# Barcelona, muy bien



## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

My cousin and his fiancé asked me to help them drive her car from Barcelona to Helsinki, the plan being to drive through France and Germany all the way to Rostock and take the ferry to Helsinki. We booked the tickets to Barcelona but then they decided (the short version) that her sister should keep the car in Barcelona while they buy one in Finland instead. Which worked out fine for me, no stressing on der autobahnen - 9 days in Barcelona instead. :cheers:










(The pictures won't necessarily be in a chronological order, or any other rational order for that matter)​

First morning, views from the balcony.



























I quickly found out there was no cider in Barcelona. Which wasn't really that big of a problem as other alcoholic beverages were plenty, still, would have been nice with even one.

Heading to Diagonal de Mar for groceries
















































































The loot. In Spain most items were packed separately in dozens of small bags while in Finland you usually pack everything in one or two bags. Interesting? You decide.

Cheking out Port Olympic, my first contact with Barcelona that wasn't an airport, apartment, highway or shopping mall. Also had my first and best meal on the trip here. Funnily enough it was exactly the kind of touristic franchise restaurant people say you should stay away from whilst advocating _true local_ restaurants. Moncho's, recommended by Joka. kay:




































Visiting the Dali Museum in Figueres, a 2 hour drive from Barcelona. Figueres was like 15 minutes from The French border, I wanted to cross over just squeeze in France on the same trip but the others didn't agree. 













































The impression I got was that he was quite odd.


More drive-by tourism









Cerveza galore!









El Furrero!









El castle









View down the street









Mapfre and that other building in the evening









Near Plaza de campiones (Aptly named place considering recent events :cheers










I'll post more tomorrow. Questions, comments, let's hear it.

Oh yeah, and Visca Barça! :banana:


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## dnobsemajdnob (Jan 29, 2009)

This is one of the ten best cities in the world in my humble opinion.


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

Great pictures of a very gorgeous city, I hope that you had a good time. Hope for more. :cheers:


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## city_thing (May 25, 2006)

I want to drive from Barcelona to Helsinki 

Great photos. You seem tres cool.


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

_Which came first, the chicken or the egg?_









Ramblas from The Columbus monument. I never quite did figure out why they erected a monument for him in Barcelona.









Ramblas on the ground, this was during the Formula 1 weekend so it was packed.









Segway guide looking at our non electric wheel boots









Nice park close to The Zoo









Carrer de Mar I think









Mare Magnum (?)
















Senoritas & Chicas









_Her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard_ (I got two for one! kay

More to come.


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## Deanb (Jun 7, 2006)

looks great


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## phasuk111 (May 29, 2009)

be attractive for tour , a picture is pretty , thank ,


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## Alvr23 (Jan 29, 2008)

Joka said:


> Ramblas from The Columbus monument. I never quite did figure out why they erected a monument for him in Barcelona.


They erected a monument for him in Barcelona because the King and the Queen of Spain financed Colombus trip to America.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Barcelona its a great city; thanks for those photos @Joka


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## Camilo_Costa (Oct 27, 2007)

very beautiful!


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

Xusein said:


> Great pictures of a very gorgeous city, I hope that you had a good time. Hope for more. :cheers:


Thank you, it's impossible to not have a good time in Barcelona. :cheers:



city_thing said:


> Great photos. You seem tres cool.


That's why they call Mr. Cool.



Alvr23 said:


> They erected a monument for him in Barcelona because the King and the Queen of Spain financed Colombus trip to America.


I knew there was some reason, gracias.


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

Arc de triumfe









These fountains were pretty cool, I filled my bottle from these all the time.



























La Policia trying to catch Monaconites rolling dirty



























I tried to catch more people pointing, but to no avail. Suppose everyone else knew pointing is rude.


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

I've been getting hand me down suits from my father and brother for as long as I remember so I was in dire need of a new, proper suit and I was hoping to find one in Barcelona, I found one in La Roca, near Barcelona. My cousin had found a comprehensive guide online on how to purchase a suit so we both became self professed experts and fabric geeks looking for wool and thread count numbers (take heed ).









