triple Sunday

It's a triple activity Sunday for me. Usually I have nothing on my calendar on a Sunday.

I have watched the Tour de France for many, many years. I like it for strategy, but I belong to the couch peloton. It has to be 15-20 years, as it was a whole 12 years ago that I saw a stage in person in Barcelona (so cool, here's my blog post). Anyways....

I have been watching for the past 3 weeks, and today was the finale in Paris. Watched that around 9am.

That was preceded by the kick-off of Tour de France Femme avec Zwift, the new TDF for women. It is 8 days long and kicked off around 4am. These women rock. 

That's usually more than enough commitments for me in a day, but I recently decided to broaden my world by joining some virtual book clubs, and today was the first meeting. It was at noon, so I was 'rushing' from the men's TDF to a Zoom meeting. 

The book club was great. The book was 1984 by George Orwell, which I recently read (I am working my way through all of Orwell's works, I really like his writing). What a great group of people, and the most intellectually stimulating 3 hours I've spent in a long time. 

My TDF experience in Barcelona

Barcelona Precincts, by Ben Holbrook

Barcelona Precincts: A curated guide to Barcelona’s best shops, eateries, bars and other hangouts

By Ben Holbrook

Travel blogger and author Ben Holbrook has a new book. It's called Barcelona Precincts, and it's stunningly beautiful!

Barcelona Precincts is Holbrook's personal guide to the city’s 12 hottest barrios (neighbourhoods). Anchored with a map, Ben shares his favourite places to eat and drink and shop, topping off each area with an interview with a local.

"Each chapter features beautiful imagery (it nearly killed me photographing the city throughout the blistering summer heat), maps, an interview with a local. This book was a true labour of love and consumed me entirely for much of the year."

"The finished product is something I am immensely proud of. Not only is it a gorgeous object of desire, something that will make a beautiful gift or look seriously sexy on your bookshelf or coffee table, but it’s something I poured my heart and soul into (and plenty of blood, sweat and tears along the way). This is not just a book, but a little slice of my very being...[read more].

Buy the book

amazon.ca
amazon.com
amazon.uk
Hardie Grant - Publisher

Tip: If you buy the print version of the book you can also download a FREE digital version to browse on your smart device ("though I should add that it’s simplified and doesn’t quite have the same magic as the print version," advises Ben).

Follow the author
Barcelona Precincts - book's page on author's website
More Barcelona - on author's website
Biography
@ben_holbrook on Twitter

Related resources
Ben Holbrook's Perfect Day in Barcelona - Homage to BCN
Meet Driftwood Journals Blogger Ben Holbrook - The Culture Trip
Ben Holbrook's articles - The Telegraph

Trip Reflections: Tour de France in Barcelona (a year ago)

A year ago today I was watching the Tour de France in person, in Barcelona. Yeah! It was very exciting! This is me on July 9th last year, waiting for the tour to arrive. I got there early so that I could get a spot right next to the barricade.
It was WET WET WAIT so I took refuge in a little bar and had tapas and beer while I waited.

This shot gives you a sense of the locale where I was, as well as just how wet it was....

This guy's idea of rain gear scares me a little... I hope he poked holes for breathing!

A local newswoman files her story about the TDF's impending arrival in Barcelona. Not sure if she was speaking Spanish or Catalan. Note the shoes.

This was my favourite pre-race moment. This Robert Plant look alike wandered into the crowd, still drunk from the night before, with a bottle of wine in his hand. He was really very harmless, was having a good time chatting up the waiting crowd, but they eventually moved him away, as he really was a hazard to himself; he kept walking into the road. BTW, it was only some time afterwards, when telling someone this story, that I realized he was probably on his way home from Pamplona and the Running of the Bulls, as it was running at the same time, and they all wear white.

These cyclists initially cause a stir of excitement, but I guess they are test riders of some sort, out to check the course.

One is kept plenty entertained for a good hour before the arrival of the first riders with all the floats..... including horses! It was one of those floats that I got my red polka dot hat from (does that make me a queen of the mountains?)

Beer. Or something along those lines.

Finally, the Tour Director's car. That means the riders are close behind.

Here come the sprinters!!! I was on the other side of town from where the finish line was, so this would have been the teams setting up their lead-out men....

The excitement of a rider up close! Look at the faces of the crowd.

This poor fellow had a bike problem right in front of us. He got great encouragement from the crowd when he was finally able to get going again.

It's quite something to see the riders and cars and motorcycles all up close, all so close to one another.

These were the last two riders of the day, still getting an enthusiastic cheer from the crowd. Note the rain gear on the riders.... you don't often see that.

After all the excitement, I wandered by the arch and they had all these stationary bikes set up. I think it was a Livestrong event, where people rode these, while the race was going on, to raise money. Strange, but true.

This is the little bar I slipped into on my way home.... ah, the pleasures of a beer and a loo! And there I sat, planning my return in the morning to see the riders off....

On July 10th last year, once off the Barcelona metro in the morning, I got my fav breakfast: a bikini!!!! And there wasn't even rain.

Fortunately, the rain held off, and didn't have to wait too long until the Race Director's car went by the other way....

And in a flash, the peleton went by!

Really, if you blinked, you might really miss it! As this was the start of the day's racing, all the riders were by in a matter of minutes that you coulld count on one hand. Don't know why that surprised me, but it did! As you can see, they are already picking up speed.

This fellow was bringing up the rear...

Managed to get a few good pics of local watchers before the riders got there.... Click to enlarge this one... I guess no one was getting their prosthetics on time that morning!

Loved seeing these ladies out watching the excitement below...

The Tour de France really was one of my trip highlights... I can't believe how lucky I was that they went through Barcelona when I was there! I am a pretty big fan, and generally have a sleep deprived month watching coverage at 4 or 5 am at home - which I am doing this week. In Barcelona I didn't easily find English footage, so I was more distant from the specifics of the race last year.... but being up close and personal definitely made up for that.

I can't believe I never posted all this a year ago, but it says a lot for just how 'busy' I was and just how many experiences haven't made it to this blog yet!

It's nice to have these memories as I am watching the race this year ;-)

Calvalcade of the Magi

Last night I went to see Barcelona's wonderful Three Kings Parade, or the Calvalcade of the Magi. The route went within a few blocks of where I am staying and you could feel the excitement as everyone gathered. For the Catalan children, this is their Christmas, so the energy was wonderful.

This first picture shows the police horses, I think their costumes are just rainjackets. Heh. The rest is fantastic. From the music and lights, to the camels and coal (for the naughty children) it was truly magical. Now, I shall let the pictures speak for themselves....

This last picture, above, is of one of the kings, I suppose.

What an amazing and magical parade. And what a privilege to witness it. Cool and groovy. Awesome too....