Walking Around Barcelona, Spain

 

Arc de Triomf built for the 1888 Barcelona World's Fair

Arc de Triomf built for the 1888 Barcelona World’s Fair

 

My previous blogs of Barcelona have highlighted the works of innovative Spanish-born architect Antoni Gaudi, the Segrada Familia Basicilia, Casa Mila, Casa Batllo, as well as the Barcelona concert hall (not Gaudi).  Now I’ll simply take you around Barcelona for some of the interesting sites and discoveries.
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Farolitos or Luminarias in Taos

Farolitos and Luminarias on Ledoux Street Taos, NM

Farolitos and Luminarias on Ledoux Street Taos, NM

 

New Mexico has a tradition of lighting Farolitos and Luminarias during the holidays.  Above are brown paper bags with a bit of sand and small candle placed inside for illumination.  Small bonfires are also lit.  The other pastime in New Mexico, other than discussing which is better, red or green chile, is to argue if the bags are called luminarios and the small bonfires are called firelitos, or is it the other way around?  I prefer to call the scene above bag-a-litos so there is no mistake about it….

I spent the month of December 2013 in Taos searching for a specific Christmas scene.  An adobe wall and gate with a Christmas wreath, snow and some bag-a-litos.  Not only did I not find such a gate, but there was hardly any snow in December.  So the search goes on.  Ledoux Street was made famous in part by the Navajo artist, R.C. Gorman.

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Signs in China, Now THAT’S a Bad Sign

slide-sign-smoking-20131029-IMG_1700slide-sign-smoking-20131028-IMG_1651 copyIf you were asked to make a sign written in Chinese, wouldn’t you want to have a Chinese person check it out?  Especially if it is a sign millions of people would see, or if it were a notice on your company’s product?  I think the Chinese must be very perplexed why many so many English speaking people stop and take a photo of their ‘No Smorking’ and “No Smooking” signs.

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There are LOTS more examples…. Read on.  Click on the image to see the entire sign.
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