New Year Plans and Wishes from Barcelona Photoblog

Celebrations came to an end, we dreamed of changing our lives, we went through a period of fantasies and illusions which is Christmas and New Year's Eve. Something that when we were young made us think was going to change the world or something right when you woke up in the morning. It's strange, it still happens sometimes. The point is that we want to believe in something and still have that sense of what family values are, what is good and what is bad, we have wishes, we seek friendship and love. Every January 1st we make a wish and we make our plans. No matter what that plan is, almost always it is to be a better person, to get rid of your past sins, and start again with what you think is right for you and your people. Whatever your religion, your creed, you feel there is something worth changing or improving cause that makes you feel good in your heart and soul. Thanks God for that or whoever or whatever you believe in! Bye bye 2012!

Welcome 2013! I wish I am a better person this year, not only for me but with the people around me. I don't want anything for me. I wish you all, family, friends, friends of your friends, all of you a wonderful year, a wonderful life, a life you feel proud about and make your soul be happy. Best wishes from Barcelona Photoblog!

Mosaic Souvenirs in Barcelona Shops

The art of covering different surfaces with tile shards to compose a mosaic is called trencadis and it was widely used by Gaudi and his followers. So far so good. What is it with souvenir shops and 'artists' in Barcelona that tend to evoke such technique by using elements so irrelevant to Catalan culture as flamenco dancers or bulls. This is as ambiguous as pretending that Catalans go around wearing Mexican hats.

Barri de Gracia: Bohemian Lights

There are streets that wouldn't say anything to you, streets without a soul, that never leave the slightest trace of memory inside your mind. There are neighborhoods that are so boring, so barren, so sterile, so aseptic that a ghost town looks like Las Vegas next to them. Not so many like those in Barcelona, truth be said. Certainly, the Gracia quarter is not by any chance one of those, not only because of the charming architecture, the cultural activities, the intense night life, the markets, the local stores, the people but also because of the very streets that seem to have a soul of their own. If there is a neighborhood, an ideal kind of neighborhood to get lost into, without a plan, just to wander through the alleys, the squares and fill up your lungs with plenty of vital energy to make yourself feel alive and in tune with your surroundings, that is La Vila de Gracia. As with everything in this world, the sun, its light, the way it comes through the trees, or over the roofs really makes the difference. Of course you can have light elsewhere and it certainly may be as beautiful as any other because we all are under the same star but it is not probable that you have the light, the tiny streets, , the backstreet cafes, the Bohemian atmosphere, the multicultural nature concentrated in such a tiny spot in the middle of a big city. Not that I want you to feel envious about it. I just want you to get to know el Barri de Gràcia in Barcelona cause it's worth every penny and every single minute you spend on it. In the picture,