This one takes place along a stretch of posh outdoor restaurants along a marina boardwalk by the Museu d'Historia de Catalunya. It's a busy walkway, with lots of accents and forms of transportation. A street musician begins playing Take a Walk on the Wild Side but is interrupted by a far-off ambulance siren.

Recorded 11/11/11. Location: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=barcelona&amp;hl=en&amp;ll=41.380542,2.185067&amp;spn=0.001658,0.001848&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=56.59387,60.556">http://maps.google.com/maps?q=barcelona&amp;hl=en&amp;ll=41.380542,2.185067&amp;spn=0.001658,0.001848&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=56.59387,60.556</a>

Original downsampled from 16bit WAV to 320kbps CBR MP3 using LAME.



Take a Walk on the Wild Side

La Boqueria (Marcat de San Jose) may be Barcelona's most well-known market, and with good reason. A metal roofing covers and entire plaza, where vendors of fruits, vegetables, meats, etcetera bask in powerful lighting both natural and artificial. Its reputation naturally attracts tourists, but the locals are certainly well represented as well, hawking over prices, quality and whether a goats foot is appropriate for stew.

This recording was made walking around from stall to stall, and ultimately exiting onto La Rambla.

Location: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=barcelona&hl=en&ll=41.381677,2.171559&spn=0.001658,0.001848&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=56.59387,60.556641&vpsrc=6&hnear=Barcelona,+Province+of+Barcelona,+Catalonia,+Spain&t=h&z=19">http://maps.google.com/maps?q=barcelona&hl=en&ll=41.381677,2.171559&spn=0.001658,0.001848&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=56.59387,60.556641&vpsrc=6&hnear=Barcelona,+Province+of+Barcelona,+Catalonia,+Spain&t=h&z=19</a>

The Bustle at La Boqueria

The workers at a popular hostel at Cádiz had just completed two months worth of renovation when I arrived. Upon my arrival, everything was in disarray in the final stages but they insisted they were open for business, and I became their first client in 2012. That evening everyone gathered around the downstairs fireplace to drink, smoke, and sing the evening away before the full return of hostel havoc the next day.

Around 7:15 begins a jovial clapfest, La Cancion de Cuatro borne of the House of the Rising Snail.

Buena onda.


Celebrating the End of Renovation at Casa Caracol

As it's winding down, the same guitarist has a go at another song. Then some friends come by.

Celebrating the End of Renovation at Casa Caracol, Take 2

This was recorded on a splendid sunny afternoon in the greenest plaza in Cádiz - which attracts plenty of parakeets. Scooters buzz by and children invent games nearby. As with many Spanish plazas, the surrounding buildings echo the cafe terraza conversations into a hum.

Pardon the Mission Impossible cellphone ringer at the start. Someone walked by and I couldn't help but keep it.

The Parakeets of Plaza de Mina, Cádiz

Waiting for tapas to arrive outside a pleasant tucked-away cafe. Perchance a street musician came by.

Tapas and Street Musician in Cádiz

The panoramic views in the nature reserve atop the Rock of Gibraltar are one thing, but it is also a treat for the ears, amid the harbor buzz below mixed with a cacophony of gulls (who I suspect may have the best life of any gull in the world)

Atop the Rock of Gibraltar, Take 1

Atop the Rock of Gibraltar, Take 2

For this first recording from Morocco, it'd be remiss not to highlight the obvious: a visitor here will quickly notice the five-times-daily calls to prayer, delivered via megaphone from mosques. Muezzins are the men who sing them. 

In this recording, I'm still a half-hour away from town, returning from a trek up a nearby mountain above Chefchaouen when the sunset call to prayer begins. The town is both ahead of me and to the left, but the mountains to the right also echo the chants back, amidst the baying of goats and chirping of birds. All versus the rhythm of my footsteps and too-loud-trousers.

Sunset Return From Hiking, the Muezzins Begin

Guy goes crazy witnessing 'heritage equipment' coming back into operation.

buckanon

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