Category Archives: Photographs: Spain

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel

Interior, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site

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Interior, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site
“Interior, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site” — An interior space on the grounds of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i San Pau.

As I continue working on photographs from our summer 2023 visit to Barcelona, here is another from the Saint Pau Art Nouveau Site, originally the Hospital de la Santa Creu i San Pau. The immense grounds of the “hospital” were vacated when the hospital relocated to a newer facility. Eventually those who did not want to lose this remarkable example of modern art nouveau architecture managed to begin the work of restoring and maintaining it.

Some buildings, such as the large main entrance facing the street, are fully and gloriously restored. Others, like this old hospital ward building, await restoration. For now the latter have been cleared out and stabilized, but the interiors are quite bare. (A large photograph at the far end of this room shows what it might have looked like when it was still a working hospital.)

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel

Couple at Windows, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site

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Couple at Windows, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site
“Couple at Windows, Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site” — A couple stands at the windows on an upper floor of the main building at the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site, Barcelona.

I can be a somewhat naive traveler, though I think that embracing this can actually enhance the travel experience. Knowing too much ahead of time can lessen the impact of things and can even interfere with the possibility of spontaneous surprises that are some of the best travel moments. With that in mind, while we knew that we wanted to visit the Gaudi sites (Sagrada Família, etc.) in Barcelona, we were not as aware of other remarkable architectural sites, including several that also featured art nouveau design. This location, the former grounds of a hospital, was remarkable and surprising.

The grounds feature a large number of buildings in various states of restoration, ranging from some that are fully updated to a few where most of the work is yet to be done. But taken as a whole, the site is amazing. I’ll share more photos going forward. In this photograph, a couple looks through the windows on an upper floor of the main entry building, with a view toward the interior spaces of the property.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel

Blue Column, Sagrada Familia

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Blue Column, Sagrada Familia
“Blue Column, Sagrada Familia” — A blue column lit by early evening light passing through colored glass windows, Sagrada Familia, Barcelona.

We visited the Gaudi-designed Sagrada Família in Barcelona last summer. The place was so visually striking that I honestly haven’t quite known what to do with the photographs, but I started digging into them recently. We are familiar with photographs of the remarkable exterior of the structure, but the interior is anrguably even more amazing. The amount of detail is nearly incomprehensible, and it is profoundly affected by the light coming through myriad stained glass windows and moving across its features.

We visited late in the afternoon, shortly before sunset — and I recommend this timing to others who may go. The sun was low in the sky when we entered, and colorful beams of light from the stained glass windows angled across the interior surfaces. Because it was late, the light was not static, instead changing constantly. Shafts of colored light moved slowly across the cathedral, striking various elements such as this column, illuminated by light coming through glue and yellow glass.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bar Martinez 1942

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Bar Martinez 1942
The evening crowd at Bar Martínez 1942 in Donostia/San Sebastian, Spain.

Bar Martinez 1942. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

The evening crowd at Bar Martínez 1942 in Donostia/San Sebastian, Spain.

In a sense, it felt like this summer’s big European adventure (ten weeks of travel!) really began in Donostia/San Sebastián Spain. Our arrival felt different from much of the rest of the trip, where mostly it was just the two of us, traveling light and sometimes a bit randomly. But several things were different at this first stop in Spain. We met a couple of “our (adult) kids” here. Within about an hour of our arrival, a stage of the Tour de France also arrived a short distance from where we stayed. And we did something else a bit unusual for us — we took a “pinxtos tour” on our first night.

If you don’t already know, pinxtos are essentially the tapas of this Basque region of Spain — wonderful, varied, “small plate” foods, and Donostia/San Sebastián is known for this culinary style. We usually plunge into such things on our own, but the “kids” had arranged for a tour with a local guide. She took us to a series of pinxtos bars, and it was a lot of fun. The photograph comes from the area of town where these businesses are found, and I snapped it as we wandered about in the evening.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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