Tiddly-pom
The more it snows…
Chilly boxing-day afternoon walk in the snow with my family on Leith Hill, Surrey.
Happy 2011, and keep those toes nice and warm!
Crazy Christmas Portraits
Yay! The Christmas lights are up in Madrid! Not that I usually get so excited by festive lights, but ever since I discovered my camera’s multi-exposure party trick, the seasonal sparkle has seemed that much more fun. Plaza Mayor is decked out in some particularly funky UFO / psychedelic disco light things, which are perfect for all enjoying sorts of photographic amusement, at least until one’s nose gets too cold and it’s time to go somewhere warm.
Sometimes it’s just better to stay in
Cold, wet winter afternoon. Nothing better for cutting through the gloom than a huge bowl of popcorn, Bruce Springsteen on the stereo and a declaration of love scribbled on the steamed-up kitchen window.
Cold, Bright, Mitten-faced Winter Portrait
I just realized recently that I could take double exposures (or triple, or quadruple, or as many-uple as I like) with my digital SLR, so here I am having some multi-exposure fun. Mely isn’t quite as thrilled by multi-exposure experimentation and is getting so cold, bored and hungry that she has decided to eat my cheek.
The Day The Streets Were Carpeted
The 15th of May is the Fiesta de San Isidro, Madrid’s patron saint. The holiday is a good excuse to party any year (not that Madrileños need much of an excuse), but this year was especially festive, 2010 being the the 100th anniversary of La Gran Vía.
To mark the occasion, the capital’s main street was carpeted in vibrant blue. I don’t know whether the blue represented water (San Isidro had the miraculous ability to divine the stuff) or was a not-so-subtle display of the colours of Mayor Gallardon’s conservative Partido Popular. In any case, especially if you didn’t think too hard about how much it might cost to carpet nearly 1.5km of tarmac, the blue rug was surprisingly fun to walk on. Thousands of other people seemed to think so too, and the normally traffic clogged-street was even more than jammed than usual – this time with pedestrians. Chulapos and Chulapas (and their dogs…) paraded wearing their traditional finery, crowds gathered in what were usually busy traffic intersections to watch the concerts that were taking place along the avenue, while others sat on the carpet munching picnics, as if they were in the park.
The following day we headed to the Pradera de San Isidro, on the banks of the Rio Manzanares, were Madrileños traditionally gather to celebrate the festival. San Isidro miraculously divined water in the meadow that now forms the park, and the faithful queue for hours to drink the holy water that flows from the spring (or taps?) at a hermitage overlooking the river, while the not-so-reverent feast, sing zarzuelas and dance chotis.
Spring Collection 2010
Wow. After a seemingly endless, bitter winter, spring has sprung so fast that you can almost hear the woosh of greenery sprouting all over the place. Actually, if I stick my head out the window, I can hear the wooshes and squeaks of swifts whizzing around above our street.
What with this year’s generous rainfall, Madrid’s normally arid parks are a wonderful orchestra of greens, and on sunny days the shades are so vivid it looks like nature has gone crazy on photoshop and over-saturated everything.
I took these pics in my favourite Madrid parks; from top to bottom:
1) the grounds of the Templo de Debod
2) Casa de Campo, a few minutes from our flat
3) Mely and a clump of daisies, Casa de Campo
4) chestnut blossoms in El Retiro, Madrid’s most famous and elegant park.
Spring is the latest Wall Project assignment, and Mario and I are going to present our work tonight. Can’t decide which 3 of these 4 to present, and even less which to vote for. Just out of interest, which is your favourite?
Anyway, the sun’s come out and I’m off out to Casa de Campo to make the most of this beautiful spring!
Casper the Holy Ghost
Penitents in Granada, earlier this month.
I often think the hooded penitentes look quite imposing, scary even, as they parade the streets during Semana Santa. However, this group, taking a rest during the procession of the Hermandad de la Aurora, look more Casper the Friendly Ghost than Ku Klux Klan – especially the guy on the left, entranced with his candle.
This pic made the wall for the last Wall Project task: “People”. Next up, candidates for the latest theme: “Spring”.
End of the Day, Beginning of the Night
I took this picture last October, not long after we moved to Madrid, and it made the wall for the first Wall Project assignment: “City Life”. Madrid is full of quirky little bars, and the place in the photo isn’t exactly typical – in fact its a chain pub, one the 100 Montaditos franchise. The scene, however, is repeated on practically every street in the city, on every night of the week. Whether winding down at the the end of the day, or warming up for the night ahead, the evening ritual is the same: a cold beer, served more often than not with a complementary tapa to nibble on, and then its off to the next place to check out what’s going on there.
While the bars seem to remain packed despite the economic gloom, this year’s particularly persistent winter has emptied the pavement terraces, but the weather over last few days (though definitely not today…) suggests that the long overdue spring is finally on its way and these outdoor tables will soon be full again.
Sugar Snow
On Monday it snowed here in Madrid. It started when I was on my way to work, and made my mid-morning journey between classes, through glass and steel business parks on the city’s north-eastern fringes, more scenic (and slippery) than usual. However, I didn’t have my camera with me, and by the time I got home the fluffy snowflakes had turned to sleety rain, leaving only mushy grey remnants of what was once snow.
So here’s a photo of sugar snowmen in the window of ‘Caramelos Paco‘, Madrid’s most picturesque sweet shop. Tastier and more cheerful than snowy business parks, I think.
Santa’s night out in Madrid
I found this scene outside a bar a few nights before Christmas. Father Christmas’ fondness for sherry is well documented, but like many a visiting guiri (northern European), it looks like he couldn’t quite keep up with the pace of la noche madrileña…
Starting Again (or Back on the Blog)
Doves at Dusk, Jardines de Sabatini, Madrid
It’s a new year (more or less). New decade too. Time to get back on the blog…