100% wool, Super 150's, pinstripe suit by Sarar (The stripes are about 4mm apart)









For comparison, 100% wool, Super 100's, from Dressmann









A blazer I found in Zara. It's a mix suit, mostly cotton.


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## _Barca_ (Apr 15, 2009)

Joka said:


> Ramblas from The Columbus monument. I never quite did figure out why they erected a monument for him in Barcelona.



Well, he had live in Barcelona for lots of years, and there are people that think he was catalan. I don't have an opinion about that because I don't study it but I have books that explain it. It's a conspiracy theory . And he departed sailing from Barcelona several times.

You can believe it or not, but there ploughs proofs that semi-confirm it. For example: in the books that have wrote, is always signing "Colom" that is to common surname in Catalunya that means dove. Colon (spanish) or Columbus don't mean anything, because that surnames are transformations of the original word. There are more proofs, tomorrow I'll show you. It's very interesting. You can believe it or not 

I'm not doing catalanism to you, it's only a neutral historical and scientific investigation, you can believe it or not, you choose.


Great photos.


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## madridhere (Oct 10, 2005)

Barca, no serious history teacher believes that. It´s like saying that Hitler didn´t killed any Jew.

Colombus was born in Geneva (Italy), spent many years in different countries trying to find money to go to the West and arrive to India (not to America because he didn´t know that it existed) and finally Isabel of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon, the Spanish Kings, paid the trip. 

He started his journey from Barcelona, had a rest at Cádiz and went on to America. 

He was married to a Spanish woman and had Spanish children. He had some lovers apart from a wife.

He died very poor and didn´t know that he had discovered a new continent.


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## _Barca_ (Apr 15, 2009)

madridhere said:


> Barca, no serious history teacher believes that. It´s like saying that Hitler didn´t killed any Jew.
> 
> Colombus was born in Geneva (Italy), spent many years in different countries trying to find money to go to the West and arrive to India (not to America because he didn´t know that it existed) and finally Isabel of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon, the Spanish Kings, paid the trip.
> 
> ...


That's the typical history, true, I only want to show you another theory that it seems so interesting to me, and you have to read it too, not for convince you, just for reading and thinking. And let me tell you that nobody study it very well, there are not too many proofs. And if a history teacher don't explain that to me it's only because no one teacher explain that to him. Because nobody worry about that and nobody did an acceptable investigation. Everyone says that it was from Geneva (including me) but I bet something that you don't know how someone concluded that.


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## madridhere (Oct 10, 2005)

Well, I prefer to believe the best teachers of Spanish history of the world like John Elliot from Oxford or Hugh Thomas (between many others) before your unknown teachers. Plus I know one of the descendants of Columbus, a friend of my brother, and they confirm the general theory because they have some documents in their family that obviously your teachers don´t have and don´t know.

Anyway, it´s up to you to believe what you want. Maybe you´re two or three in the world believing that, congratulations all of you. 

Maybe you can believe too a theory about Cervantes being from Barcelona instead of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) or Velázquez being from Girona instead of Seville (Andalucía). If you´re happy thinking eccentric things I´m not going to stop you. You can look for a couple of friends and found a club with that theory.

The rest of the world still won´t believe that anyway. I dont´have time to discuss this, sorry.

The pictures are nice. Thanks for them. More please if it´s possible.


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## _Barca_ (Apr 15, 2009)

I never says that I believe that. Please, relax yourself, inspires a bit and use the quote button. I never talk about the other persons that you have mentioned. And you are not being fair using that. Now I'm going to the bed because I'm tired. Tomorrow, if you want, we can continue, so good night. 

And please, try to be more calm tomorrow, and don't try to turn this into a political or patriotically debate, because it's not.


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

madridhere said:


> More please if it´s possible.















































Am I the only one who thinks the guy to the right looks like a skinny Seth Rogen?









kay:









_Utopia_ demonstrating the difference between a ship and a boat. Boat < building < Ship


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## Ribarca (Jan 28, 2005)

Alvr23 said:


> They erected a monument for him in Barcelona because the King and the Queen of Spain financed Colombus trip to America.


