Thanksgiving Musings From Barcelona, Spain

"The Thanksgiving holiday was established as a national day of giving thanks and praise to God". I am going to take profit of the religious mood created with my two previous posts about Pedralbes Monastery, to show you this holy scene which was part of a small exhibition located in the cellars of the building. The light was dim but the small scale figures, the magnificent set and the illumination were worthy enough to photograph from a very close distance that excluded the framing and created the atmosphere to make it look almost real. Happy Thanksgiving my friends! Here are a bunch of Thanksgiving recipes just in case.

barcelona barcelona+photoblog barcelona+photos barcelona+pictures barcelona+photography barcelona+images nikon+d70s

Stained Glass Window. Pedralbes Monastery. Barcelona, Spain

While in Pedralbes Monastery I noticed this beautiful stained glass window. Everytime I see these religious figures pierced by the incoming light I wonder what effect would the colors and scenes have upon the extremely faithful and fearful medieval souls. Then I can't help thinking on how many people have prayed gazing towards the infinite nothingness asking for divine favors through these stained glass panes. All those years of solitude and whispering slowly come and soothe my soul like a monotonous litany. I am not a religious man and I can't really explain what it is. Maybe is just because my father took me to churches just for the sake of art, literally, or so he said. This art with a purpose, the Gothic purpose of impressing parishioners always works, even for me.

barcelona barcelona+photoblog barcelona+photos barcelona+pictures barcelona+photography barcelona+images nikon+d70s

Pedralbes Gothic Monastery in Barcelona, Spain

Built in the fourteenth century, the Pedralbes single-nave gothic monastery is located right under the mountains that mark the upper limits of Barcelona city. The impressive religious building was founded in 1326 by Queen Elisenda de Montcada the third wife of James II. In the image above you see the cloister garden under the morning sun full of medicinal plants. A must see besides the Pedralbes Monastery Museum (Bajada del Monasterio, 9, Tel.: 93 203 92 82) is the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Collection that includes a valuable religious art exhibition from XV and XVII. You can get to Pedralbes Monastery on the sightseeing buses as this is part of the Romanesque and Gothic Route. Check this one in particular: Bus Turistic The Northern Route

barcelona barcelona+photoblog barcelona+photos barcelona+pictures barcelona+photography barcelona+images nikon+d70s

Yellow Flowers Fantasy

This yellow flowers fantasy could be easily called Psychedelic Garden II since it is very similar to a previous post of mine. I took this picture in the cloister garden of Pedralbes Monastery which I will show you tomorrow and of course the original background was green.

barcelona barcelona+photoblog barcelona+photos barcelona+pictures barcelona+photography barcelona+images nikon+d70s

Sant Pol de Mar, Maresme Coast, Catalonia, Spain

Sant Pol de Mar beach on Maresme Coast near Barcelona last October 28th. As you see we had a very fine weather this fall. I say we had, cause we are freezing these days. I like to post fine weather pictures that give me strength to stand the winter. See more details about Sant Pol

barcelona barcelona+photoblog barcelona+photos barcelona+pictures barcelona+photography barcelona+images nikon+d70s

Eggplants and Potatoes

What in the world? Yes, these are baby eggplants I patiently piled up on top of a box of potatoes. In fact I just liked the brilliant color of the aubergines but I thought potatoes would help highlight the purple reddish plant. From the food point of view, now that I introduce these vegetables, let's say that there are recipes that include both ingredients. With this link to Indian Vegetarian Recipes and especially the Eggplant and Potato Curry (Vagan Bateta nu Shak) I am sure the post really acquires a real meaning no matter how surrealistic I may sound. I'm in the middle of a mystic trance lately, it must be the winter!
Note: More Eggplant and Potato Recipes

barcelona barcelona+photoblog barcelona+photos barcelona+pictures barcelona+photography barcelona+images nikon+d70s

Maremagnum Wooden Bridge: Rush Hours

The wooden bridge at Maremagnum was featured in this photo blog a long time ago (see Waiting for the Bridge at Rambla de Mar for all details about the bridge and the architects who designed it). As you can guess, the place being a neuralgic spot in the city is crammed with people during rush hours, which are basically all day long in the Port Vell area. As my picture is static and perhaps only creates a mood in your mind, why not stimulate your imagination a little more with a virtual tour around Port Vell at night via Arounder (a wonderful site by the way!) *VR not working in Firefox :(
To finish I would like to mention a modest article about bloggers I started to write at Blogskinny and which I intend to enhance with random thoughts about my blogging experiences during the last two years: Trial and Error Path to Top Ranking Positions: A Personal Testimony

barcelona barcelona+photoblog barcelona+photos barcelona+pictures barcelona+photography barcelona+images nikon+d70s