jana

true blue

2012-02-12T13:11:00.000+01:00

From a cross-processed roll of slide film the Lomo LC-A that went a bit crazy.
Poblenou and lots of sunshine.

The photos are from some months ago, but the sky today looks quite similar, cross-processed or not.

How are you doing? I have to get back to working on my school project these days, but there are so many other (and nicer) things coming my way...I have to get better at multitasking!

***

lately...

2012-02-02T19:53:00.002+01:00

...the light has been so good during these last weeks, outside and especially in our home. I am really grateful for that, as there has been lots of work for school; many days barely getting up from my desk. When there's light it's not so bad.

Right now I have an ugly cold and winter seems to have arrived. It was supposed to snow today, but for now nothing's happened. Everybody's talking about the last time it snowed, remembering the exact day (8 march 2010)...it's really something extraordinary here.

My parents are coming for dinner tonight; after 6 months in the new place we finally got a table! I'm making pumpkin with chickpeas and basmati rice, and carrot cake; from recipes by my two best British friends, Nigel Slater and Dan Lepard. Stupid detail: with my congested nose I can't taste anything today...

I hope you're fine and wish you a nice weekend. Will you send me some snow if there is any where you are?

in the kitchen

2012-01-07T15:22:00.002+01:00

These are from some months ago, as you can see...peaches, plums, figs seem so far away right now.
Winter fruit can get boring.
Luckily I made a lot of fig jam last summer.
And I truly love pears and apples.
But I still enjoy the september feeling of these photos.

old and new

2011-12-31T15:31:00.002+01:00

Some of 2011's favourites pictures.

It has been a fast and a short year;
the seasons and the world have been sometimes confusing me;
work and studying have taken lots of hours, often accompanied by doubts and questions;
there have been short but nice travels;
we have found a new fantastic home,
in a neighbourhood that feels good and different,
and with a kitchen full of light;
I have met new friends and old ones;
my love for picnics on the beach and on living room floor has been growing;
and there have been quiet moments and room for new thoughts and dreams and possibilities.

I'm thankful for love, for time and inspiration, for sharing and for learning from others.

Happy new year to all of you, see you soon!

xxx

my neighbourhood 2

2011-12-03T15:00:00.000+01:00

my neighbourhood

2011-12-01T17:52:00.001+01:00

Some of the many photos taken on walks through my new neighbourhood in the last months.

I don't get tired of the things I see, and the light has been changing so much during these last weeks.
Buildings and sites do actually change, too, because they continue to tear buildings down and build new ones.

Luckily, because of the economical problems, they have slowed down a lot. Many "emptied" plots remain empty.

I can't imagine how it would have been to see all the millions of changes this area went through during the last years.

They have destroyed so much. But still, for me right now it's the best this city has.

PS: a pretty advent calendar.

hi.

2011-11-19T16:02:00.001+01:00

I'm still here. But again, not so much time for blogging these days.

I finally got those negatives back from the lab, so there will definitely be some new posts with photos in the next days, or weeks.

Last week was my 29th birthday, and I took some photos of myself. I finished the roll and opened the camera, without rewinding first. So this is the only piece of birthday selfportrait left. I kind of like it. Even if I have no idea what I was doing with my fingers.

Happy sunday friends!

Kolumba inside 2

2011-11-01T17:47:00.000+01:00

More photos from the Kolumba museum.

Hello November!

<<<>>>

Kolumba inside 1

2011-10-23T15:33:00.000+02:00

Photos from the inside of Kolumba Museum in Cologne. They are from my visit in May, but I just remembered I hadn't posted them yet.
Which is good because I don't have any new photos today.
Since I moved, the photo lab isn't just a five minute walk away from my home anymore. And it's not on my way home from school either.
I have three rolls of exposed film lying around...let's hope I manage to drop them off at the lab this week.

About the photos:
There is a magic in these spaces. Something about the light, the completely pure lines and volumes and surfaces that multiply the impact of minuscule details. And the carefully mixed and disposed artworks. I don't find the words but this is what I love about architecture. I would love to see more of Zumthor's buildings.

at home

2011-10-12T10:02:00.001+02:00

I love our new place and I'm sad I rarely get to be home during the week. That's why the weekends have been spent mostly in and around the house lately.
On sunday I worked on my school project all day, and during the many little breaks, inspired by Maria's post, I took some photos.
Mostly of food. Weekend snacks are the best.

still summer

2011-10-07T08:57:00.000+02:00

This year, summer lasts and lasts. It's nice but mosquitos keep biting, and I wouldn't mind some chilly october mornings to wear a pair of socks.
Luckily, apple and pear season has started anyway. This is a great cake. And I would like to make apple jelly too. Or apple butter? Do you have any experience or recipe to share?

· A sweet calendar.
· Watching this movie, and a lot (too much) of "Breaking Bad".
· I'm curious about this book.

And I'm happy it's Friday.

(photos from France in August)

brocante

2011-09-24T13:48:00.001+02:00

Photos from France in August. This summer, with the move and everything, we only got to spend one weekend there.

It was a very good weekend that included blackberry picking, jam making, melon eating, sleeping in absolute silence, and a visit to the brocante in Sommières.
So many treasures in the shadow of the plane trees by the river. I loved it and went home with a chair, two stools, a set of plates with a pretty pattern, a big old jam jar and a b/w agfa film expired in '92 (which I hope to use soon).

I wish you a quiet Saturday. I'm drinking tea, eating cake and cooking apples. Perfect, if it wasn't for my back pain. But it slows me down, and that's good sometimes.

move on film

2011-09-14T18:08:00.000+02:00

Some shots I took the first times I brought my Nikon to the new apartment. There was a lot of cleaning to do. I think I scraped every floor tile. Luckily it wasn't as hot as it is now. Autumn where are you?? The heat makes me tired. Somebody send me some rain please?! Thank you!

Anyways, the floors are clean now and the kitchen is more or less finished. We're thinking about shelving for our books. In our old apartment we had three big Billy bookshelves for all of them. Now I want to distribute the books around the apartment. I would love to find some flexible and cheap (and pretty) modular solution.
I think this weekend we're going to build some of these.
This one isn't bad either, and it's made of ikea boxes.
Of course, other ideas are welcome.