Actually when he returned from his voyage he came to Barcelona and brought some "Indians" with him who he presented to the King and Queen.










There is evidence according to quite a few historians he's Catalan as well. But that's irrelevant.

On Cervantes, he might be Castillian but the city he marvels at in Don Quixote is Barcelona:cheers:.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Awesome updated photos of Barcelona @Joka :cheers:


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## city_thing (May 25, 2006)

What kind of camera are you using, Joka? The pictures are very clear and professional. Are you photoshopping them at all (to tweak the shade etc.)?

And yes, you are Mr. Cool.

I'm so jealous of all those young European who live all over the continent and 'drive to France for the weekend'. What a great lifestyle.

Here in Australia, you can take a cheap flight to Singapore, Hong Kong or New Zealand (driving won't get you very far) - all those countries aren't quite Barcelona hno:


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

city_thing said:


> What kind of camera are you using, Joka? The pictures are very clear and professional. Are you photoshopping them at all (to tweak the shade etc.)?


Nikon D80 with a Nikkor 18-200 lens. I was thinking the exact opposite and cursing how most of the photos have a too long exposure time (blurry), high ISO value (noisy) or just plain out of focus. Let's agree that they are ok 
I usually pull in the levels, adjust colour if necessary and occasionally use unsharp mask.



city_thing said:


> I'm so jealous of all those young European who live all over the continent and 'drive to France for the weekend'. What a great lifestyle.


I'm not sure I qualify for that jetset crowd as this trip was only possible to me because of the free accommodation I had there, but certainly it gave me more appreciation for living in Europe. My cousins sister (who's also my cousin, obviously) who lives in Valencia with her boyfriend Jesus came up to visit us in Barcelona. Jesus had relatives in Barcelona and we went to dinner with Jesus' cousin, Jesus (yes they're both named Jesus!) and his wife to their favourite restaurant*. This was on 9th of May, Europe day, it was quite European. 
(*it was good but it didn't live up to Moncho's)


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## Guest (May 30, 2009)

Great pics Joka, you gave a very special touch to your BCN pics  I really like them, thank u for sharing them!


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## wapo5050 (Jun 28, 2008)

_Barca_ said:


> That's the typical history, true, I only want to show you another theory that it seems so interesting to me, and you have to read it too, not for convince you, just for reading and thinking. And let me tell you that nobody study it very well, there are not too many proofs. And if a history teacher don't explain that to me it's only because no one teacher explain that to him. Because nobody worry about that and nobody did an acceptable investigation. Everyone says that it was from Geneva (including me) but I bet something that you don't know how someone concluded that.


It is known that colombus was borned in Madrid and he started his trip to the new world from the Manzanares river. For that reason in Madrid we have a monument too. It is the true theory... :nuts:


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## madridhere (Oct 10, 2005)

Yes, wapo, and Cervantes didn´t write Don Quixote in Spanish but in Catalan.

The typical theory is that he wrote it in Spanish but I know one teacher from Barcelona that says that truly he was a real Catalonian...blablabla. 

Probably Shakespeare came from Barcelona too...

And Almodóvar and Amenábar too, and Picasso too, and Obama...Didn´t you know that?

The world doesn´t know it, but the truth is that all the important people of the world come only from Barcelona.

:weird::weird:

please more pictures of the city before someone goes completely mad...


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## _Barca_ (Apr 15, 2009)

Wapo and Madridhere, You are so boring, and you are lying constanly. Y never says that I believe that, I only says that there are people that believes that and they did an investigation, I only say that. You can continue discrediting me using things that I didn't say, maybe it's funny, but I don't know why are you doing that. Did you read all my post or you just read what you want, use the quote button and you will see that I say things like: "I don't believe that" or "Everyone says that it's from geneva including me", I say things like this, so you don't have reasons to keep laughing at me because I say that I don't believe that and my only objective was to show the opinions of other people. And stop saying things about the other artists because I don't say nothing about them and you are not fair using that to descredting me. Let me tell you that you are an opportunist and a very bad person.


