Mediterranean Tomatoes

There is nothing better than a good ripe tomato recently harvested. That is a fact. Probably one of the best products to illustrate the difference between your own orchard and big markets is a tomato. I don't know what happens along the way but the one we buy at the corner shop or at the supermarket is definitely different from the ones you grow yourself or buy on location directly to the farmer. This is what happens with this ripe tomato I captured at Monistrol market. It was a product from a small personal crop. Fresh healthy tomatoes with all the good properties mother nature gave them are an essential part of world known Mediterranean diet. You just need some olive oil, some green salad, some fish or meat, some red wine accompanied by some exercise to live longer among other things like luck!

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Evil Mask, Monistrol de Montserrat

You know the devil disguises or manifests in oh, so many ways. One day he may be McCain himself, some other day the hideous child of our neighbors, maybe a cat, a pumpkin or simply an evil mask with firecrackers inside, as is the case of this one at Monistrol de Montserrat. It was on one of the stalls of the market organized during the Fira de la Coca i el Mató 2008 (a local food fair). Remember this fair at Monistrol has been featured here in the past, as for example in: Say Cheese. Follow label Monistrol below for more.

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Mexican Hats in Barcelona

We accept not without remorse and anguish the presence of assorted souvenirs that are made to content visitors who are curious about Spain, its culture and its many regions. We accept with resignation folklore and stereotyped patrons which are not necessarily linked to this part of the country but what we can't definitely understand is what the heck do Mexican hats have to do with us. With all due respect to Mexican culture which is rich, colorful and beautiful, I wonder why we sell tourists tokens that are alien to our traditions and what is worse mislead tourists that think we sleep siestas leaned on a porch hidden under the brim of our enormous hats.

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Strawberry Leftovers

Sorry, I meant to show you the cake but I grew hungry. This is what remained of it: a miserable strawberry.

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The Flower in Red: Spring Wishes

Red hot spring fire emanates from this flower in red, let the good vibrations its beauty provokes thaw your winter lethargy and invigorate your soul.

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Blowing Up The Color Scale: The Seduction of Red Roses in Barcelona

Oversaturating an image is a risky thing in photography but if not abused it can really draw your visitor's attention. I am trying to get deeper in my "theory" that bright, vivid photographs, especially on the thumbnail level are more probable to bring visitors to your blog. Of course not everything is valid here, if after you zoom in you get terribly disappointed. I accept that reds are too strong in these roses I captured at Rambla dels Flors although I tried not to get that sloppy. I guess there is a long way to master the right balance and I try my best since I am just an amateur in this stuff. I am having a lot of fun in the meantime.

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Carnation Fresco, Flower Stall, Las Ramblas, Barcelona

Of course this is no fresco, these are real carnations, as shot in a flower stall at Las Ramblas, Barcelona. I added a very subtle pastel effect and it is meant to draw your attention from the distance. It is a very common image, so I took the liberty of playing with it. Although it is almost imperceptible. Here are three pictures that appeared in Barcelona Photoblog in the past, taken in the same place: Flower Bouquets, Flower Stock Photography (notice the same carnations below) and Flower Bouquet at La Rambla dels Flors

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Big Ripe Tomato Under The Afternoon Sun

A big juicy ripe tomato in a friend's orchard. This is obviously the kind we don't eat. Sometimes I think they only exist in dreams. We, city people, get all the crap. Vegetables frozen before time, with marks of bad manipulation, no juice, pesticides, and so on. There's nothing like a bite on a ripe tomato of your own harvest.

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Red Peppers On Strings

Red pepper, Capsicum, chili pepper or paprika. What's in a name? If you visit Spain you are bound to see this image often. Not much in Barcelona city but in neighbouring towns. They are left there hanging under the sun to dry up. They are wonderful for cooking and for decoration in what is known as pepper ristras or pepper hangings. Since I am on a diet I can't stop talking about food.

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Pomegranate (Punica Granatum) - Detailed Image

This detailed image of a Pomegranate or Punica granatum is yet another weird still part of my collection of totally irrelevant shots in this Barcelona blog supposed to deal with Barcelona pictures. I consider that the title of my page should be regarded as two isolated words. Barcelona and/or Photoblog or even a third split, photo blog. After you muse for a millisecond on my nonsensical jumble of words and before leaving you alone with the photograph and the comprehensive wikipedia link, notice the etymology of the word: "pomegranate" derives from Latin pomum ("apple") and granatus ("seeded"). Now go ahead, pluck it.

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Red Pepper Drying Up In The Sun

Red hot chili peppers could easily be the title of this post but I prefer to concentrate on the color and not the famous band. I don't think this is a chili pepper either but it certainly looks hot. The afternoon sun and the texture of the cement floor emphasize the shape and highlight the vivid color of the pepper which was drying up fast although not where it was supposed to be, hanging from a string on the wall nearby.

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The Rusty Anchor of the Naumon in Port Vell, Barcelona

To start let's say that this is just an anchor, a rusty anchor against a very bright background. But it happens that the anchor belongs to a ship and the ship is called Naumon. Naumon belongs to Fura dels Baus, an important theater company in Barcelona that among other things organized the opening ceremony for the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. It is complex to talk about La Fura in just a few lines. No matter what they do it is avant garde, polemic or at least innovative.

La Fura del Baus Naumachia: Part 1, La Fura del Baus Naumachia: Part 2, La Fura del Baus Naumachia: Part 3, La Fura del Baus Naumachia: Part 4, La Fura del Baus Naumachia: Part 5.

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Red Flowers in Memoriam

How much I admire a person with a gift. Not the mundane kind of gift like when you have a talent to make money or to memorize the yellow pages, but the sort of gift that transforms an individual into a unique person, a historical character, a reference for generations to come. Most people have to die first so others become aware of their imprint on history but a few are lucky enough to leave this world with the satisfaction of not being just a number but an idea, a spirit, a name, flowing in the stream of the collective mind till the end of times. I did not have any particular reason to post these red flowers today but one item of news called my attention this morning: Luciano Pavarotti dies at 71. One single headline lost in a sea of tragic stories but ladies and gentlemen we should rise and give his eternal soul a stand-up ovation and throw a thousand red flowers in memoriam.
Una Furtiva Lagrima - Luciano Pavarotti

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