I am doing a WorkAway in the Penedès Wine region of Spain a few hours outside of Barcelona. My host runs a wine tourism business which partly specializes in giving tours of the wine region on bike. This Sunday we set out for a 30km ride to see some of the sights around the area. Click “continue reading” to check out the rest of the photos.

Bike issues right away caused some delay.

Leaving the place where we are staying is a 3km uphill climb. As soon as we got to the top I shifted and the chain came off, got tangled in the back wheel and bent the rear derailleur. Fortunately we were not too far from home and we were able to grab a different bike.

Grapes from one of the highest vineyards in the region, used mainly in the production of Cava.

1,000 year old tree.

House used as vacation home for Belgian royal family.

One of the regions many natural springs. Very cool, clean and refreshing water.

Blackberry season. They provided a much-needed energy boost.

Human tower building during the La Llacuna village festival.

The village of La Llacuna, Spain was the last stop on our bike ride before heading home. We initially stopped in to grab a beer and sandwich, but the village was having a festival so we stayed to watch some of the performances.

Dancing during the La Llacuna village festival.

A performance during the La Llacuna village festival.

Photo Notes

All photos were shot with my Canon 30D and 17-40mm F4. I started using a circular polarizing filter on the lens and it makes the sky and colors stand out dramatically. The filter is an no-name brand that I bought at the Shanghai photo market. Normally I would shy away from using cheap filters (I don’t use a UV filter on any lens), but for the price it really enhances the photos. I’ve heard of some people having problems with cheap CPL’s adding a green color cast, but in my experience when shooting RAW this has not been an issue.