Video 12 - Smørrebrød in Copenhagen

The guidebook said mention Smørrebrød to a Dane and their eyes will light up. It's true! I got the recipe from a Danish friend and then when I told the hotel clerk about our plans and he was excited. He let us use a table in the lounge and brought us plates and butter. We shared our bounty with him afterward : )

To all Danish people watching this, sorry for being so terrible at your language!

Video 11 - The Pope visits Barcelona

I got up early Sunday morning to catch el Papa in Barcelona. Crowds were smaller than I was expecting, but it was still a lot of fun. And the best part about shooting video in Spain - without editors or deadlines - is that when the last interview subjects invited me out for a breakfast of hot chocolate and churros, I could say yes. Delicious.

Video 10 - Sangria and Park Guell

I thought this would be a video about Park Guell but it's really a video about my friend Michael and my trip to Park Guell, since we only really saw a fraction of this famous spot. I'm working on another video about the rest of it and its significance. This was shot October 29, 2010. Thanks to Michael Schout for his patience. He's a friend of mine from Holland. Hopefully this will be a fun souvenir of his visit as well.

I got the names of the musicians, but I've forgotten them at home as I post this from studio. I'll have to update later.

Video 9 - Fishing in the dark

If I lived in Barcelona, I think I'd have to take up fishing. I've never seen anything so peaceful as this, fishing at night of the empty Barcelona beach. This is Alberto, who was kind enough to let me interrupt him. He gave me the Spanish and the Catalan name for the fish he was catching, mabra or herrera. My Spanish/Catalan (I mix the two up all the time) is pitiful, but it gets the job done. I'm slowly improving.

Video 8 - El Fossar de les Moreres

The inscription at the Fossar de les Moreres is taken from the first line of a poem by Frederic Soler:

Al fossar de les moreres
no s'hi enterra cap traïdor;
fins perdent nostres banderes
serà l'urna de l'honor.

In English it means, "in this grave of the mulberry trees no traitor will be buried. Because we lost our flags, this urn will be our honour." The mass grave is located in the old medieval city just outside the church Santa Maria del Mar, which was built by the lesser guilds of Barcelona.

The video was shot November 3, 2010. My thanks to David, my language exchange partner, who agreed to let me record his explanation.

Video 7 - Fahey Shop

David Thompson fled his corporate life in England for a new start Barcelona four years ago. He and his partner recently bought this shop on C. d'Avinyo in the Barri Gotic neighbourhood of Barcelona. I met him while wandering the narrow streets and love his vision, and then I just had fun trying on very Spanish styles. I shot this video October 27, 2010.

Video 6 - Grace's Flowers

Grace Coulter, a University of Calgary architecture student studying in Barcelona, was looking at the relative success of different physical indications in public squares for an essay project. She decided make her own attempt at changing people's behaviour in a square, in her case with flowers. This video tracks the result. What you can't see, is that her original idea was to try to same technique with eggs! I can only imagine . . .
The video was shot October 18, 2010.