Five hundred!

Beautiful child

Yep. Five hundred. Blogposts. Almost unbelievable, but very true! This calls for a little celebration, and so I thought we’d have a little street art fest today. To celebrate this 500th post and the fact that Barcelona’s street art is so very much alive with excellent artists, both local and visiting.

El Pez and his friends

These shots are from the park at Les Tres Xemeneies, at the bottom end of Avinguda del Paral.lel, where skaters and bikers hang out, do their tricks and where a few walls are actually permitted to be covered in tags, smiley fish and other works of spray art.

A pile of chestnuts

The walls were recently re-done, and so I am delighted to share these new works with you.

Angela davis

Anybody know who this is?

Black Panthers

There are 3 blocks of concrete which are covered on all sides, and artists like KRAM, El Pez and others (if you know who they are please let me know) have added their colourful touches to them, each in their own distinctive styles…

Sweet Dreams

… some romantic…

Chick on the side

Bunny with many faces

… or cute…

Having a whale of a time

… others hilarious or a little scary. But all, gorgeous, don’t you agree? In any case, I hope you like them!

Freddy?

Dear (blog) friends, I’m going to take a break from blogging for a bit. Not because I’m fed up with it, but to enjoy a little holiday and to take the time to regroup and focus on a new project, which I would also like to see reflected in the blog. But don’t worry, I’ll be back! With more beautiful and exciting stuff from around Barcelona. Have a wonderful Summer, and see you again soon!

Summery pleasures

Platja de Barceloneta

After a weekend of solstice celebrations all over the world, including the noisy and fiery Nit de Sant Joan here, in Barcelona (as well as other parts of Spain), Summer is officially here. And although the weather is uncharacteristically cool at the moment, I thought I’d share with you a few of my simple, Summery pleasures. Spending lazy hours on any of Barcelona’s many beaches is a given, as is eating copious amounts of ice cream (preferably of the artisanal variety) in order to keep cool…

Carrer Joaquin Costa

But there are other things I enjoy, such as drinking iced coffee – a good expresso with a couple of ice cubes is all it takes – or splashing some water on my face or refilling my water bottle at one of  many drinking fountains, dotted around Barcelona. Especially, if it is a smiley one such as this one, below!

Ronda Universitat

Delighting in the blue skies above always makes me feel happy, so I look up often. And if palm trees are a part of what I see, then my happiness doubles.

Carrer Elisabets

Summer is a happy season for me, and as I am feeling so upbeat, I’ll let you in on a little secret: the delicious drink that is horchata. Served ice cold, horchata is a typical Summer drink which is sweet and cooling and nutty at the same time. It is available in bottled form in supermarkets, but the best is found at this horchata parlour on Carrer Parlament, as well as a few other ones around town, who make their own. What are your Summery pleasures?

Carrer Parlament

B/W portraits

Cyclists – Carrer Petritxol

Another week has flown by and the weekend is on our doorstep. Before I go off to rest and relax, I wanted to share these 4 B/W portraits with you. I hope you like them. The cyclists, found on a doorway in Carrer Petritxol, is a homage to the famous painting by Ramon Casas that hangs in the 4 Gats restaurant. If you’ve been, you’ll recognise it.

Girl – Carrer Mirallers

The other three are all found on the same little street, Carrer Mirallers, tucked away in the Born. A pretty girl with a piercing look…

Embrace – Carrer Mirallers

A smoking embrace on one of the shop blinds, and that genius of surrealism, Dalí himself, with his pointy whiskers, by street artist Balu (who also did the pretty girl – anyone know who she is? – above).

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Dalí – Carrer Mirallers

El Recibidor

While in Sant Antoni the other day to shoot photos for last Tuesday’s blogpost, I decided it was high time to take you to El Recibidor. You see, it has been here for a while now (in fact, one year) and is a fabulous shop to go get your vintage fix.

In a long space that is full of gorgeous pieces from the 50s 60s and 70s, sourced mainly from the UK and Germany, you are bound to find something you “need”. And at a very reasonable price too!

But it’s not only furniture you’ll find at El Recibidor, but fun paraphernalia also…

… as well as a fabulous selection of lamps, vases, record holders, perfume bottles and not to miss: superb posters from those wonderful years where quality and style were just that bit more interesting.

Be sure to pop in (El Recibidor is found on Carrer Viladomat 9) and have a wander among the many treasures you’ll find in this fab shop. And if you are in town on Saturday, make sure to go, for they will be celebrating their 1st anniversary with drinks and a contest. The best dressed (in 50s or 60s style) gets to win a selection of vintage goodies. Are you going to miss it?

El Recibidor opens from: Mon – Fri: 4pm – 8.30pm and Sat: 11am – 2pm + 4pm – 8.30pm

*** El Recibidor now also has an online shop! So pull out your credit card and buy those lovely items from the comfort of your (vintage) sofa: www.elrecibidor.com

The colour of Summer

Carrer Banys Vells

There is no colour that evokes Summer to me quite like the colour aqua does. And after yesterday’s post, in which so many details appeared in this lovely color, I was in the mood for more example of the colour of Summer.