I hope you are having a good week!

new good things

2011-09-03T19:18:00.000+02:00

Hello friends. I'm sorry posts have been so rare here lately. The good news is I have a really great reason for this:
We spent August moving to a new apartment! I'm still in Barcelona and it's just a ten minute bike ride away from where we lived before, but it's still a big change!

We have been on the hunt for a new place for over a year, almost giving up in the end, because after all we liked our old apartment and felt stupid to visit places that were more expensive, in worse conditions, with dark and ridiculously small kitchens and rooms.
But then we found this place, and right now the only word that describes it for me is perfect.
It's in a quiet neighbourhood with no tourists (and still quite central), big empty streets and a lot of air to breathe. We have such a great view over the city, the sky seems so big and we see every sunset. Every room has so much light I always control if I have switched the lights off when I leave because it's so bright. And it's big, and I love the kitchen with it's huge window and old marble sink, and the floors, and that I have a little room all for myself.
You can see I'm completely delighted.

The move itself was quite long as we moved everything with our car in what felt like 500 drives back and forth.
I threw and gave away a lot of things and keep throwing out things as I empty the boxes. I really want to stop accumulating stuff. What is it that makes us keep on buying things we really don't need and so many times don't use and even forget about??
I found it intense to go through all of my stuff after four and a half years of living in the same place, hard to decide what things to keep and why, but it has really been a good exercice for me and I want to think more about the things I buy, the things I want and need.

I leave you with some random photos taken while moving in:
building the ikea kitchen ··· some pieces of furniture we fixed... ··· ...and painted ··· the enormous living room window ··· improvised living room ··· bedroom floor and window ··· part of the kitchen in progress ··· on the kitchen counter ··· this is where we are going to put a table a bit bigger than this, hopefully soon

Now I'm going to prepare some of these, in my brand new oven (!), while waiting for the announced and very expected (at least by me) rain and listening to Alexander and Laura Marling.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. On Monday holidays are definitely over for everybody here in Spain. I'm really looking forward to autumn.

Kolumba

2011-08-01T17:42:00.000+02:00

Hello, how have you been? How's summer?

I don't feel a lot like writing these days, so I'll just show you some photos of the amazing Kolumba Museum in Cologne, that I visited in May.
More photos from the inside of the museum to come.

PS: This blog of mine is already one year old. I have "met" such nice people through it. Thank you so much everybody for reading and leaving nice and funny and interesting comments.

PPS: Maria's post about a special anniversary. Beautiful words and photos.

Poble Sec

2011-07-10T19:31:00.001+02:00

Today I take you on a walk through Poble Sec, one of my favourite neighbourhoods located at the feet of Montjuïc. It grew as a residential and industrial area at the end of the 19th century, outside the town walls.
No idea why it's called "sec" though, which means dry.

Where it touches the Paral.lel it has the traits of a small Eixample. But if you go up the streets, beyond the Passeig de l'Exposició, the streets are deserted and the houses look like in a village, tiny, with their gardens and old trees.

I love to discover these little corners where the city remains untouched. They sometimes cure me from the feeling that Barcelona has lost so much of its loveliness in the last years, at least for a while.

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

· I like these.

· These are two perfect summer images to me.

· I really want to go for a dip in the sea (I know, it shouldn't be so difficult with the beach right around the corner), mainly because I have a new bathing suit (by surprise; my mother bought it for herself but it didn't fit her).

· A great looking home (via Astrid).

new month

2011-07-03T18:34:00.000+02:00

Hello Sunday, hello July.
I know you are going to be a nice month.

These photos are still pre-summer, I have hardly taken any new ones lately.

One year ago, we were in New York. I loved it so much, in spite of the unbearable heat.
These are some of my favourite photos of the trip.

Have a great evening.
I'm hoping for an aperitif on the roof terrace, hopefully accompanied by a nice breeze.

Klaus

2011-06-26T16:00:00.000+02:00

I took these at my uncle's house in Germany.

Hope you're having a good Sunday. I am; it's gotten really hot here and I'm hiding inside baking and making plans.

a song

here again

2011-06-21T19:17:00.000+02:00

Hello! It's been a while.

The last weeks were filled with almost nothing but my project for school. I finally handed it in last Wednesday.
I'm still tired but summer has oficially begun. When the (academic) year is over i always need some days to understand that I suddenly have all that time for myself. (Btw I hope that this will be my last summer as a student!)

These photos are from a sweet family celebration in may, with many of my lovely cousins, the best German spring weather and some great cake.

See you soon.
I want to detoxify some from the computer, but still treat this blog a bit better during the next weeks. And finally be outside taking photos again!

Köln and almost Summer

2011-06-02T22:11:00.001+02:00

A few weeks ago I spent some days in Germany visiting family, and I took these photos on an afternoon we went to Cologne.
It had been ages since the last time I went there, and although I lived in Cologne as a kid, and then many years very nearby, I don't know the city at all.
Some hours didn't change that, but it was nice to stroll around and recognize familiar places here and there.

Photos 2-4 were taken at brot & butter, the fantastic bakery/café of manufactum (where I bought this beauty). That beautiful pink drink? Rhabarberschorle; rhubarb juice with mineral water. I love it.

And in other news, hello June! We had some really (too) hot days already, but it has finally rained and everything is clean and fresh again.
For me, the best thing about this month is its fruit; cherries! apricots! I can't get enough of them.

PS: I can't get enough of old Magnetic Fields songs either these days. What's your favourite song lately?

Moncalieri (Torino 3)

2011-05-22T21:40:00.000+02:00

Moncalieri is where N's family lives.

And that first photo of the tiny pasticcini on their golden plate is my favourite from the whole trip.
Just because it reminds me how good they were. And of the sweet ritual that is buying them in that fancy pasticceria, choosing each one as if they were precious little jewels, having them arranged and packed up carefully.

Makes me even forget about the icecream.

Torino 2

2011-05-16T08:31:00.000+02:00

I'm busy but fine.
Happy new week!

