A Busy Few days
12 - 14 September 2025
As I sit in the early evening waiting for the train to take me back to Torredembarra I can’t help but reflect on the last few days spent in Barcelona.
It was only last Wednesday when Val surprised me by telling me that she’d arranged a weekend in Barcelona for the two of us for my birthday. What an amazing birthday present! I was delighted with the idea and we both knew that there would be many opportunities to take photos.
We set off on a hot and humid Friday morning to take the hour long train ride to the Estació de França in Barcelona. There was a short walk through the El Born quarter of the city to our Hotel, the Habana Hoose. A hotel with a Scottish, Cuban and punk vibe that was perfectly placed for our city visit.
Estació de França, Barcelona
El Born District
After arriving we quickly left the hotel for the narrow and intricate streets of El Born following our noses to see where we’d end up. Neither of us knew this part of the city and we enjoyed our evening wandering and meandering through to tight streets.
For this weekend I decided to take my Leica M6 with the 35mm Summicron and the M10 with the 50mm Summilux. I love both of these setups and I knew that I could swap the lenses whenever I felt like it.
I did feel at times a wider angle could have been an advantage especially in the narrow street to capture more of the buildings and the architecture.
As it turned out I managed easily with these two prime lenses and the city was a delight to photograph.
El Born
We headed back to Habana Hoose and changed for our evening meal. We went to the historic restaurant 7Portes, founded in 1836. During the 20th century it was a popular meeting place for artists and intellectuals where many of the pictures in the dining rooms are tributes to artist from Catalonia. It was also a place where the resistance fighters met during the Spanish civil war.
We enjoyed a delicious meal where the pianist enhanced an already charming ambience.
And this was only the first evening spent in this incredible city. More stories to come in the next blog post.
Don’t hesitate to come back to read and see more photos.