Illustration: Images of Sol, Madrid

I spent some time on this, reviewing my photos and picking out the details. Although I already had an image of what I wanted in mind.



This was it, exactly.

I really love the iconic bear with the tree. XD Originally wanted the Sol Metro Sign in the background but thought it worked better as a frame.:P



Ended up placing the metro entrance and the post office behind it.



My mood board..



Watercolour is actually my least favourite medium, and is something I definitely need to improve on.XD



..

I work best with chalk, and oil pastel. charcoal a little, but too messy for me. (Simply put, quite the opposite of this.XD)

I am quite satisfied with how this turned out in the end though...:3

When in Madrid :: 20121228 Strike - Alfon Libertad

When in Madrid,



do witness a strike at Puerta del Sol.
(I kid, I kid! XD)

...


But here are some I filmed while I was there, it was a protest on some wrongly accused guy who's in prison for his actions, and people think it's unjust (I am not entirely sure, sorry, I hardly ever watch the news or read the papers.XP)



As if the strikes in the country where I live are not enough... XD

...

This guy voices out his opinions..



Did you know he was featured in one of the spanish documentaries about people in the streets? XD

...

How Sol looks in the evening, it's packed with people.



...

I hope you liked the videos. I had to climb barricaded fountains // metro railings to get these.XD

...

More people.



Was a mix of locals, tourists, people on strike, a lot of street vendors, and shoppers (due to the proximity of numerous shops).



Where the people have gathered for the protest..



A closer look..





What they were raving on about..





And from the police-point-of-view..



...

Lastly, the Christmas tree at Sol... :3 (hehe, awfully late to be posting something christmas-y! :P)



I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays as much as I did! (^_~)V

Barcelona - entry 004

We stopped by here for some Tapas, [was quite full from eating 4.5 meals on our 20-hour flight! .5=snacks.>_<; and from sleeping a lot too!]



The interior looks something like this downstairs:





-

Some food you can nibble on..





I thought I took a photo of everything but it turns out I didn't take a photo of the ones on the other side....

-

Couldn't get a good shot of this with auto,



and it looks bad with flash.



This sangria was high on alcohol and less on fruity content.=_=

We ended up not finishing our drinks.>_< Was feeling woozy halfway through. [but definitely helped me get some good sleep on my first day despite the time difference! xP]

-

My first self-timed photo on my Nikon... Haha. It is so easy to set up the self timer on the D90.>_<



Thank you Rob and Mandy! XD

-

The rest of the place looks like this:



-

This part looks really cool.



-

The bartender gives us something more to drink before we leave...



Haha, it looked pretty strong so only took a sip.>_<

Was orangey-gingery, and sweet. Not bad... [But any more and I'm at my limits.n_n;]

-

It turns out Rob and Mandy lives right across our hotel, literally. -_-

[Have always been curious how these apartment buildings look like on the inside! Is interesting to go inside one.XD Different from what we normally have here.]



So before heading back, we went to see Rio (their cat),


[Holaaa Rio!]

...who was soooo adorable and seemed very happy to see us! :D

[It liked gnawing at my sister's boots too. Haha.]

I do not know much about cats, nor have I had much experience about / encounters with them, but this is one friendly and playful cat.>_<

-

We also had some tea and got to taste some freshly-baked blueberry goodness by Mandy!:D

[Nothing beats strong warm tea and sweets!]


Scrumptious!:P

Thanks to Rob who took this photo of us! (...and hope you enjoyed your holidays in Strassbourg!)

Barcelona - entry 003

Met with the wonderful Rob and Mandy, who took us for a quick tour [But was too much for me to remember on a first day! Lol]. *info.glut* >_<

Huuuuge thanks to them for coming out to meet with us despite their busy schedule! [Haha, they were going to Strassbourg early the next day, and I know they need to do some last-minute packing and all...:P]

Anyway, here are some photos from our walk: [a lot of blurry takes too. Haha, but so long as the street names are readable is tolerable.>_<]-- helps to take photos of street names! ;p [Am having fun looking them up in Google Maps. >_<]




-

The Francesc Macià monument (side-view!>_<) at Plaça Catalunya:


-

El Corte Inglés seen here:



-

From Plaça Catalunya one can head up to different larger avenues/districts. This is La Rambla, and it stretches out all the way to the Columbus Monument at Port Vell [more on that later though! :P].



-

From La Rambla you can go into one of the smaller streets (this time we take the right), and it leads to the narrow but very charming streets of the Barri Gòtic.


-

Església de Sta. Maria del Pi:



Facing the church is this:


This seems to be drawing a crowd... But what is it?..>_<


Another photo of the facade from where we were standing:


The church's main door:


And more!


-

A Solingen shop! (I didn't actually notice it was, until we went there again during the day some days later....>_<)


We have been using Solingen scissors at home for as long as I can remember.>_< And it seems like a normal thing to me. But never knew there was a shop like this:

(Hmm.. Now I kind of appreciate these super old scissors....XP)

-

Some more shots of the streets:



-

Didn't know what this one was at the time I took this photo...


But here is something I found:

when: Nov - Dec 2012 (annual)
where: Barcelona Cathedral
cost: Free

Dating from 1786, the Fira de Santa Llucia is a Christmas fair held every December outside Barcelona Cathedral. Around 300 market stalls sell seasonal goodies, while nativity scenes, musical parades and exhibitions add to the fun.

A much-loved feature of this festival is the giant caga tió, a huge, smiley-faced "log". Much like a Mexican piñata, the caga tió drops out, or 'caga' ('craps'), presents when kids beat it with a stick.

The caga tió is a character in Catalan mythology relating to Christmas tradition and many families keep one in their homes during the festive season (small versions are on sale at the Fira de Santa Llucia's market).

• Location: 3 Pla de la Seu, Barrí Gòtic Barcelona Cataluña 08002, Spain.
  
• Information from: http://www.whatsonwhen.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=158696.
  

[Lol.. So these were the "smiley-faced logs" I was asking about...! XD]

Turns out this was only until 22nd December.>_<

• See their calendar here: http://en.firadesantallucia.cat/calendari.php
  
• You can read more about this at: http://en.firadesantallucia.cat/historia.php
  

Ah, it is interesting to be learning things all the time.XD

-

Beautiful arches and narrow streets!


Along Carrer del Bisbe Irurita is this bridge that is said to link the Palau de la Generalitat with the Casa dels Canonges. Built in the neo-gothic style by the architect Joan Rubió.


-

Couldn't find anything on this at the moment...
[I think I have some photos from another day with some story of what this is in memory of... (or can someone tell me about this and make my life easier? xP)]


-

The sign on this building reads: Plaza de la Constitución.
This is the HQ of the City Council and is located across Palau de la Generalitat on Plaça Sant Jaume. [Thought of visiting this again during the day but at that time I couldn't remember how we got there. HAHA. =_=""]


-

They had this up at the middle of the square, was nicer viewed in the evening than during the day.:P




-

One with a view of the Palau de la Generalitat in the back / Something at Plaça de Sant Miquel (didn't find anything on this square..) / Another monument at Plaça Catalunya


-

And I shall leave you with this photo.:D



[* Will edit this post and write some captions tomorrow! XD
--Captions written!! ^_^ 2012/01/25]