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## Dinivan (Apr 9, 2007)

^^ they are from Madrid, what do you expect? look at their childish comments, they're just like kids, ignore them and they'll be gone. I do not think Columbus was catalan, but if there's a theory that tries to demonstrate that statement and you want to explain it you are welcome to do it, simply for curiosity. Anyone else would understand that explaining a theory does not equal to claiming its truth or believing it.

As for the pictures, keep em coming. BTW thanks for the Moncho's advice. Truth is that there is at least another Moncho's in Diagonal and it's not very good so I've never put a foot on that resturant in the beach, but I might try now that you've recommended it. But contrary to what you said, most people would agree that many resturants next to the sea are pretty good, specially those close to the port where they serve exquisite fish (at a cost).


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## tonyssa (Aug 14, 2007)

Nice pics! :applause:


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## zazo (Dec 5, 2005)

Dinivan said:


> ^^ they are from Madrid, what do you expect? look at their childish comments, they're just like kids, ignore them and they'll be gone. I do not think Columbus was catalan, but if there's a theory that tries to demonstrate that statement and you want to explain it you are welcome to do it, simply for curiosity. Anyone else would understand that explaining a theory does not equal to claiming its truth or believing it.
> 
> As for the pictures, keep em coming. BTW thanks for the Moncho's advice. Truth is that there is at least another Moncho's in Diagonal and it's not very good so I've never put a foot on that resturant in the beach, but I might try now that you've recommended it. But contrary to what you said, most people would agree that many resturants next to the sea are pretty good, specially those close to the port where they serve exquisite fish (at a cost).


Of course there's a theory boy.. look for it on the internet, i don't know what's happens to you with Madrid..


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## guille_89uy (Jan 14, 2008)

_"Por otro lado algunos autores e investigadores han defendido otras hipótesis sobre el origen de Colón. Una de ellas es la hipótesis catalana; Luis Ulloa, historiador peruano que residió en Barcelona varios años, afirmaba que Colón era de origen catalán[26] y de tradición marinera basándose, entre otras razones, en que en sus escritos, todos en lengua castellana, existen giros lingüísticos propios del catalán.[27] Para Ulloa Cristóbal Colón fue un noble catalán que se llamaría realmente Joan Colom, un navegante enemigo de Juan II de Aragón, contra el que luchó al servicio de Renato de Anjou, aspirante al trono y que además sería el supuesto John Scolvus que habría llegado al norte de América en el año 1476, que posteriormente le ofrecería el proyecto del descubrimiento a Fernando el Católico para beneficio de Cataluña.[28] Esta teoría ha sido seguida, ampliada o modificada por diversos autores, en su mayoría historiadores e investigadores catalanes, aunque también existen investigadores de otros países como el estadounidense Charles Merrill[29] que han apoyado esta tesis."_


Los madrileños siempre tan rigurosos para lo que les conviene: veis nacionalismo catalán en todas partes cuando se trata de una cuestión estríctamente histórica y al hacer esto, no haceis más que exponer vuestro propio españolismo...
Cada día da más asco ser español. Que os vaya bien con Madrid 2016, a ver si incrementáis aun más vuestro record de ser el Ayuntamiento más endeudado de la peninsula.


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## zazo (Dec 5, 2005)

hellooo??? jajja


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## MIBO (Aug 20, 2008)

Well, I'm from Madrid and well, childish people are everywhere!

Beautyful pics, beautyful city and hope to see more! 
From a Madridian living in Tokyo who loves Barcelona!


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## aby_since82 (May 5, 2007)

I think is very sad to destroy a thread as good like this...please stop
good job joka!


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

Dinivan said:


> As for the pictures, keep em coming.


I'm running out of steam here, I left the camera home quite often. I regret that I didn't have a pocket camera with me, especially when Barca won Copa Del Rey there would have been a lot of interesting stuff to shoot on Catalunya, I still have a couple more though. 



Dinivan said:


> BTW thanks for the Moncho's advice. Truth is that there is at least another Moncho's in Diagonal and it's not very good so I've never put a foot on that resturant in the beach, but I might try now that you've recommended it.