Torino

2011-05-09T22:21:00.000+02:00

A long weekend in April.

Between dinners and lunches at my mother in law's, we managed to sneak out for some afternoon walks and the obligatory daily ice cream (the one in the photo is pistacchio/caramello al sale).

It's such a photogenic city. I appreciate its beauty now much more than when I used to live there. Even if that sounds quite cliché.

Have a good week friends. I'll have to catch up with school stuff, as I've just come back from another wonderful long weekend abroad.

More photos soon.

grey walks

2011-04-28T09:07:00.000+02:00

It's true what they say, it's always sunny here, or at least almost.

And spring has almost turned into summer already, with a lot of sandals and bare feet around.

And that's why I didn't want to post these photos. Wrong season.

But these days have been a bit grey and humid and strange, and looking at these I thought they were quite fitting.

From some grey february walks around town. And around a very famous pavilion.

I hope to be back soon with fresh photos of ice cream and sun and Italy.

teatime

2011-04-15T22:23:00.000+02:00

Some weeks ago in Munich with my sister. At a sweet café called Aroma.
Pretty light, ginger tea, a grey wall and cookies to share.

I'll spend the next few days in the university library working on my project. And on Wednesday we are flying to Italy for some days. I can't wait!

Happy weekend to all of you!
And thank you so much for reading and commenting, always.

This week

2011-04-10T10:26:00.000+02:00

· We had 25 degrees and sun every day, which got me pretty distracted from all the school stuff

· I had to put aloe vera on my neck and shoulders to soothe my sunburn from last weekend's picnic on the rooftop terrace

· I ate my first strawberries of the year and they already were to die for...looking forward to the whole season

· I spent time in the sun with a dear friend visiting from Munich with her red haired fantastic baby girl

· I got an iphone and played with it, a lot

· Yesterday I did a yoga class that last all day. And I slept so well last night...

Now we're going to have breakfast with our neighbours and plant some herbs on the terrace (I won't forget the sunscreen this time!). And in the afternoon I should finally get some work done.

Have a good good Sunday.

Haus der Kunst

2011-04-01T21:46:00.000+02:00

These are photos from the inside, the outside and the café of the Haus der Kunst in Munich.

It's an impressive colossal Nazi building on the verge of the Englischer Garten and we saw two great exhibitions there.
"Move" is about the interaction between art and dance since the 60's. Most of the works were interactive (In the photos you see my sister in Bruce Nauman's 'Green Light Corridor' and climbing her way through William Forsythe's 'The Fact of Matter'. Oh, and the gorilla? That's me...it was freaking hot under that mask).
"Future Beauty" shows japanese fashion of the past 30 years. Really inspiring.

And then they have a beautiful café, of course, with golden walls, a huge wooden table and this fantastic chandelier above it.

On another note, it's suddenly summer here, a bit to early if you ask me. But the sunshine has been beautiful these days, it has been distracting me from my schoolwork, and that's a good thing sometimes isn't it.

Happy beginning of April!

ohne den Schinken

2011-03-25T08:55:00.000+01:00

The weeks are so short lately! Why is that?

So finally some new photos. They are from Munich, where we went to visit my sister two weeks ago.
I liked it even more than the first time.
Spring weather was just beginning, and the more you go north, the more you notice that, especially in the people's moods.

in the photos:
· the very nice café Trachtenvogl in the very nice Glockenbachviertel
· "kauf dich glücklich", a bit of Berlin in Munich
. "jüdisches Zentrum" on Jakobsplatz

hum

2011-03-18T22:16:00.000+01:00

I planned to show you some new photos from a little trip I went on last weekend.

But I forgot to tell the man at the lab that I needed the negatives scanned, not only developed. I'll have them on Monday.

Until then, I give you old photos from december (the good thing is, they don't look like 'winter photos', so they don't spoil the spring mood that's all around these days). And I wish you a sweet weekend flooded with sunlight.

Take care!

primavera

2011-03-06T21:45:00.000+01:00

Today, we celebrated the arrival of spring on our rooftop terrace with friends and neighbours.

It was so nice and the sun was really hot. From now on I would like to celebrate the change of the seasons more. To slow down and take a moment to look around. To observe the change of temperature and of light. To not just let time fly by without noticing.

I hope your weekend was sunny. Is spring showing itself where you are, too?

Igualada

2011-02-25T20:08:00.000+01:00

Last week, on a grey day, I went to visit the Igualada cemetery (by Enric Miralles and Carme Pinòs) with my school.

It was a nice coincidence that I had a black and white film in my camera. There couldn't have been a better place to use it.

I loved the rough materials the architects chose. The curved walls are made of stones and iron rods, old railway sleepers give the floor a beautiful pattern, and the concrete tombs also act as retaining walls. Moss and grass are growing on them. The place is built on several levels and seems to melt into the surrounding landscape.

I know it's a cementery, not the funniest thing to start your weekend with. But I hope you like the photos.

This week for me has been mostly school and work. And a lot of internet distraction.

Have a sweet Friday evening friends.
I think I'll spend mine on the couch. Any movies you have enjoyed lately? I'd appreciate your recommendations.

weekend at home

2011-02-13T22:13:00.000+01:00

This weekend was spent without leaving the house, and I didn't even notice.

We assembled our new bed (that's Sophie's beautiful calendar above it),

he baked two loaves of bread (following the "Tartine Bread" recipe. Such a pretty book!),
I baked a cake (Nigel's recipe again: chocolate beetroot cake. so good.)

(sorry, yellow kitchen photos!),

I toasted hazelnuts and almonds to make some nut butter for this week's sandwiches,

we cleaned the apartment,

drank tea with lovely neighbours; they brought us yellow mimosas which now brighten up our living room,

and I spent some (a lot of) hours in front of the computer doing research for my new school project (a kindergarten).

I hope your weekend was splendid.
Happy Monday to you all!

CAN FRAMIS

2011-02-09T23:00:00.000+01:00

These shots are from a beautiful new museum in a restored factory building in Poblenou.

