Bill in Barcelona

The Pigeon Girl in Plaça del Diamant, Barcelona

8th September 2015

Pigeon Girl Sculpture, Plaça Diamant, Barcelona, Bill Sinclair

One of the many wonderful things about exploring Barcelona is happening across curious sculptures in unexpected places.

Here is a sculpture by Xavier Medina Campeny, a representation of La Colometa (the Pigeon Girl), or Natalia, the main protagonist of Mercè Rodoreda’s novel, In Diamond Square (previously published as In the Time of the Doves).

This powerful, human-sized sculpture is situated in Plaça del Diamant, Gràcia.

Here’s a detail of the pigeons:

Here’s a photo showing something of the context taken from the terraza outside Café Diamant:

LINKS:

Here’s my write-up at Spotted by Locals: HERE.

Enjoy discovering sculpture in Barcelona.

Civil War

Battlefield Barcelona: Carrer Diputació, July, 1936

2nd September 2015

Assault Guards on Carrer Diputació, Barcelona, by Agusti Centelles

The streets of Barcelona comprise a battlefield which has hosted, and continues to host, skirmishes and more enduring clashes between armed police and local people.

The streets of Barcelona have seen fierce battles over issues such as workers’ rights, the all-pervasive influence of the Church, education, Republicanism, a Stalinist coup, national independence, workers’ self-management, property speculation, squatters’ rights, forced evictions and revolution.

Friday, July 17th, 1936:

Barcelona is awash with rumours — have they or haven’t they?

Tensions are high.

Has a cabal of generals and colonels issued orders to the armed forces to rise against the Republic?

Radio and telephone messages from Morocco suggest so. But government censors suppress newspapers and radio stations from broadcasting what little information there is.

Anarchist spies in barracks across Barcelona report that a military uprising is set to begin during the early hours of Sunday, July 19th.

Local authorities refuse workers’ demands for weapons. Activists in the transport workers union take the initiative and raid two ships in the harbour. They expropriate and distribute 200 rifles.

Saturday, July 18th:

Interminable meetings between representatives of the CNT (Anarcho-Syndicalist union), the police, Assault guards, Guardia Civil and regional government are deadlocked by President Lluís Companys’s refusal to arm workers.

Meanwhile, anarchist militants detain a Guardia Civil courier; he is carrying precise military orders — the uprising is to begin at 5am on Sunday, July 19th.

Barricades go up on Paral·lel, Les Rambles and in Sants, Hostafranc, Poble Nou and Sant Andreu, and in neighbouring Sant Adrìa de Besos.

Sunday, July 19th:

5am: Artillery, cavalry and infantry units are on the move…factory sirens in Poble Nou and Poble Sec sound the alarm…armed priests, together with fascists from among their congregations, take up positions in church towers… Continue Reading…

Graffiti

Che Guevara in Barcelona

1st September 2015

One of the many wonderful things about exploring Barcelona is happening across curious portraits of well-known, and not so well-known, people in unexpected places.

Here’s a graffiti portrait of Che Guevara in Gràcia.

Enjoy discovering graffiti in Barcelona

Restaurants

Several sound reasons to seek out La Singular in Barcelona

27th August 2015

Salad with figs, feta cheese and a mint vinagrette

Salad with figs, feta cheese and a mint vinaigrette

La Singular is one of my very favourite restaurants for lunch.

Here are several sound reasons why:

Price for lunch:

For the menú diari [menú del día], which includes bread and wine, or beer, or water, you’ll pay 10€.

Ajoblanco de prèssec de vinya, pernil i menta — cold garlic and almond soup with peach, ham and mint as served at La Singular

Ajoblanco de prèssec de vinya, pernil i menta — Cold garlic and almond soup made with peaches, with ham and mint as served at La Singular.

Choice:

The fixed-price lunch menu offers a choice of 4 first courses, 3 or 4 second courses and 3 or 4 desserts.
An extensive à la carte menu is available in the evening,

Pollo i espagueti amb salsa i menta — Chicken and spaghetti, sauce and mint as served at La Singular

Quality:

Ingredients, preparation and presentation are all reliably excellent. I have never had a duff plate here.

Taste:

The food offered here is playfully inventive, joyfully combining meat, fish and cheese with fresh seasonal fruits, berries, herbs, dried fruits, nuts and veggies to produce wonderfully balanced, flavoursome dishes. Delicious.

Pastís de carne i moixernons, pure i la seva salsa — Meatloaf with mushrooms, mashed potato and house sauce as served at La Singular.