Another good one. 



Dinivan said:


> But contrary to what you said, most people would agree that many resturants next to the sea are pretty good,


I didn't mean to say that Restaurants in Port Olimpic are bad or that perception of them is such. Just that _people_ usually tell you to stay away from _tourist traps_ and go where the locals go, go to _mom & pop restaurants_ (eg. 4 Gats). Moncho's struck me as a tourist trap extravaganza, yet I was very pleased with the service, food and price. Don't listen to _people_ is my point. 



Dinivan said:


> specially those close to the port where they serve exquisite fish (at a cost).


I had Monkfish in Taberna Gallega, not worth the money, go to Moncho's.


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

A small voyage in to the underbelly of Barcelona.









Pick pockets! We were the only one's dumb enough to stop and talk with them, their petition for the dumb & deaf children of Afghanistan seemed legit at first glance.  Soon enough I felt my pocket zipper opening, by the hands of a 12-14 year old girl. hno:

Props to The Barcelona police department by the way, one of the prostitutes managed to snatch my cousins wallet on Ramblas, literally seconds later she was arrested by undercover cops, which was pretty cool as I've never seen undercover cops before (Maybe that's the point though).









Sub urbs?









Catalonian nationalism?









Iberian nationalism?









These public ping pong tables were everywhere, next time I'll have to take balls and rackets with me.









Barcelona through an extremely dirty and distorting window









The Pyrenees. Are there any slopes there?









Some super awesome dude on blades


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## Dinivan (Apr 9, 2007)

^^ unfortunately these pickpockets are everywhere and one must be careful where to put the wallet (interior pockets should be enough). They are usually kids from other countries that smuggled into the country, and the laws in here are too permissive with them so until they reach 18 they can do as they please.



Joka said:


> Iberian nationalism?


hahaha IB stands for Illes Balears (balearic islands) 



Joka said:


> Sub urbs?


Looks like that is Montcada i Reixac, it's a town next to Barcelona and certainly one of the most degraded, although not particularly dangerous, it's just ugly.



Joka said:


> The Pyrenees. Are there any slopes there?


Sure, and there are some very good ones in the Catalan Pyrenees like Baqueira-Beret, La Molina o Masella. Then there are the Aragonese and the French resorts.


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

Dinivan said:


> ^^ unfortunately these pickpockets are everywhere and one must be careful where to put the wallet (interior pockets should be enough). They are usually kids from other countries that smuggled into the country, and the laws in here are too permissive with them so until they reach 18 they can do as they please.


People were warning so much about pickpockets in Barcelona before the trip that I was expecting a city full of pickpocket wizards. Three times they tried, twice of which I was drunk and zero is what they got. They weren't that good. 



Dinivan said:


> Sure, and there are some very good ones in the Catalan Pyrenees like Baqueira-Beret, La Molina o Masella. Then there are the Aragonese and the French resorts.


Are they open all year around?

edit: Perhaps not. What time are they usually open?


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

Omnipresent bikers (I was experimenting with this technique a lot)









D80 team mate!









A beverage that tastes like beer but without alcohol, perhaps not the best of inventions?









Home made Cava Sangria, too many fruits?



























Canovelles perhaps?









Alitalia is still in business!


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## Julandronic (Feb 9, 2009)

Ribarca said:


> Actually when he returned from his voyage he came to Barcelona and brought some "Indians" with him who he presented to the King and Queen.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Of course,Columbus was catalan and the real name of Cervante's book was "Don Quixote of Barcelona" , forget Don Quixote of La Mancha :rofl: come on,guys... Cool pics! :cheers:


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

Speaking of the relationship between Barcelona and Madrid. What does it say on this flag? Someone put it up on their balcony for a couple of days.


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## Alvr23 (Jan 29, 2008)

it says: "Madrid, pay now". I would like to know why it say that.


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

*A couple pictures from The Columbus monument*

^^ Perhaps football related?




