Carrer Sant Francesc de Paula

Aqua is a crisp colour that appears to exude coolness, or like this glass, reminds of crystal clear waters in shallow parts of the sea lapping onto a sandy beach.

Carrer Badajoz

Carrer Àngels

It is also the colour that sets off a suntan like no other colour does, especially for those (like me) who have eyes in green or blue tones.

Carrer Rera Palau

Carrer Santa Anna

Here’s an aqua reminder to myself that I need to get into shape, and (below) a reflection of my love for ice cream – that most summery of pleasures.

Passatge de Sant Bernat

Just two more days, and Summer will be officially here! Enjoy it to the max, everyone!

Carrer Jovellanos

Café Cometa

Cometa – Carrer Parlament 20

On a sunny corner in the Sant Antoni neighborhood, Café Cometa has been going strong for over 6 months now, so it was high time I showed you this lovely place.

The great outdoors

Table for two

Cometa is a bright space with clean lines, sturdy, simple furniture and lots of plants, as well as touches of colour, among which aqua and red play an important role.

Bench seating

Lovely old armoire

Parking space

But that is just the (rather lovely) decor. What’s important is what comes out from behind their bar, in the way of yummie pastries, delicious and freshly made juices, the good coffee and their tasty lunch menus…

Bar belles

Cometa is obviously a place you must visit when around the Sant Antoni area. Whether you take place at the bar on one of the sensational stools, or have a seat at one of the window tables, or cozy up on the bench beneath the many artful prints, you’re going to enjoy the time you spend here. But hey, don’t take my word for it, check out the rest of the images and find out for yourself the next time you’re in the neighborhood!

RICE for breakfast

Antony Perkins – Carrer del Carne

Happy Monday! How about a hearty breakfast to kick-start the week? In Hong Kong (where I lived for 4 years) this would mean a bowl of congee, the main ingredient of which is rice. So let’s have some RICE for breakfast, shall we? Of the kind you can find on Barcelona’s streets.

Who’s that girl? – Carrer del Carme

RICE has been active and I found a few new stencils just the other day, all in El Raval. He or she (doesn’t anybody know anything about this artist?) appears to enjoy making stencil portraits of famous people. Such as these three… Have a wonderful week, everyone!

David Bowie – Plaça dels Àngels

Barcelona goes pink

Pretty parasol – Carrer del Pi

Lately I have been seeing pink everywhere. In magazines, shops, the clothes that people wear, and it was even the colour of a pretty girl’s hair! Barcelona goes pink too, just check out these snapshots from around town…

Hot socks – Carrer Grunyí

Delicate sgraffito – Carrer Minerva

Pink chick – Carrer Ciutat de Granada

Is it me, or is pink in fashion? In any event, and whether you like pink or not, have a wonderful weekend! If you are in Barcelona, enjoy Sónar!

Sunrise – Carrer Nou de la Rambla

Teranyina – where warp and weft meet

Black and white beauties

Ever wondered where warp and weft meet in Barcelona? I have the answer for you: it is at Teranyina, on Carrer Notariat 10.

Looms-in-waiting

Shop area

In a wonderful space that combines workshop and sale areas, Teranyina have been teaching and selling all about textile weave and felting for 25 years, and I hope they will continue to do so for much longer.

Warp wonders

Weaving is not all that is done at Teranyina though, for felting and a technique called nuno are also taught and put into practice here.

Secured

Workshop in progress

Classes are taught upstairs by the lovely Teresa Rosa Aguayo, while downstairs production is underway. Scarves, tapestries, felt items… you name it, at Teranyina they are able to make it from weft and warp and some woollen, cotton, silk or linen threads, with patience and many trips of the shuttles from one side of the loom to the other.

Woven portraits

The resulting marvels are available for sale, and some are exhibited on the walls of the shop area in pretty frames. How delightful are these woven portraits?!

Works of art

Drawers full of weaves

Naturally, inspirational material is also made available, both to shop customers and workshop pupils. Teranyina is a wonderful living homage to age old techniques and craft traditions, and Barcelona is all the richer for it.

Inspirational materials

You can find Teranyina on Carrer Notariat 10. Opening hours are: 11am – 3pm + 5pm – 8pm.

A new street art form? Wallpapered!

Window 1 – Carrer Joaquin Costa

I believe a new street art form has made an appearance on Barcelona’s streets, for I have discovered a couple of places that have been wallpapered! Take these two neighboring shop windows on Carrer Joaquin Costa, all done up in yellow leopard print and apparently singing a little ditty. Rather fetching, right?

Window 2 – Carrer Joaquin Costa

Phone booths – Carrer de l’Or

And how about these completely wallpapered twin phone booths in Gràcia? Certainly looking much more interesting in yellow and black, and offering more privacy to their users (were it not that the phones are broken). In case someone missed the point of their ‘decorator’, one of the sides of this delightful example of street art clearly indicates that “this space is declared MINE”. Certainly done in a much nicer way than many of the tags around town, don’t you agree?

I declare this space MINE – Carrer de l’Or