writer
Friday April 1st, 2011 09:01 AM
I was last in San Sebastián seven years ago and, being the height of summer, the beach was choc-a-bloc. Standing room only, almost. I was back again last week putting together a piece and set of photos for Get Lost, an Australian travel magazine.
Despite the temperatures being no higher than mid-teens there was no lack of activity along the city’s famous beach, La Concha. In the port, fishermen fixing their nets and retired fishermen, like Miguel and Inocencio, both in their 80s, who were drawn down to the water’s edge in much the same way as they had been most days over the past seven decades.
Along came Felix, back from a canoe trip. The first thing he did after disembarking was jump in the water. “It’s phenomenal,” he said, “but chilly”. Felix was fully wet-suited up but back on the beach I found Ovidio, marching out of the surf. He was just in his bathers. He told me that he swam every day, despite the sea temperature being around 10C.
I’ve just read the late Roger Deakin’s, Waterlog. It’s a wonderful story of eccentric swimming around Britain’s seas, lakes and bogs. Deakin believed the cold water swimming had both mental and physiological health benefits.
So I thought I’d have a go. Due to the shallow slope of the beach, by the time I was knee deep I’d already lost the feeling in my feet. I dived in and came up arms flailing before settling down in some sort of stroke for 10 minutes. I felt the cramp in my foot just as I was wading back up the beach. But, oh, what a sensory experience. And with the added bonus of there being plenty of space on the sand to recover afterwards.
Tags: Donostia, Euskadi, fotografo Donostia, fotografo San Sebastian, fotos, País Vasco, San Sebastian, San Sebastian photographer, Spain, writer
Posted in Commercial, News, País Vasco, Portraits, Press, Travel | No Comments
Friday January 7th, 2011 10:06 PM
One of the things that has always fascinated me about Spain in general but Barcelona in particular is the large number of independent shops that seem to thrive despite competition from large chain stores or out-of-town malls.
Barcelona’s Barrio Gótico – or old centre – is full of such shops which, at the extreme, may specialise in only one product. Arlequí Màscares, in Plaza St Josep Oriol, sells only masques, many made in-house. Not far away, the hat shop Obach, was attracting a constant stream of customers through its doors when I passed by as was Subur, a shoe shop that sells only one style of shoe, albeit in a variety of colours.
In Calle de Pi is Drap, which sells dolls houses and miniature furniture and figures destined to live in them. And if you get peckish after all the walking required between shops, a few doors up is Pineda, a café which specialises cured meats.
All this is not to say that Barcelona is bereft of department stores and high-street names – in fact they were packed with people on the first day of the sales when I took these pictures – but the fact that the city is able to accommodate both is surely one of the factors Barcelona’s continued success.
Tags: Barcelona, Catalonia, Catalunya, España, fotografía, fotógrafo, fotoperiodismo, Independiente, journalist, Periodismo, photographer, Reportaje, Shops, Spain, Tiendas, writer
Posted in Catalunya, Travel | No Comments
Monday December 13th, 2010 07:38 PM
My sister-in-law, Allende, has just spent a fortune renovating her bar in Ezcaray. Technically known as Cervecería Refugio (where ‘cervecería’ translates, I guess, as well-stock pub), I’ve always thought it’s best known for its marvellous selection of sensational tapas and, perhaps too, the forceful character of its owner. She is, as they say, unique. The day before the builders moved in, I took some photos so she’d have a memory of the proverbial good-old times.
The renovation, eventful to say the least – they discovered a stream flowing under the floor-, is now finished. If you think the place looks good in the photos, it’s even better now.
Tags: Bar, beer, España, Ezcaray, fotografía, fotógrafo, journalist, La Rioja, photographer, Reportaje, Rioja, Spain, tapas, vino, wine, writer
Posted in Commercial, La Rioja, News, Portraits | 1 Comment
Thursday October 14th, 2010 07:47 PM
For people the world over the word Rioja is synonymous with great wines. But how many people outside Spain would be able to picture the landscape where the vines grow? La Rioja is an area that neither fits with the dry image of southern Spain nor the green of the north coast.
So harvest time seemed a good moment to revisit Casa Primicia winery where I’d been in April and was struck by the beauty of the setting. The bodega is in Laguardia, a medieval hilltop village in Álava, in the southern Basque Country, and part of Rioja Alavesa wine growing area.
There was a team of eight pickers – all Moroccans now living in northern Spain – who worked their way through the vineyards with impressive speed. I was lucky that the early morning light made the vines – with the leaves just turning red – all the better. In the top photo you can just make out the mountains of the Cordillera Cantábrica which lies to the north of the bodega and heavily influences the local microclimate.
Tags: Alava, Alavesa, bodega, Casa Primicia, España, Euskadi, fotógrafo, fotoperiodismo, fotos, harvest, journalist, La Rioja, Laguardia, País Vasco, photographer, photos, Rioja, Spain, Vendimia, vino, wine, winery, writer
Posted in La Rioja, News, País Vasco | No Comments
Friday September 24th, 2010 04:37 PM
One of the great attractions of San Mateo – the week-long festival taking place in Logroño, the capital of La Rioja, these days – are the weird and wonderful events put on by local clubs.
No one in the tourist information office could tell me what Tirada a la Rana (literally: Throw at the frog) consisted of. It was, it turned out when I found my way to a nearby street, a variation on a well-loved and global fairground activity testing people’s chucking prowess. In this case the local club, Peña La Unión, was challenging people to lob small disks into the mouth of a metal frog. Each competitor had 10 throws. Few managed to score a direct hit.
In Logroño’s old quarter, many stands had a gastronomic delicacy at heart. A club with connections to neighbouring Navarra were offering chistorra (a type of sausage) hot dogs and a glass of wine. Not far away Peña Rondalosa was busy barbecuing hundreds of sardines served on bread with a glass of wine. And beside the cathedral was the Federation of Peñas offering stuffed red peppers… with a small bottle of wine. Notice the trend here?
Aside from these stalls a staple of many La Rioja festivals, giants and “cabezudos” (big heads) were winding and twirling their way through the city’s streets. The giants are big but relatively harmless. The cabezudos, however, have a not entirely agreeable habit of sneeking up on the unsuspecting and giving them a whack with a large club. No one, young or old, appears to be immune from their attentions. In their wake many parents are left comforting petrified small children. But all in the best possible taste, of course.
Tags: España, Fiesta, fotografía, fotógrafo, fotoperiodismo, fotos, journalist, La Rioja, Logroño, party, Periodismo, photographer, photos, Profesional, Reportaje, Rioja, San Mateo, Spain, vino, wine, writer
Posted in Events, Fiesta, La Rioja, News | No Comments