I've only seen it from the outside so far. It was closed when we stumbled across it, during a bikeride around Christmas. I hope to visit the inside soon, and to take more photos.

I loved the colours and textures of the concrete walls and the birch trees.
There were no other visitors and the ambience was calm and somehow exotic.
The plants and trees in the garden are different from the ones you find in other parks around town.
I'll show you more when I go back there.

See you soon!

/ / / / / / / / / /

2011-02-06T00:47:00.000+01:00

Days are running by so fast!
And these last ones have been feeling like spring already, so it seems even more that time is flying.

The weather is completely crazy, today we had 20 degrees I think. We walked to the beach, there were people in t-shirts eating ice cream, and my face felt warm and almost a bit burned when I got home in the afternoon. That bright sun felt strange but really good.

Obviously I haven't done half of the things that I wanted to do this week, but some of them, and some others too:

· knitting a pair of socks (still finishing the first one)

· more baking:
·· chocolate financiers (fast and relly impressive),
·· hearty walnut and fig cookies inspired by this recipe,
·· banana spice muffins (they make your kitchen smell so good),
·· Nigel Slater's cake of roasted hazelnuts, muscovado and coffee from "Tender Vol.2" (haven't tasted this one yet, it's still warm).
I would love to take photos of all those things and show them to you, but my kitchen is so dark. they always turn out yellow (the photos).

· new shoes! reduced price, unexpected. i'm so happy with them.

· new music: new Decemberists' album, new Iron and Wine's album, new fantastic Fleetfoxes' song.

· lots of flickr browsing and some beautiful and inspiring new favourites.

Good night!
I'll try to post some more new photos in the next days.

cake and dispersion

2011-01-26T17:53:00.000+01:00

Do you know that feeling? When you have some free time and you want to do so many things and you don't know where to start and in the end you do nothing?
I'm trying to get better at organizing and enjoying my free time.

And I have finally been baking a lot again these days:

· Molly's ginger muffins. I used Kefir instead of buttermilk. They're fantastic and we finished them in one day.

· Alice Medrich's brownies from "Pure Dessert" (my favourite brownie/chocolate cake recipe. easy to make and not too heavy on butter and eggs).

· Malin's Lussekatter. I didn't want to wait until next Christmas. And I'm glad I haven't. I loved the saffron taste and colour.

. this poppy seed lemon cake. it's quick to make and easy and sooo good. I used coconut oil for the first time (instead of half of the butter) and it gives the cake a very subtle coconut flavour which I loved.

Any baking favourites of yours I should try??

And another question: I would like to put my negatives in order, I'm starting to lose control over them. I would love to hear your method or suggestions.

Thank you dears!!

Montpellier

2011-01-06T12:06:00.000+01:00

La Promenade du Peyrou, in early december. Silent, grey and empty.

Today all the children in Spain receive presents from the "three Kings" (Magi?). If they have behaved badly, they get coal made of sugar.
My present was that my alarm clock didn't ring this morning and I accidentally overslept a little bit.
Less hours to work but much better mood.

I hope the new year has been treating you well so far.
Thank you for your comments on the last post! I love to read them and then to click to your blogs and discover new beautiful things.

2010 favourites

2010-12-31T14:56:00.002+01:00

Some photos and moments of this past year. I like to look at them like this, together, precious little memories of 2010.

1 The year started with the first days of January spent in France, in that tiny old village where I have spent many summers of my childhood and where still a lot of family reunions take place. During the last years it has also become a little refuge for N and me, especially for dark winter days by the fire place.

2 Then there were some days spent in Berlin at my sister M's place, full of walks through snow and ice and café visits. My favourite city in the world.

3 The third photo shows my feet, in France again, where we celebrated Easter with my family.

4 The next one is of my sunny street during spring.

5 Cherries in Turin, where we went at the end of May, right on time for them and for some of my favourite strawberry granita with whipped cream.

6,7,8,9,10 These photos are from New York, where we spent two fantastic and incredibly hot weeks in july. I fell so much in love with that city, with Brooklyn (that in some ways reminded me of Berlin) and with the apartment we stayed in. I'd love to go back soon (such a pity Christine is moving to Germany. Just kidding of course).

11 Curly chaotic summer hair, in France again, with N, my little sister L and my cousin by the pool.

12 This one is from an evening walk, a summer habit, through the Raval.

13,14 At the beginning of September I went to Munich, where my sister M now lives. Museums, great icecream, Rhabarberschorle and meeting Lio, my friend F's baby boy.

15 The summer was long this year, this one was taken in September, too. A walk to Montjuïc with N and A, with a museum visit and a picnic in the grass.

16 In October we went to Germany for a big beautiful family celebration, with lots of cousins, cold mornings and apple cake.

17,18 The last two photos are from this month, the first one from our rainy France weekend, and the second one from the streets of Gràcia.

And then there was a lot of school of course, not included here.
And, amongst other things I'm forgetting, I started to sew (a bit), I learned how to make Brioche, I took photos (and want to take many more next year) and I started this little blog which makes me very happy.

Thanks a lot for visiting and for leaving sweet comments, you make me smile.
I wish you a great last day of the old year; I hope that 2010 was good to you, and that 2011 will be even better.

* * *

2010-12-27T18:57:00.000+01:00

I hope your holidays have been (or are being) great.

I am really tired today, from eating and going to bed late with a full belly three days in a row.

But we had a nice sunny weekend, with bike rides around the deserted town (everybody was at home eating) in the afternoon, golden light and the Pentax around my neck. Pure happiness.

These photos are from our weekend in France a few weeks ago (the last photo is a reminder that I still have to get that poor camera fixed...).

fiestas fiestas

2010-12-24T18:58:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas to you all, and wonderful holidays with plenty of peace and quiet and joy and all kinds of good things.

golden

2010-12-18T00:08:00.000+01:00

Finally some new photos on the way, from the only roll shot with my Pentax during the last weeks.
I wanted to share this one immediatly, I really like it. That's how the afternoon light looks like these days. So nice I sometimes forget the snow I use to dream of instead...

