for lunch, again as instructed by Janet), my shades and of course my Nikon. So what are we waiting for, lets explore Barcelona.."
A man on the street playing that red contraption (by rotating that handle) and a beautiful tune comes out.
Evan trying stunts on his skate board near Plaza De Espana. Special thanks to him for posing for this pic and to Venesa for teaching me Spanish:)
Once you enter through the two pillars (seen in the previous picture), this will be the view
A cafe and a naked street bike..Aww
Getting a bit nostalgic with childhood fantasies on bikes here..:)
A man very carefully picking up his remote controlled yatch(?!) from the water to place it on a stand.
This one i shot at a flower shop, while looking for my way to Barcelona university.
Coud not ignore this. Could you? Orange has been one of my favourite colours and in this case it's just popping out of the Kawasaki Z1000.
No matter how many super sport bikes are there in Barcelona, still the best way around is by foot or bicycles or both.
I was a bit lost at this point due to so many roads, but such beautiful lanes kept me going and lead me to my destination.
The architecture of this building and lane was different to it's surrounding. I got a feel of the lanes shown in 'Arabian Nights' (the animated series feat. Aladin and Jasmine).
One more lane between the buildings. You can see the balcony is used for drying clothes and the blue coloured sheet is presumably to cover from the sunlight. During my stay temperature was 23 degrees C, which was just perfect, more so because I was travelling from UK.
In busy streets of Barcelona, you never know whom you meet. Keep your eyes and heart open.. :)
Part painting, part poster (I guess)...what ever the case I liked this art on the wall.
One more lane. The palm trees and plants on the balcony are giving this lane a Mediterranean feel.
'A Heart', a pleasant surprise, after you think now you seen it all.
One of the many artist on the street near La Rambla.
Big fat kitty. Later I saw the statue of a horse in Barcelona airport with similar design(fat, in terms of body and legs proportion). It must be a type of designs which I am not aware of, yet.
A beautiful central area among buildings.
Spanish dad with son and daughter cycling through the city.
Relatively low profile street compared to what I saw so far, nevertheless was presenting this beautiful frame, leading the eyes to the farthest most point I could see.
A beautiful mediterranean street with a BMW F650 GS craving to be framed. For a moment felt like putting my leg across and oozing through the curvy city streets. Nah didn't do that! European 'right hand side' driving doesn't come naturally to me, nor it's legal to roam around in someone's bike:P
Few walks from the BMW and I turned back to see this old man. Then before I could release the shutter this lady got in the frame. I kinda like the subject contrast she brought along and decided to keep her in the frame.
Need I say she was drawing equal (if not more) attention as Pope standing on the famous balcony in Vatican (no offence to anyone what so ever!). Not sure if she wanted to be photographed or not, but she was quite aware that she has become the subject of the whole street (cops standing near by included) and she was enjoying that.
This street is called 'La Rambla' means 'The Rambla'. Where 'rambla' in spanish means a broad street in the center for walking with vehicles passing by on both sides. So there are many 'ramblas' in Barcelona but this one is known as the main one. It's one of the busiest (for obvious reasons) and famous streets in the city of Barcelona and I had to wait for a while to capture this art work.
Europe has an incredible affinity for scooters.
Just one of the zillion (bit of exaggeration here) things happening on 'La Rambla'.
'NEVER HIDE'. This ad caught my eye. I shot it the same way I could see, as if the whole surrounding was just part of it.
Aww my long time favourite Buell:):) I found it pretty compact, may be as I was seeing bigger machines like the Kawasaki Z1000, Ducati Diavel, BMW GS series etc since I arrived in europe
This photograph gives a great feel of the Sun and the lovely weather a 'UK resident' would kill for. I don't prefer getting tanned (being from India, already blessed with a golden skin tone) but for others, it's heaven!
SEXY!...By the way this babe was an Aprila SMV 750 Dorsoduro (I guess)
Arc De Triumph (yep one is in France and I heard one more is in Italy)
The Reflection
This waterbody is inside a part in souther part of city for boating.
The Famous - Sagrada Familia Basilica. It's been 50 years and still under construction. The original architect was 'Antoni Gaudi'. Barcelona is also called 'Gaudi's City'
Another view of Sagrada Familia.
After walking for 8 hours or so, headed to 'Parc de Guell'. Which is northern part of the city and you won't believe if I say there are nearly 5-6 escalaters between streets (few you can see in this picture) for people to reach the park, as it's on a high ground. Did I tell I had already walked for 8 hours before reaching here. But the view and excitement to see the place kept me(as well as each individual who comes here) going.
From 'Parc de Guell' I had an amazing view of the city. The paint work on the house nearby caught my eye.
Sagrada Familia is visible from here.
Italian artist Valentino Menghi holding a cartoon sketch of me :D
The famous (anything done by architect or I prefer to call him artist Gaudi is famous now!) lizard one can see in 'Parc de Guell'.
A souvenir shop near the park.
one more..
Finally back in the city quite late and my favourite things are catching my attention again. By the way this is one of my current favourites which I wish to buy. Recently BMW released this in India but pricing is neither justified nor in my budget. I guess I have to wait on this one.
A Harley shining at midnight
Cycles for rental..
BMW F800R
A statue in Sagrada Familia
Beautiful Interior inside Sagrada Familia
Magnificent
Nicey, our host in Barcelona, had taken us to this restaurant to try Tapas. Drinks are the main delicacy and Tapas was invented to complement it.
Walking near the beach
Had a great time in Barcelona, spent an hour or two at the beach chatting with the group. Now walking back to the hostel, had to get the luggage and leave for the airport.
Hope you enjoyed travelling around in Barcelona with me. Barcelona in my opinion has much more to offer. Photographs here represents the experiences I had during my one and half days of stay, which was really short to enjoy everything a city like Barcelona had to offer. Well, as I always feel we return from places just to go back again.
With loadza luv,
Sid
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