Jogging in La Rambla, Barcelona

Jogging in Las Ramblas de Barcelona is so difficult that instead of that we should call it dribbling or slalom. On the other hand, stubborn athletes you can find all year long in any part of the world. I don't know, you are in the middle of a safari in Africa and suddenly you see a jogger waving at you right behind the lions. An old man is being mugged in a dark suburban street and a person in a hooded sweater passes by swiftly as a ghost in a Japanese horror movie, probably so isolated in their thoughts following a podcast on the benefits of sports that they inadvertently end up in the most transited and smoggy street of the city. In this case, there was some kind of cosmic impasse and for some milliseconds there was no one near the jogger, probably due to the use of a special force field or protective shield invisible to the human eye. Come to think of it, she was just a lucky tourist on the wrong street.

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Coming and Going, Carrer Petritxol, Barri Gotic, Barcelona

Resuming Barcelona as a topic, here I leave you with a view of carrer Petritxol at Barri Gotic. Some people come and some other go for time immemorial. Streets remain but they will also disappear some day and Barcelona will not be the same. History is caged in this part of town and without it we will be dehydrated, decaffeinated or whatever "de" something you may think of. So let's protect our history and restore the Gothic quarter! By the way, remember churros at carrer Petritxol!

I encourage you to check the magnificent work of Jay Wesler.

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Crossroads Signs, The Nature of Symbols

Crossroads signs are one of those hallmarks of civilization, they are part of a universal symbolic language. We take them for granted but basically wouldn't live without them unless we carry a gps of course. To talk about signs we should first understand their nature, that is, what they are and how they signify. Greek philosophers defined significance as a relationship between two things, signs and the things they signify. One of the terms in the relationship causes another to come to mind. There are things which are not signs, things which are signs of other things and finally there are things that are always signs. Some act as signs whether we want it or not, like natural signs. Some others have to acquire the signification as is the case of signboards. Almost everyone would identify this post as a crossroad sign, almost every mentally healthy individual would understand which direction to follow. Many would notice that there is a color code combined with the size of the letters. Latin derived language speakers would interpret many of the words. And you can even imply that these are pedestrian only roads and that there is a subway station nearby. Did you see how easily do we communicate each other? Here is another idea to think about, one of the synonyms of crossroads is...crisis! But that is part of a different story.

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Las Ramblas: The Most Frequented Street in Barcelona

Las Ramblas, a small scale Catalan version of the Champs Elysées, is perhaps Barcelona's most frequented street and not precisely by the locals. Hordes of tourists wander up and down around the clock under the plataneros (hybrid plane trees) of the famous walk. This is how it looked on a Saturday morning last month. Recently, authorities met the local guild of stall owners to listen to their complaints and they have started cleaning Las Ramblas from pickpockets, trileros (a sort of shell game swindlers) and other petty criminals. In return the stalls will be replaced more than a meter backwards so they are not another obstacle in the way. Workers alleged that the living statues are also responsible for jamming the area as each of them gathers their own circle of admirers. Besides, there is the ever growing number of visitors. Did you know that according to a recent report by Saffron Brand Consultants, Barcelona is the third most attractive city for tourism, business and foreign investment after Paris and London from a list of 72 European cities. The data was obtained after interviewing 2000 people and considering different factors such as location, culture, history, food, business potential and residents attitude towards visitors.

Now for you to rejoice here are some breathtaking shots: The Earth From Above via The Boston Globe

And why not, some tip for the road: How To Set Twitterspy in GTalk via Techlifeweb

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Via Laietana in Barcelona, Spain

Via Laietana, is normally a very busy street in Barcelona but not much if you go early on weekends. "Via Laietana was first projected in 1879 and started in 1907, with the aim of communicating Eixample with the waterfront, amid much controversy. The demolition of a large number of houses and the removal of the streets in the area was required to do so. As some of the traditional guilds of the city, some dating back to the Middle Ages, were located there, they had to be relocated in different parts of Barri Gòtic, notably Plaça de Sant Felip Neri. The first section to be built was named Carrer de Bilbao, which nowadays is a separate, shorter street that stems from the larger Via Laietana. The avenue was finished in 1926. Francesc Cambó, a prominent politician of the time, built his personal residence in the avenue. During the years of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) it was renamed Via Durruti." (via wikipedia). But get the whole story here and afterwards check the video of how it was built via w3.bcn.es

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Reial Circle Artistic in Pignatelli Palace, Carrer dels Arcs 5, Portal del Angel, Barcelona

Walking down Portal del Angel street you get to the intersection with Carrer dels Arcs. There is a small building over there called Palacio Pignatelli which holds the Reial Circle Artistic (Royal Artistic Circle). This entity was founded in 1881 although its royal category was granted by Alfonso XIII in 1926. The aim of this non-profit organization is to gather all those persons interested in Fine Arts and support them in their creative experience. The place has held many important exhibitions in Barcelona. But I only wanted to show you a detail of the beautiful figure on its facade.

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Carrer del Bisbe, Barri Gotic, Barcelona

A snapshot of Carrer del Bisbe in Barri Gotic, Barcelona.

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