Have a sweet start into your weekend!

stars

2010-12-12T00:48:00.000+01:00

Right. We're in the middle of December, and my poor little blog looks like he's hibernating. Well he isn't, or at least he shouldn't be. I have been missing you.

So tonight, to break the ice, some random little things:

· I'm not going to write a list for this month, as during November I kind of lost track of the last one. There will be new lists for calmer days.

· I actually had some nice calm days this past week, in the form of a 5-day-weekend spent in France, without internet connection and with so much rain outside you could barely leave the house. It was wonderful, and we brought home a lot of stinky cheese. (The week before, N. had been in Italy to visit family and came back with a suitcase full of food. We really have a lot of cheese in our fridge right now...)

· There are so many great wintery snow photos on flickr right now. I'm jealous...

· Speaking of snow, in the (crappy) photos you can see the first batch of christmas cookies I have baked this year, Zimtsterne. I made a mess in the kitchen, but they are (were) so good.

What's your favourite cookie to bake for christmas???

I hope you have a good Sunday

summer/winter

2010-11-26T22:24:00.000+01:00

Serious lack of posts here these days, due to serious lack of time, and consequently of photos.

That's why you get some nice late summer photos today, which i got developed when summer was already over.
They don't seem very appropriate knowing that in Munich, where my sister lives, it's snowing today. I'm so jealous.
But these shots make me think of warm september days, which are a nice thing too.

And it's actually summer in some parts of the world, right?!

I hope you're having a nice Friday evening.

Thank you for stopping by and thanks for your nice comments on my last post.
(I'm still hiding my computer, but we're slowly forgetting, and I'm actually very brave and staying home alone this weekend!)

Buh!

2010-11-19T16:47:00.000+01:00

Hello my dears. It's been some time, and this time I won't even blame school for being absent.
Last week started so well with my birthday, beautiful presents and cakes, and with a shiny new fantastic computer.
On Saturday night, we had some friends over for dinner, and when they had left, and we had gone to bed and fallen asleep, someone broke into our home.
They climbed on the balcony from the street (we live on the 1st floor, but it's still 5 meters, not easy at all...), and took not only my shiny new computer, but my old one (which had all my work and stuff on it) and N's computer, too.
Luckily we didn't wake up; just the thought of that possibility makes me shiver.
But I'm still pretty shocked, and angry, and frightened too.
And I have lost a lot of work and data, especially from school (which is really annoying), some photos (luckily I shoot much more analog than digital) and tons of music.
And I don't want to leave my windows open anymore.
I had to get another computer. Which is shiny and new, too, but only reminds me of all this. And I hide it every night...sad.
See you soon. Enjoy your weekend and please close your windows.

28

2010-11-08T13:51:00.000+01:00

Today's my birthday!

And if I look older, that's not the years, it's the weekend spent in front of my computer doing school work for today's class. Perfect timing, right?!

It's a good day anyway; fall weather, woollen tights, and messages and calls from everybody.

And I'm looking forward to a nice happy evening with my man.

I hope you all have a good day, too.

november!

2010-11-04T21:46:00.000+01:00

I can't believe it's November already.
The weather these days feels more like spring, and it's confusing me.
(How am I supposed to knit anything if I don't even wear a jacket during the day?)
I liked the idea of a list last month,
so I repeat. Here are some random things I would like to do during November:

Not let school eat up all of my time!!
Find new shoes - the Camper boots I wanted are sold out, that's what you get for waiting too long!
Take a camera with me more often
Ride my great new bike
Celebrate my birthday
Buy a calendar or two
Start to practice yoga at home
Eat soup (it has to get colder...) and mandarins and swiss chard
Light candles in the evening
Buy fabric and finally (try to) make myself a dress

In the photos you can see Letitia, Paul, Clara and Ella, some of my cousins' fantastic kids.

PS: Brian's inspiring plans for November.

Mozartweg 10

2010-10-29T19:10:00.000+02:00

My uncle and aunt live in this place.
It's a simple concrete construction from the 60s. There's nothing really special about it but it's so well made. Everything is in perfect shape although nobody has ever changed anything. The spaces are clean and well distributed, my aunt grows the best raspberries in their garden and during the afternoon, the light in the livingroom is pure magic.
And don't you love that flat concrete roof?

I want a garden too, one day. With a cherry tree.

And I hope you're having a good friday.

horses

2010-10-27T20:05:00.001+02:00

I have quite a few more photos from Germany to show you; I'm a little behind with my photos and everything else lately.

These are from the day we went to visit our cousins who live on a farm. They have lots of horses.
I'm allergic and use to sneeze like crazy when I get near them, but I love their warmth, their colour and the noises they make.
And that they are so huge. Which also frightens me a little.
But "my" horse was 21 years old and as meek as a lamb. I took the photos so you don't get to see me riding. I wore a helmet and everything, very chic. I loved it.

Herbstlicht

2010-10-21T18:03:00.001+02:00

More from my weekend in Germany.
The light and the colours were so good.
That's my aunt's and uncle's garden in the first two photos. I'll show you some pictures of their house soon, I love it.
Now back to work!

my poor pentax

2010-10-20T20:50:00.000+02:00

In February I went to Berlin for some days. And my Pentax got wet.
It literally took a bath because the water from a bottle that apparently didn't close well transformed my backpack in a pool. When I noticed I was dripping I went crazy and emptied it in the middle of Karstadt. But obviously my Pentax was already soaking wet.
We took it home, it was snowing, I cried a bit. There was a fully exposed roll of film in it, too, which make me cry even more. At home, we cleaned it and left it open to dry.
The next day I shot a test roll, which came out just fine. Happy End.
But since then, some of the photos come out like the ones you see above. It only happens to some rolls of film, and not to many photos, but still.
It's so unpredictable!
Has something like that happened to any of you? It must have something to do with the diaphragm not opening/closing properly...but I don't get why it works sometimes and other times it doesn't. Grrr!!

Tomorrow I'll show you some nicer photos, I promise.
I hope you are having a wonderful evening.
I think I'll turn the heating on for the first time. My hands are freezing cold!

orange yellow blue

2010-10-17T10:50:00.000+02:00

Some impressions of the lovely autumn days spent in Germany, in my parents' hometown.