205000 pesos = 1232€? (plus a couple of years of inflation)


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## Cicerón (May 15, 2006)

Nice pictures Joka, I'm glad you liked Barcelona, but it's such a pity that this wonderful thread has been spoilt hno:



Joka said:


> 205000 pesos = 1232€? (plus a couple of years of inflation)


No, it has nothing to do with money, "peso" means weight. BTW, we used _pesetas_ in Spain, not pesos.

It says:

Shrine 14,000 kg
Sphere and baseboard 16,000 kg
Bronze ornaments 14,000 kg

Total weight 205,000 kg

Started in May 1887
Finished in March 1888

Just curious, where did you take that picture?


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## Guest (Jun 2, 2009)

Alvr23 said:


> it says: "Madrid, pay now". I would like to know why it say that.


Political stuff

I love the last pics, Joka. They are stunning! :eek2::eek2:


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

Cicerón said:


> No, it has nothing to do with money, "peso" means weight. BTW, we used _pesetas_ in Spain, not pesos.


I know but I googled it, and Spanish dollars AKA. Piece of Eight was also known as pesos during colonial times(?). Apparently not in this context though.



Cicerón said:


> Just curious, where did you take that picture?


On top of the Columbus monument. 



frozen said:


> Political stuff
> 
> I love the last pics, Joka. They are stunning! :eek2::eek2:


Gracias.


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

A last breath of air before my thread fades in to oblivion. But fear not, there will be a sequel. 




































Some N&B flavour 








































































Now in hindsight that pole _does_ kind of spoil the picture, maybe I should have moved a bit.. 



























What's this place called? It's like a second Barcelona next to Barcelona.

Some road pictures





































That was it. Hasta La Vista, or as the Spanish terminator says _Sayonara_.


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## Guest (Jun 4, 2009)

Joka said:


>


Is it Figueres (Dalí Museum), isn't it?

Stunning new pics as usual


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

frozen said:


> Is it Figueres (Dalí Museum), isn't it?
> 
> Stunning new pics as usual


Yeah, I should have written that.


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## Kampflamm (Dec 28, 2003)

Those are some big eggs.


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## Jesús E. Salgado (Aug 20, 2008)

Los felicito por su triple campeonato.
Congratulations on your triple championship.


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## willo (Jan 3, 2005)

Joka said:


> Speaking of the relationship between Barcelona and Madrid. What does it say on this flag? Someone put it up on their balcony for a couple of days.


it's because of the deficit in fiscal balances between the central goverment and Catalania. Funny enough, because Madrid as a region has deficit too but they identify Madrid as central goverment


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## Pavlemadrid (Nov 30, 2006)

Oh! Nice pics!  Amazing BCN!

And Madrid?


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## pokistic (May 8, 2007)

YES! MUY BIEN!


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

Pavlemadrid said:


> And Madrid?


One of these days.. I'm definitely going back to Barcelona, maybe I'll take the AVE to Madrid.


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## guille_89uy (Jan 14, 2008)

willo said:


> it's because of the deficit in fiscal balances between the central goverment and Catalania. Funny enough, because Madrid as a region has deficit too but they identify Madrid as central goverment



Madrid hasn't got deficit if you count the investment from the Ministerio de Fomento: 135 € per capita in Catalonia; 173 € in Madrid (and less population).


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Awesome photos once again :cheers:


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## Cornella (Nov 16, 2008)

Joka said:


> What's this place called? It's like a second Barcelona next to Barcelona.


Is Hospitalet de Llobregat (253.782 population) and Baix Llobregat Area ("Comarca") (Cornellà de Llobregat (85.180 pop.), Esplugues de Llobregat (46.286 pop.), El Prat de Llobregat (62.663 pop.)...).


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## willo (Jan 3, 2005)

guille_89uy said:


> Madrid hasn't got deficit if you count the investment from the Ministerio de Fomento: 135 € per capita in Catalonia; 173 € in Madrid (and less population).


whatever, i'm not going to argue.

The last one pic is very cool


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## Obidos (Dec 23, 2005)

No please, don´t start using this thread with political issues btn Mad-Bcn/Cat...
(I am spanish)


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