Barcelona Blues

I have a love hate relationship with Barcelona. It is a beautiful city with so many textures that I am constantly in awe. The problem is while in "awe" you are always in danger of having your pocket picked or bag stolen! My sister caught a man with his hand in her pocketbook on the metro. I saw a man put his shopping bag down to light a cigarete and in that brief second another man picked it up from behind him and casually walked across the street. Finally while waiting for the bus to go to the airport my husband walked a few yards away from me and a "team" surrounded me an made off with the one bag I couldn't physically sit on! Very scary - a big scream scattered thm but my carryon bag went with them. They ran into a covered parking lot - not a place I'd chase anyone.

Up until then it had been a very good trip. The buildings are fantastic. Everything from modern through gothic and everything in-between! We didn't get in until late so after having a glass of wine with my sister and her husband at the guest house we went straight to bed. The next morning we went on a double-decker bus tour. It is a good way to get an overview of the city. We went up to Park Guell to see some of Gaudi's work. It is wild. The window in the photo is a small example of his work. The small circles are made up of tile mosaics. His work is very rooted in natural lines and uses very organic materials. I loved it my DH was very disturbed by it! I used my sketch book a lot. So many inspirational designs all around...unfortunely the book was in the bag...hope they liked it. (not!)

That night we went out to a tapa bar with my neice who is going to unversity in Barcelona. We were all very hungery and the table was covered with lots of small dishes. My favorite of all was the little warm chocolate volcano we had for dessert!

The next day we continued on the bus tour. This time we spent a bit more time appreciating other Gaudi buildings. We also went to the Picasso museum (interesting note - he was a contemporary of Gaudi and really disliked his work.)

Across the street was a Textile museum that looked very interesting but we were too hungery to stop....After the museum we had lunch near a church called Santa Maria del Mar. Food in Barcelona was very good.

There is a trio of buildings that showcase Barcelona modenista. We must have gone back to them a half a dozen times. Dh couldn't decide if he loved or hated them. The photo on the left only got the one by Gaudi. It is covered by different colored green - blue broken tiles. As the light changes the building seems to change color as well.

Well blog has decided I've posted enough photos! more later.