I will show you more soon, although there are less photos than I thought there would be, as my Pentax seems to have a problem...

Today I'm staying in, drinking tea and working on a project for school. And you?

Have a lovely sunny Sunday!

back to normal

2010-10-13T12:38:00.001+02:00

I'm back from a wonderful weekend in Germany. Only 4 days that felt like a long holiday, filled with so many people and things that I forgot about everything else. So nice and replenishing (and so difficult to get back to a normal weekday).

Some things I loved the most:

To peel kilos of tiny apples from my aunt's garden to make a cake.
I rode a horse!!
Raspberries, also from the garden.
The sun and the fresh air, especially in the morning, when the grass was wet and the light bright but a little bit foggy.
SO MUCH CAKE. And whipped cream.
To be with almost all of my cousins.
So many children around. They make family meetings so much better.

And then there are the delicious little things I brought back home with me:

The new CUT magazine (knitting season has officially started!)
My favourite candy (I mainly buy it because of the packaging)
Shortbread and Clipper tea my little sister brought me from England.
Appenzeller cheese and Ovomaltine chocolate from my cousin who lives in Switzerland.
Many rolls of film (3 exposed ones are waiting to get developed).

Stupid Ryanair made me pay 35 Euros for 1 kg of overweight thanks to my souvenirs...but I think they are worth it.

I'm happy you liked the old photos from the last post. It was nice to come back and read your comments.

Have a good day everyone.

the 80s

2010-10-08T13:23:00.001+02:00

Today I want to show you some more favourite old photos.

We're leaving for Germany today to celebrate my mum's 60th birthday (again) with the whole big family, and I'm really looking forward to see all my cousins, uncles, aunts, and a new baby!!

I have been making sort of a nostalgic sentimental slideshow to show them at the party , that's why I scanned all of these photos. And thanks to my great time management now I have only two hours left to get packed and ready to go.

So I won't tell you much about these photos. I just love them, especially the 80's backgrounds (that Barcelona street in the 3rd photo...).
Perfect little historical documents.

That's my godfather (and me) in the last photo. Isn't he incredibly handsome?

I hope you all have a great weekend.
Mine lasts until Tuesday. So happy about that!

geometries

2010-10-05T09:22:00.000+02:00

Here's some of that beautiful evening light.
Looking up on my way home yesterday; not the greatest shots as they were taken out of a driving car.
But the light was magic.

PS: Their new album is amazing.

october!

2010-10-02T13:12:00.000+02:00

Already?!

Time flies. Here are some things I don't want to miss this month:

enjoy the last figs (making jam today). they are so incredible this year. i might love them even more than cherries.
eat millions of pears.
bake more (from this beautiful new book).
eat more chocolate.
wear woolen socks (at least at home. it's still quite warm here).
capture the evening light.
stew apples and put cinnamon on them.
start to knit something (I absolutely love this).
buy some new shoes (these ones maybe?!).
finish the 3 started rolls of film in my cameras.

What are you up to?
Happy Saturday!

quick

2010-09-29T08:59:00.000+02:00

Just some random photos for you today, I have lots of work to do for school.
Most people in Spain are on strike today.

Have a nice day!

i més...

2010-09-25T20:26:00.000+02:00

More photos from the same roll. If it only wasn't so difficult to hold that camera straight!

Thinking about clothes and sewing today.
I'm still in the very beginning of learning. But there are so many things I would love to make! Too many actually.
Everytime I see something beautiful, I start to save tons of images from the web, then search for hours for the fabric I have in mind, which I usually don't find. Then I see the next project or garment I fall in love with...I need some structure or I'm never going to sew anything.
Do you know where to buy nice fabric online? Or where to find good patterns?

PS: A propos, today I've been browsing through the new APC Madras collection. So many pretty things!

blau

2010-09-24T14:25:00.000+02:00

Today Barcelona celebrates its patron saint, la Mercè. And I'm still coughing.
But I hope to go and see the Morning Benders play on Plaça Reial tonight!

The photos are from a walk with some nice light a few weeks ago.

Happy first autumn Friday to you!

the 70s

2010-09-22T13:03:00.001+02:00

I've catched the season's first cold (remember my sneezing the other day?), and autumn hasn't even officially started yet. So today, it's ginger tea, honey and paper tissues.
And looking at some old photos i scanned some days ago at my parents' place.
I wasn't even born when these were taken. That's my mother in all three shots, and my father in the last one. The clothes, the glasses, my mother's (fake) curls? the colours? There are so many details to discover and love about them.
Maybe later I'll show you some more.

nothalt

2010-09-20T13:06:00.000+02:00

These are the last photos from Munich.
In the next post we'll get back to the here and now.
I hope your Monday is good. I'm sneezing but everything else is fine.

il pleut

2010-09-17T22:39:00.000+02:00

More Munich photos and little to say. First week of school's already over.

Rain and thunder outside, and I'm happy to be staying on my sofa. The temperatures have dropped a bit, and the rain can go on all night and make nice sounds while it cleans the street and the air, which have both been dirty and stinky these days. (Yeah, talking about the weather again.)

A song instead??
!!!!!!! (I'm so happy they're playing in Barcelona next week!)

I hope your Friday evening is sweet. Don't get wet!

(My sister Mayra took the last photo. I look like an angry five year old because I had just noticed that I had lost an entire roll of film.)

favourites

2010-09-15T10:14:00.000+02:00

Some of the things I liked most in Munich:

Spending time with my sister.
Rhabarberschorle and Zwetschgendatschi.
Meeting this sweet little boy. His name is Lio.

outside

2010-09-12T22:54:00.000+02:00

These are from a walk I took with my sister through the Hofgarten and the Englischer Garten in Munich. I love that it's such a green city. And yes, there are surfers in that park!

The week is over, and so are the long long holidays. Tomorrow I start school again.
..........

