#Barcelona in the paper

Visit in Barcelona at the end of November was one of those quick and surprising once. Nonetheless, I could not have missed a chance to sketch around. 

Surprising as it may seem, I have never been to Spain before. No wonder, that my friends equipped me with a great deal of dreadful stories about thieves and no less advice about "must-seen-things" and "to-do-lists" that I had no time for. Unfortunately, it was just a quick business trip with work and time after work at the dark afternoons. For the real discovering of the city I need to plan another trip, but certainly some time for sketching was a must. 

Botero

The one with horse will be recognisable for many of you, as the Botero's black horse is one of the most visible signatures of Barcelona's airport. Well... if you waited once too long at the airport, now you know how to kill your time...

Colours added later.

Even down south its getting dark so quickly. I have started having a beautiful blue sky out there.

La Boqueria

20 degrees was such a nice change in comparison to 4 degrees in windy cold Gdańsk. I adored the fact I could have a scroll in a light autumn coat. All illuminations of la Rambla made a nice introduction to the Navidad, Christmas time.

At the market of la Boqueria I fell in love with all those fresh fruits and vegetables that I always miss at this time of the year.

Santa Maria del Mar

Have I already admitted that I am in love with cathedrals? (No wonder, that I loved so much living in Cologne with its beautiful cathedral!). When the most famous one of Barcelona was hiding its towers in the darkness, I found myself just in front of Santa Maria del Mar in Ribera district, that is 700-year-old and was built by the people of Barcelona and for them. In the 13. century the Lady had in her protection all sailors and people whose lives depend on the sea. Hence, not far away from the cathedral, they helped building a beautiful special and full of light church that would welcome everyone, poor and reach and in which the whole city could gather.

Indeed, Santa Maria del Mar moved my imagination and during my next visit, it will be definitely on the top of my list.

Barcelona on the paper

Although I am not a great fan of travelling guide book, I love reading literature with a city in the background. Even more - with a city as a character with its own role.

1. The historical novel and bestseller of Ildefons Falcones 'The Catherdral of the sea" belongs to those that is a must to read, if you want to get a bit of magic of this city on the paper. Although the book is not the pearl of literature in my opinion, the 700 hundred pages are quick and easy to follow; I enjoyed a lot the story of the cathedral from the very begging.

2. The Shadow of the Wind, written by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and the magical story of Daniel Sempere I shall not introduce to anyone, as I happened to see this book on the bookshelf of people, who I never considered as literature lovers!

3. Both of them are back to the library. The one I am currently reading is another bestseller of catalan writer from Barcelona - Confessions (Jaume Cabre).

Some other books with Barcelona in the background I shortlisted for the future. Maybe before another trip to Barcelona. Do you have any other to add?

• Eduardo Mendoza, Mauricio o las elecciones primarias,The Truth about the Savolta Case, The City of Marvels, The Labyrinth of the Olives, No word from Gurb,

• Martin Esteban, Andreu Carranza, La clave Gaudí (The Gaudi key) and some others. I think there is no much to expect here than from "Leonardo da Vinci code" but it seems to be good for a plane.

• Carmen Laforet, Nada, story of a girl from the time of war in Barcelona.

• George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia

• Ángela Becerra, El penúltimo sueño

• Andromeda Romano-Lax, The Spanish Bow

• crime stories of Arturo Pérez-Reverte and Vasquez Montalban 

Do you have some more to add to the list for non-spanish speakers?

I love to read about urban sketching that is so popular within Barcelona's artists. Admittedly, some of my favourite urban sketchers are exactly from Barcelona or Iberian Peninsula! Excited, I decided to visit some bookstore in quest for some local publications. Unfortunately, I was probably in the wrong place, because in the bookstore was only one single book related to the topic.





In the huge bookstore at Passeig de Gracia I found the book Thomas Thorspecken. Edited by British, it contains, however various chapters, written also by Spaniards with beautiful illustrations of Barcelona. If someone was interested in the review, please leave a comment below. Briefly, I can only say that  the book is a nice source of knowledge also for all beginners and contains plenty of examples for techniques, colour theory or perspective. Plus a nice motivation to improve the language skills as the book (although with many pictures) is still in Spanish. English version to be found on amazon I guess.

While in Barcelona, my flatmate texted me on messanger:
 - Hi, when are you going to be back?
 - On Thursday at night.
- Are you sure? It's December coming.

She was right. If you happen to go there during autumn or winter time, plan there some more time than me :). It's difficult to leave.

Palms speak for themselves I guess ;)!.