Barcelona Photoblog

April 21, 2007

Ninot Market, Barcelona: Fresh Mediterranean Food

Ninot Market, Barcelona: Fresh Mediterranean  Food
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The Mercat del Ninot (Ninot Market), is one of the best places to buy fresh food in Barcelona and worth the visit if you appreciate the benefits of healthy Mediterranean cuisine products. This renown traditional market, located in Mallorca, 135 between Casanovas and Villarroel streets, has more than a 100 years of history behind. It was inaugurated in 1894 as an open space in Les Corts, that was back then, a town out of Barcelona. In 1933 it was remodeled and covered with a big metal roof to give it the look that we can admire at present. The name Ninot comes from a small ship's figurehead located on the façade of a famous tavern that sold the best wine in the area. The figure can still be seen in the Drassanes Naval Museum of Barcelona. The place is very big so I decided to show you one of the fruit stalls, called Natura't which belongs to Luis, a friend of mine! Wanna try the best fruit in Barcelona, grab his strawberries or his pineapples, simply exquisite. Here is another shot of the Ninot Market and a link to the official site which is in Catalan only.

April 20, 2007

Bank of Sabadell Diagonal - Balmes, Barcelona


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This is the emblematic Banco Atlantico building, as seen from carrer Balmes in the city of Barcelona, which The Banco Sabadell Group acquired from Arab Banking Corporation. SabadellAtlántico was then adopted as the brand name of the commercial bank for the whole of Spain. This Bank of Sabadell branch is as we said before established in what used to be Banco Atlantico, a high-rise building, in fact the first skyscraper built on Diagonal Avenue. With its 83 meters and 23 floors it has a privileged view of the city which is not too tall. Construction of Banco Atlántico was completed in 1969 by architects Francisco Mitjans Santiago and Santiago Balcells. I hope you enjoyed watching Balmes street and the combination of old and relatively new architecture.
Now to relax a little bit after such a boring litany on banking I leave you with todays' recommended link. This time a humorous video. Maybe you have seen it before, it's about music, classical and modern. I say no more, please watch: Pachelbel Rant

April 19, 2007

Catalan Art Nouveau: Modernist House at Colonia Guell

Catalan Art Nouveau: Modernist House at Colonia Guell

We return to architecture. Weird, innovative, futuristic art nouveau architecture. This is not precisely the house of my dreams although I would like to have one of my own with my own garden, my own garage and my own privacy.

Scattered across the neighborhood in the heart of old Colonia Güell, the textile industrial community run by Gaudi's mentor Eusebi Güell, there are modernist houses like this who belonged in most cases to distinguished citizens in the village. Although the workers' houses aren't that bad either.

I guess living in this place which is still inhabited must be quite an advantage since it must be protected by official institutions that want to preserve Catalan cultural patrimony. Real estate business has gone wild nowadays in Spain and particularly in Barcelona so finding a tiny, take-it-or-leave-it apartment is an adventure and a life term bleeding contract.

Having a lot with a brick house like the one in the picture would imply selling your soul to the devil.


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