Here's a happy tune for a better Monday: >>>>>>>>

Pina

2010-09-10T18:18:00.000+02:00

We went to the Pinakothek der Moderne on Sunday. It's next to the Brandhorst Museum (and to that icecream place, that's why we had to go there again) and on Sundays you only pay 1 euro. It was a bit crowded, but more in the shop and in the café than in the actual museum.
I loved the trees inside the building, and the lights and shadows under the roof of the huge foyer.

München

2010-09-08T20:17:00.001+02:00

I got my roll of film back from the lab and spent hours scanning the negatives as they forgot to give me the cd with the photos. But they turned out nice!

I took these shots around the Museum Brandhorst, a beautiful new building (the architects are Sauerbruch & Hutton from Berlin) with a great art collection inside.
And the icecream you can buy on the other side of the street (at Balla Beni) makes it even better. I went there three times in four days. Their icecream is so good you can feel Italy is just around the corner, or behind the Alps.

More photos tomorrow. Too much computer today.

back

2010-09-08T10:24:00.000+02:00

I came back from Munich on Monday, and yesterday I suffered from something I have called the climate-jetlag...The weather was so different there, real autumn temperatures, and light, and rain. Getting off the airplane I thought I was in the tropics!! And I'm still acclimatizing. By the way, I'm sorry I always complain about the weather. I don't like the heat, and sometimes I think I still have to figure out if I live in the right country...

Munich was really good. I shot two rolls of film there but apparently I didn't load the first one into the camera correctly, so the first 36 photos I took exist only in my head. That had never happened to me before and I was really shocked when I noticed it. So stupid!!!!!! I hope at least the second roll comes out well.

The photos above are unrelated, let's see if I'm able to coordinate photos and writing at some point. I hope to show you some Munich photos in the afternoon.
These ones are from some walks around town last week, taken with a camera I hadn't used before, the EXA 1a. I find it a bit complicated to get the framing right with it, and it doesn't have a light meter, but it looks cute, and the photos turned out better than I thought they would.

>> MUC

2010-09-02T13:15:00.000+02:00

I'm leaving for Munich now. I'll be back on Monday, hopefully with some nice photos and adventures to tell you about.
Thanks a lot for your nice comments during the last days.

Have a very lovely weekend!!

(The photo is one of my favourites from our New York trip.)

hello september!

2010-09-01T12:38:00.000+02:00

It's grey and windy today. My feet are a tiny bit cold for the first time in months.
The shops and cafés that are closed during August are opening their doors and cleaning windows. The streets are full of traffic, everything gets back to normal.
Septembers in Barcelona are still quite summery, but you can feel the transition from summer to fall and I love that; the light is different, warmer, in the morning you can wear long sleeves, and there are definitely less tourists around.

Tomorrow I'm going to Munich to visit my sister over the weekend. Do you have any suggestions, like comfy cafés, nice shops, beautiful secret places? I don't know the city at all, and my sister just moved there.
I would love you to leave me a comment!!

The photos are from a family brunch in France and from my apartment, shot with the wonderful Ilford Delta 3200.

more blur

2010-08-30T12:43:00.000+02:00

Here are some more Leica shots. These are from France.
Today's a beautiful day; the air feels like September's arriving. Such a nice breeze.
Happy Monday everybody!

blur

2010-08-28T20:18:00.000+02:00

Some photos I shot with the Leica around my neighbourhood.
Does anyone know what's the problem here??

opa's leica

2010-08-28T20:11:00.000+02:00

I have ~~ugly feet~~ an old Leica.
It was my grandfather's and I treasure it, it's really beautiful. But I never tried to (or knew how to) use it.
Now I had it fixed and cleaned a few weeks ago and shot a roll of film. I was worried about the exposure (it has no light meter), but the problem turned out to be another: almost all of the photos came out completely blurry and I don't know why.
I'm going to upload and show you some of them. They look unreal. I kind of like them.

MELTING

2010-08-27T00:07:00.000+02:00

It's so hot and I'm full of huge mosquito bites and overcome with self-pity.

Yesterday on a walk with my sister I discovered two great shops:
At Snö they sell Swedish clothes (I found two great pairs of shorts on super sale. I've been looking for one decent pair since June. Now I've got two, so I suppose summer will have to last a bit longer...?!).
Nobodinoz is full of sweet stuff for kids; books, toys, clothes and even furniture.

I'd like to go to sleep now, if only the temperatures could drop a bit...please?!

Also: That's a dead cicada in the last photo, all dry and empty. And huge! Fascinating and somehow beautiful.

Goodnight!

+ été

2010-08-25T21:37:00.000+02:00

Another great sink and crazy hair and ugly toes and light and shadows and thistles and vineyards. And I love France.

été

2010-08-24T13:30:00.001+02:00

More French summer weekend photos.
Most of the blackberries weren't ripe yet. But I managed to find enough to make some jam. The last time I picked blackberries was maybe 15 years ago. I loved it and hope to find some here too. I won't if I don't get out of the city, that's for sure.

I just finished this book by Nicole Krauss. I liked it a lot. Next on my list is this one by Jonathan Safran Foer, which I'm really curious about. Yesterday I discovered the two authors are married! Lovely coincidence, isn't it?!

sommières

2010-08-23T11:26:00.000+02:00

Some photos from our weekend trip to France two weeks ago.
These are from the (oh so wonderful) market in Sommières.

dia:Beacon

2010-08-21T16:36:00.000+02:00

The heat is back. And I don't like it.

I'm done with it for this year I think. Basta. I want autumn and tea and a pair of corduroy shorts.

Here in Barcelona I never know what to drink in bars during summer when it's hot: the fruit juices are bad and too sweet, I don't like coke, I don't like coffee and you can't always drink beer. They never have iced tea.

So today, I'm making my iced tea at home and look at my photos from the trip we took to the dia:Beacon museum while we were in New York.
It might be the greatest museum I've ever been to. The rooms are so huge and white and full of light, they put you in a strange state of total calm. You just walk and absorb everything. Every piece of art has so much space. And outside there's only green. In the middle of every room are big soft sofas you can just sink into. Everything about it is perfect.
I'm a bit ecstatic about it as you can see, but I think it's worth a trip from any corner of the world, even if you don't go to New York. And I hate flying. And I loved New York so so much. But seriously, it is that good.
You'll have to believe me or go there by yourselves, as it was not allowed to take photos inside. Buh.