Service:

Polite and businesslike. Timing very good; attentive without being intrusive. English can be spoken.

It is not possible to reserve a table for lunch.

Ambience:

Thoughtfully lit, tastefully decorated, intimate, cosy space with a very comfortable noise level.

As you walk into the dining-room you’ll pass the small kitchen area and see dishes being prepared.

Pollastre farcit amb prunes, orellanes i taronja amb cous cous de fruites — Chicken stuffed with prunes, apricot and orange with cous cous and diced fruit as served at La Singular.

Value:

Excellent. Probably the best value lunch in the city.

Location:

At the heart of Gràcia, just around the corner from the Ajuntament (Town Hall), a minute stroll from Plaça de la Vila (Town Hall square).

Open on Mondays

LINKS:

Go HERE for my Spotted by Locals write-up with a map and all the info on opening hours. Download the app HERE.

Restaurante La Singular website: HERE

Carrer Francisco Giner, 50

Call: (+34) 93 237 5098

Graffiti

Amelia Earhart in Barcelona

25th August 2015

Amelia Earhart in Poble Sec, Barcelona, August 2015 by Bill Sinclair

One of the many wonderful things about exploring Barcelona is happening across curious portraits of well-known, and not so well-known, people in unexpected places.

Here’s a graffiti portrait of the pioneering aviator (or, should that be aviatrix?), Amelia Earhart in Poble Sec.

Enjoy discovering graffiti in Barcelona

Snacks

Edible Bikinis in Barcelona

20th August 2015

Bikini Sandwiich, Barcelona, Bill Sinclair

Barcelona is a culinary capital offering a wide and wild variety of cuisines and creative dishes. However, grazing on tapas and dining in fine restaurants can be both wearing on the wallet and bruising on the palate.

There sometimes comes a time when you just want something more ordinary, a light bite to fill a hole while out and about.

Well, you could try a Bikini.

Bikini?

Yes, Bikini. When wandering around the city you’ll see the word Bikini scrawled on chalkboards outside snack bars. It’s a very popular snack, probably the most popular snack after the ubiquitous patates braves [patatas bravas in castellano].

A Bikini is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

The name, Bikini, is unique to Barcelona and Catalunya. Try ordering a Bikini outside of Catalunya and you’ll prompt incomprehension, a measure of confusion, and perhaps a little argument; in Spain a Bikini is known as a mixto.

History

The sandwich is said to have been invented and christened in 1953.

If you want to check out the history of the Bikini GO HERE

Test

There are two food tests for any snack bar in Barcelona — the Braves test and the Bikini test.

Graffiti

Amy Winehouse in Barcelona III

18th August 2015

One of the many wonderful things about exploring Barcelona is happening across curious portraits of well-known, and not so well-known, people in unexpected places.

Here’s another portrait of Amy Winehouse which appeared on Carrer Mozart during the Festes de Gràcia in August, 2015.

Enjoy Barcelona

Dictatorship

Franco comes to Barcelona

12th August 2015

Here’s a photo of the dictator, Generalísimo Franco, accompanied by the then mayor of Barcelona, the notorious, Porcioles.

The photo was taken on June 16th, 1970, during Franco’s final visit to the city, five years and five months before his long and drawn out demise.

Franco’s aides ordered medical staff to keep the comatose, El Caudillo ‘alive’ until November 20th — the exact same date as the deaths of both José Antonio Primo de Rivera, son of a previous dictator and founder of the Falange, and Buenaventura Durruti, the very popular anarchist militant. But that’s another story for another day.

Where was the photo taken?

Graffiti

Robin Williams in Barcelona

11th August 2015

One of the many wonderful things about exploring Barcelona is happening across curious portraits of well-known, and not so well-known, people in unexpected places.

Here’s a graffiti portrait of Robin Williams in Gràcia.

It went up on the wall the very next day after his death was announced — a year ago today.

Enjoy Barcelona

Tapas dishes

Zarajo in Barcelona

6th August 2015

Zarajos as served at Morryssom

One of my favourite tapas dishes is Zarajo, braided sheep’s intestines wrapped around a vine branch and usually broiled, though often fried, sometimes smoked, and served hot with a wedge of lemon.

Very tasty.

Zarajos are not common in Barcelona — the dish originated in Cuenca, the city in Castilla–La Mancha.

They go well with a beer, though I recommend you try them with a glass of rough, strong red wine.

Two places which I know serve zarajo are: