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Category: Europe: Spain and Portugal

A few more from Barcelona

Our “free time” in Barcelona the last couple of years has been structured around major highlights, ostensibly because one or another member of our party had not been to Barcelona since early childhood, if at all. In truth, when I am back in a city that I know really well…

Gaudí, again

We lately allow only a single day in Barcelona for our stays at Costa Brava – the distance between our base and the city makes more frequent visits a bit impractical. Last year, if you recall, we specifically targeted touring Palau de la Musica Catalana, and I also managed to…

Girona, again

I did not keep the promise I had made at the end of my last Girona photo-essay. A full-day exploration of the city’s various points of interest did not make the cut in the final plans of our recent Costa Brava stay. A dinner and a late afternoon stroll was…

Empuriabrava

With the largest residential marina in Europe, Empuriabrava is a magnet for people who love amphibious living. The lion’s share of houses back out on one of dozens of canals, and every household here owns at least one boat. The canal network was planned and built in 1960’s-70’s. Its main…

Beget

I used the word tiny to describe both Villefranche-de-Conflent and Rupit recently, but compared to Beget either of those can be called a metropolis. Beget is the tiniest of tiny. The postal stop at the edge of the village has 27 mailboxes, which may or may not be the basis…

Camprodon

There are places in the world that are effortlessly picture-perfect. Camprodon, in the Pyrenees an hour and a half away from Costa Brava, is one of those places. The view of its iconic bridge and the houses flanking river Ter is a ready-made postcard. The settlement of this site dates…

Rupit

Tiny Rupit regularly features on selections of the most beautiful villages in Catalonia. The mountain village straddles a small gorge, with a hanging bridge connecting its two banks. The old part of Rupit is built on the ridge over the river and looks as if floating in the air from…

Chasing World Heritage: #104, sort of

There are several serial properties on the World Heritage list that inscribe prehistoric rock and cave art. The most extensive of them – in fact, somewhat excessively extensive – is the Rock Art of Mediterranean Basin of Iberian Peninsula, which comprises 758 individual locations in the eastern part of Spain.…

Madrid

You probably recall that I went to Madrid in late October for the expressed purpose of seeing a football match. Of course, I could not miss an opportunity to improve my collection of Madrid photos. So, I walked around the city and looked in to a number of major points…

Re-visiting favorite places: Toledo

It took three visits to Toledo for me to finally gather a reasonable portfolio of shots of this wonderful town (my limited World Heritage feature is found here). And the town is more than deserving dedicated photographic efforts. It is full of narrow sloping street such as these… …small shaded…

A few more from Barcelona

We gave ourselves less than 24 hours at the conclusion of our recent Costa Brava vacation to immerse in the vibrancy of Barcelona. That amount of time is grossly insufficient, but thankfully we have been to Barcelona before and could pick just a couple of specific targets to make even…

A morning with Gaudí

Once a trip – hardly ever more than that – I decide to get up early enough to photograph famous vistas in the serenity of dawn. A single night in Barcelona at the conclusion of our recent Costa Brava vacation gave me an opportunity to improve my portfolio of Gaudí…

Girona

I have been to Catalonia and Costa Brava many times in the last dozen years but never visited Girona until this year. I have to admit I was underestimating it as a destination to my own loss. It is incredibly colorful and agreeable to walk around. And visual perspectives such…

Palamós

The town of Palamós is home to the only remaining commercial harbour in the Catalan province of Girona. The fishing boats come back in with their catch between 4 and 5pm, in time for the fish auction ahead of the influx of hungry diners looking for fresh seafood. If you…

Castell Gala-Dalí, Pubol

Salvador Dalí was born in Catalonia and the province boasts three major attractions that celebrate the painter’s life and art. The most famous of them is Dalí Theater and Museum in Figueres – day-trippers from Barcelona make it a very popular and slightly overcrowded destination. We visited it once in…

Besalú

Besalú announced itself as a contender for the title of the most attractive little town the moment I caught the sight of it from across river Fluvià. It definitively has one of the most impressive approaches, highlighted by its famous bridge that dates from 12th century. My photographic skills do…

Chasing World Heritage: #96 (Madriu-Perafita-Claror)

There are properties on the World Heritage list that have words “cultural landscape” in their name. These sites are relatively large areas whose history and development was directly influenced by the features of the landscape. The Andorran valley of Madriu-Perafita-Claror is one such site, offering an insight into how people…