Nearly half the year has gone and I’m just sharing the second half of January photos!
January is always a long slow month. Maybe is the short days that make seem like it never ends. Even though the evenings were getting longer the mornings were still dark. Spain isn’t on its correct GMT time. The sun in January rises around 08.00. The flip side, the evenings are lighter than they should be. This is what makes Spain so light in the summer when the sun doesn’t set until around 21.40 mid June here in Barcelona and it’s still light until 22.00. It’s heaven cycling back with no bike lights!
Anyway, the second half of January photos. There’s a lot and thankfully little text.
Tibidabo from Zoo Barcelona. The blue stained glass tower is the Castell dels Tres Dragons or the Three Dragon Castle located in Parc de la Ciutadella. Usually all the buildings such as the observatory on the hillside are barely visible due to haze and pollution.
Behind the Castell dels Tres Dragons is Torre de Collserola, a telecommunication tower over looking the city.
For a few days there was strong wind from inland. This great for me cycling along the beaches as thanks to how the city blocks go it can help me or be against in me in both directions cycling. City blocks however turn into wind tunnels. I’m not sure if the tree dumped its entire leaf supply on around the car now gone or it was the wind driving leaves around corners in whirlwinds.
The cone was here for a few days before it was removed!
Any left over bread the ducks and geese get! Little gulls winter in the city. They perform amazing aerial take offs out the water like helicopters and equally are able to catch bread in mid air. The geese and ducks tolerate them to a point however they can’t compete with how quick and agile they are. The geese regularly hiss and lunge at them and both the ducks and geese flinch when they get too close as they have pointy sharp beaks.
A few cattle cranes also ask for bread, but don’t actually like it. They know there’s snacks to be had, yet rarely eat any pan given unless super hungry.
To welcome the Lunar Year of the Rabbit, the city had its usual celebration near Arc de Triomf. There’s a performance stage featuring different dance groups, marital arts and singing from various East Asian countries and lots of food huts from various restaurants in the city!
Some of the posts guarding Arc de Triomf. I’d love to know how the water bottle got there!
Exploring parts of El Born I never visited when I lived there, I came across this cool spider, ant, War of the Worlds looking bell tower complete with a weather vane.
The city is filled with amazing graffiti!
Some random things seen out one day.
Health workers placards left after protesting outside the Catalan Parliament building located Parc de la Ciutadella (you can walk right up the doors!). They were I think protesting about pay as part of a wider strikes by various sectors with regards to wages and inflation. The orange placards say ‘For Sale; Your Health/Public healthcare and ours’. The light yellow placards from left to right; ‘We want healthcare, not precariousness (Catalan)’, ‘The doctors do cry, the doctors do not bill’, ‘We are indeed a Rolex for the price of a Casio’ (Catalan). Rolex for the price of a Casio was featured a lot by the many left. They were left up for a least a week, I think out of support from the park and council street cleaners.
Christmas lights illuminated by the street lights weeks after being switched off.
Afternoon light from Las Ramblas
Nature in the second half of January!
Just a few more!
Watching Kdramas has paid off! I had a few punctures and had difficulty removing the tyre until I had the brainwave of using beach clean up gloves. Whenever people in Kdramas have to do manual work they wear work gloves (and always new ones). I usually roll my eyes as I’m just get your hands dirty. They helped removed the tyre so much quicker!
Trying Hamimommy’s natural humidifiers of pine cones. I’ll do a review post soon!
Thank you for getting this far and for stopping by! The light in the winter is too good not to pass up photos! Until next time!