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TERMINAL HOLIDAY INDEX OLD NAKED PHOTO ALBUM PAGE: BARRR-CEEE-LO-NAAAA!
In April 2002 I visited the amazing, contradictory city of Barcelona in northeast Spain. Where else could you see porno-rabbits?
• The amazing chimneys on the roof of Casa Mila in Barcelona. The eccentric architect Gaudi was responsible for many strange sights in the city. • April 2002. The twin towers on Barcelona's waterfront are a grim reminder of the events in America a few months earlier. Note the fish building behind them. • The hand/claw/paw of Draco. In the north of Barcelona is Parc Güell, where Draco was so surrounded by people it was hard to get a good picture of all of him. • graffiti everywhere. I saw a fluffy pink toy rabbit sat on a street corner sporting a set of crudely spray-painted male genitals, yet also beautiful street art. • This fine tower with enticing staircase was in the grounds of the hotel I stayed in a few miles outside Barcelona for a conference. • I couldn't resist joining this line-up. With no tripod with me I took this by holding the camera at arms length and looking away to take the picture. • It was a bugger of a climb and walk up to Parc Güell on these broken escalators. I love these peoples expressions! • The signs are good! On the wall outside Parc Güell there are several colourful mosaic tiled signs like these, giving the entrance a sense of occasion. • Christopher Columbus is alleged to have links with Barcelona. Here we see him discovering a streetlamp... • Pigeon of Paradise in the gardens of the hotel I was staying in. I assume it's some sort of local custom, as opposed to a horrific birth defect. • A famous fountain called Draco. The clearest angle of him I could find, which was of a man having his head savaged whilst his daughter looked on in horror. • I've never been to a city of more contrasts than Barcelona, rubbish everywhere, yet beautiful works of street art like this. I've no idea what it means, but I like it. • Again in Parc Güell, I sort shelter from the sun in this odd, slanting tunnel which linked the higher gardens with the lower entrance to the park. • BARCELONA - The movie! (Large .MPG version) 21.5Mb and 2 minutes, 48 seconds of top quality international globe-trotting fun! • BARCELONA - The movie! (Small .WMV version) 2.08Mb version of the above file. Expect lower quality! • BARCELONA - Animated photo-thing. Approx. 500Kb of fun, fun, fun. Many more videos from Barcelona are available on the VIDEORAMASCOPE page. In February 2006 I went back to Barcelona, for ETO magazine. As well as covering the 3GSM World Conference mobile phone event, I had a couple more days to explore this city...
• Joan Miro's Lady with Bird in Parc Joan Miro. [More on the Competitive teddy bears page] • Chimneys next to Paral.lel. Close by is the part-underground funicular line up to Montjuic. • From high up in The Sagrada Familia, I took this picture to show some of its detail, and shadow. • The ceiling of the Hall of 100 Columns (there's 84) in Parc Güell. • Chair Attack! There are many unusual sculptures and statues in the gardens of Montjuic. I liked this one especially. • Curly (International Teddy of Mystery) at the Temple del Sagrat Cor, Tibidado, overlooking the funfair and the city of 'Bearcelona'. [More Barcelona Bear action] February 2007. Duty called again and I returned to Barcelona, for the 3GSM World Congress. Having only two days in the city it was more of a rush than 2006, but I still managed to have some fun. In a £35 hotel room...
• The Pyrenees on the way to Spain. Llivia might be down there, somewhere. • Gatway towers to the FIRA showground in Montjuïc make for an impressive entrance. Nice fountains too. • Somewhere in the Gothic Old City of Barcelona. A world of ancient narrow streets and alleys, hidden squares and... arches. • A view across to the Sagrada Familia from the top of the showground. I like how the tower in the foreground adds a 'wonderland' quality. • Also at the top of the showground is this mighty waterfall, which feeds an equally magnificent fountain below it. • Looking across Park Guell at dusk. This magical place only becomes more magical as the sun slips behind the hills. And then you're asked to leave. • While trying to take a photo of the city at night my camera slipped. I'd usually delete a cockup like this, but I really liked the result. • Having had a little trouble (see above) I eventually got this shot. Barcelona at night looks great. Note their Gherkin on the left. • Also from the top of the pointy hill behind Park Guell, I used my camera long zoom to get this shot of the towers. The Sagrada Familia is seen at the bottom. • Parked on a steep hill leading up to Park Guell, I couldn't help wondering what would happen if his handbrake cable snapped. • "Why call it tourist season if we can't shoot them?" A good question, with no easy answer. Seen close to Park Guell. • At the south-west end of Park Guell is/are the Turo de les Tres Creus - Stations of the Cross. Some say it's the park's highest point. It isn't. • As I explored the almost empty park, the sun framed my shadow. That's not a very good sentence, is it? • The view up to Sagrat Cor on top of Tibidabo, a mountain behind Barcelona, is cracking from Park Guell. • A steep climb, following a steep climb, brought me to the hilltop behind Park Guell, and this wonderful panorama. • There are two houses in Park Guell, built when it was to be an early housing estate/gated community, before the plan was shelved. This is one's chimney. • The area above the columns was to be an open air market - and to some degree it is. You can't move for sunglass salesmen some days. • The roof of one gatehouse at the entrance to the Parc, designed by Guadi, is perhaps my favourite single thing in Barcelona. • In a close second place is the Sagrada Familia which is more building site than cathedral at the moment, and will stay that way for 30+ more years. • Fundació Joan Miró, Centre d'Estudis d'Art Contemporani (Joan Miró Foundation) on Montjuïc. If you want to know what that's all about, look it up! • The 3GSM World Congress site. 'Quite Big'. The telecoms tower in the background was designed by Sir Norman Foster, of 'London Gherkin' fame. • The coolest thing I saw at the show was this rear-projection system, using falling vapour as a screen. You can walk though it, hence the name. • When it wasn't running, I liked the nozzles of this fountain. While I'm on the subject of things I like, I like the word nozzles. Legal notice - This page, inc. graphics and multimedia features are the intellectual property of Paul Smith and are protected by copyright. Last updated 31/03/07.