Enjoy your Saturday!

de paseo

2010-08-20T13:17:00.000+02:00

Lots of walks lately, in the morning or after a rain, while the streets are still empty,
avoiding the tourists that could get in our way.

our place...

2010-08-18T14:02:00.000+02:00

...during our New York holiday. We were really really lucky to stay there. A beautiful place with sweet people.
I want that kitchen sink so bad!
And I should have taken more photos.

blueberries etc.

2010-08-17T22:19:00.000+02:00

There are only a few New York photos left, and I have new ones waiting, from other moments and places.

The first shots are from the place we were staying in Brooklyn.
The last two are from the Union Square Farmers' Market. The produce there was so beautiful!
And we drank amazing rhubarb apple juice. I am a little obsessed with rhubarb because I love it so much and it doesn't grow here in Spain.

yesterday

2010-08-16T14:48:00.000+02:00

At my parents' place.

ferragosto

2010-08-16T00:09:00.000+02:00

More travel photos on another quiet day. Tonight we made pizza.
I hope your week starts well!

sleepy saturday

2010-08-14T18:57:00.000+02:00

Last night it finally rained. We woke up to a sleepy and clean city, empty streets and some fresh air.
I put a jacket on, for the first time in months, and we took a walk to our favourite bakery near the beach. Then we bought some sardines at the market, and had a long breakfast with pain au chocolat and litres of tea at home. For lunch there were baked sardines. Perfect.
I hope you are enjoying your Saturday, too.

The photos are from New york and completely unrelated.

hell, yes!

2010-08-13T20:34:00.000+02:00

More New York photos!
The first two are from a walk to the New Museum. I liked the building and the two exhibitions we saw there (Brion Gysin and Rivane Neuenschwander) a lot.
The other two photos are from MoMA. Of course I loved it but it was way too cold in there! People seemed to know that though because everybody but me wore a sweater.

Have a lovely Friday evening!!

recently on my living room floor

2010-08-11T19:35:00.002+02:00

This is the place where I photograph things in my apartment because it's the one that gets most light (and it's still pretty dark...).

I made this batch of granola with pecan nuts and maple syrup from the US and it's the best granola I've ever made.

lomo ny 2

2010-08-11T17:05:00.000+02:00

lomo ny

2010-08-10T14:30:00.000+02:00

Some shots taken with my Lomo LC-A.

street view

2010-08-09T16:25:00.000+02:00

Looking at my New York photos, I noticed there are a lot of shots taken from the middle of a street.
That's funny because I actually tried not to take that kind of photo. They can look so boring.
When I cross a street and stop just in the middle, amazed by the perspective, the light, the hugeness, the colours...I just feel the urge to take a photo. But when I look at it later I'm often disappointed because I can't see half of the things I wanted to capture.
On my walks through New York I sometimes couldn't resist. And even if these images don't show every nuance I remember of those sights, I still think they look quite nice together.

friday

2010-08-06T13:32:00.000+02:00

Have a lovely weekend!!
We're going to spend two days in France, with my little sister and cousin, reading french magazines, eating melons and being lazy...
See you on Monday!

high line

2010-08-05T17:15:00.000+02:00

So good, so good.

babycakes

2010-08-05T14:21:00.000+02:00

The perfect place to eat a cupcake. A really good one that doesn't have so much sugar in it to make you feel dizzy.
The shop is cute, the cakes are vegan, mostly gluten-free, free of refined sugar and any other crappy ingredients. And they are delicious. Try the vanilla (the one with pink frosting on the photo)!

more france

2010-08-03T21:47:00.000+02:00

douce france

2010-08-03T12:16:00.001+02:00

A little break from the New York photos.
These are from France, where we went a few weeks ago to celebrate my mum's birthday.

dumbo sunset

2010-08-02T21:50:00.000+02:00

in the park

2010-08-02T11:18:00.000+02:00

Fort Greene Park + Bryant Park + Bryant Park + McCarren Park

PS1

2010-08-01T15:37:00.000+02:00

We went to Queens on July 4. The heat was so unbearable that we couldn't stay outside to play with the installation in the courtyard - all that hot concrete was too much.
I loved the building; it's an old school and they have preserved the original distribution of corridors and classrooms.
The exhibition was good too, and so was all the typography on the walls.

Red hook

2010-07-30T22:00:00.000+02:00

Hot, strange and beautiful.

ny city feet

2010-07-29T22:21:00.000+02:00

wooden floor in our apartment + Beacon + PS1 + some Brooklyn playground + the rooftop terrace at dawn

Guggenheim

2010-07-29T21:17:00.000+02:00

The first museum we visited in NY.
We didn't manage to see all the museums we wanted, missed the Met for example, and the Museum of Natural History. So we'll have to go back soon i suppose, oh yes.
Anyway, the ones we saw I loved.
The current exhibition at the Guggenheim was "Haunted", with really interesting photography and video art by different artists (you can still visit it till September 6).

new york

2010-07-28T21:36:00.007+02:00

So we went to New York during the first two weeks of July, and pretty much fell in love.
I'm going to post some of the (300?!?) photos i took on our trip here during the next days.
It was way too hot most days (I hate hot!) but I enjoyed every minute, and I miss it!!

neu

2010-07-28T17:52:00.023+02:00

Hi. So it has been four summers that i've played with the idea of a blog. In 2006 I opened a blogger-account. And a wordpress-account. And then that was it, i left them empty and filled my summer with other pastimes.
A few days ago I decided to open a blogger-account, again, and i found the old one. But this time I sat down, thought about a name, and a header and all that.
Those complicated decisions almost stopped me again but here I am with my brand new blog.
I hope to post my photos here, and other things maybe, I'm not sure yet.
Right now I'm so motivated I'd write down tons of things that I'm going to do and make and post here, but I suppose it's better to just get started and see what happens.
I don't feel too comfortable writing in English, but i hope to get used to it and to get better maybe.
Anyway, I'm sure it's going to be fun.