Five Frames from Five Cities

Remember travel? It wasn’t so long ago that we were free to move about the country or even the world. Now, thanks to COVID-19, not so much. In honor of travel, today’s post is five frames from five cities. So, in alphabetical order, here we go…

Barcelona – The Dona I Ocell – Woman with Bird

The Woman with Bird is a sculpture by one of Barcelona’s most famous artists, Joan Miró. Miró was a painter, sculptor, and ceramicist whose work was interpreted as Surrealism. I took this picture from the walkway at the top of the Plaza de Toros de la Arenas, also known as the old bullfighting ring. At the time, I only knew that it was large and colorful (I didn’t even know it was by Miró at the time.)

The Woman with Bird resides in the Parc Joan Miró, near the Plaça d’Espanya. If you are thinking that it looks a little phallic, then you’d be right. See the Wikipedia article on the Dona i Ocell for some enlightenment on the subject.

The Woman with Bird is the last of three sculptures commissioned by the city of Barcelona to welcome people to the city. The concrete sculpture is covered in tiles in primary colors. The tile work was performed by Joan Gardy Artigas, a longtime collaborator.

For more see my posts, Five Frames from Barcelona and Five Frames from Montserrat.

Boston – Swan Boat

Here is a Swan Boat making its way around the pond in Boston’s Public Garden (the ducks are a bonus… ). The Swan Boats were created by Roger Paget in 1877. The boats are pedal-powered and seat as many as 24 people (before social distancing.) The ages of the boats range from ten to ninety years. The driver sits inside a swan at the rear of the boat and provides the pedal power. The rides last 12-15 minutes.

If you want to take a ride, it will set you back a whopping $4.00 ($2.50 for children, unless they are under two, then the ride free). Quite a bargain. Because of COVID-19, the Swan Boats are shut down now. Check their website for information. When you do visit, say hello to the resident real swans, Romeo and Juliet.

I you want more Boston see my previous posts Five Frames from Boston, Five Frames of Boats from Boston, Red Boat, Boston, and Gimpressionistic Swan Boat.

Montreal – Mount Royal

Here is a nice red flower in the plaza in front of the Chalet du Mont-Royal atop Mount Royal. The city of Montreal and the St. Lawerence River are in the background.

Mount Royal rises to a height of 764 feet just west of downtown Montreal. The city of Montreal derives its name from Mount Royal.

My earlier posts, Five Frame of Shiny, and Five Frames of People from Five Cities also contain shots from Montreal.

San Francisco – Fisherman’s Wharf

I don’t care if it is a giant tourist trap, I like Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s one of the many things that define my San Francisco experience. I like the sourdough bread from Boudin’s Bakery, the view of Alcatraz, and the sea lion colony next to Pier 39. A little farther afield, I like chocolates from the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company in Ghirardelli Square, the ships in the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, and, since I am a major science nerd, the Exploratorium.

Fisherman’s Wharf originated in the early 1800’s when Italian immigrant fishermen came to the area to service the growing population caused by the gold rush. The area was redeveloped in the 1970s and 1980s as a tourist attraction.

For more from San Francisco, see my posts: Five Frames from San Francisco and Dawson Place Staircase.

Seattle – Pike Place Market

What’s a trip to Seattle without a visit to Pike Place Market? Pike Place Market was established in 1907 and is named for Pike Street, which intersects the central part of the market.

We were out for a extensive walk about the city and arrived in the morning before all the shops were open. It was fun to explore without zillions of people around.

For another, admittedly skewed, view of Seattle, see my post, Five Frames of the Space Needle.

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These photos were taken with a variety of cameras: a Canon Powershot A720 IS (Barcelona and San Francisco), a Canon EOS 6D (Boston and Montreal) and a Canon EOS 6DII (Seattle). The Powershot has a built in lens, for the others, the lenses were: Canon 50mm f1.8 (Montreal) and Canon 24-70 f2.8 (Boston and Seattle). The images were all processed with Darktable, which is free darkroom software for Windoze, Mac, and Linux. The 6D photos were processed from RAW files.