We really enjoyed our time in the beautiful city of Barcelona. Barcelona is well known for its beautiful architecture highly influenced by the famous architect Goudi. Many buildings façades have unique designs, artistic, with movement, colour, sculptures, and mosaic tiling. I was excited that this is where we would be spending Halloween as it is known for its Gothic Quarter where some of the buildings facades having a very creepy feeling. The kids were very curious about what Halloween would be like in Spain, they were missing their friends at home and their usual Halloween traditions. On Halloween night, we took to the streets, throughout the laneway near where we were staying in the old city, the young children and their parents were dressed up and trick-or-treating at the local stores. After our enjoyable walk and getting a feeling for the celebrations, we spent the evening as a family watching a Halloween movie while the kids gorged on treats. Messages and pictures from friends with Halloween costumes were greatly appreciated. We enjoyed many walks around the old city and enjoyed sampling different tapas. Sophie and I attended a flamenco dance show. We were both glad we went for the experience. The dances were talented and the guitarist was amazing, particular his solo. We both agree we prefer Salsa!
Unfortunately, I was not as up on planning as I should have been. We were too late to book tickets to visit the inside of the Sagrada Familia, Goudie’s, masterpiece that is still in construction (design started in 1852). Only seeing the outside was striking enough!
We were grateful to visit the house, Cassa Batllo’. When Gaudi was commissioned to build this beautiful house, the owner gave him free range appreciating his creative designs and unique engineering. The house displayed amazing architecture and inventive solutions to light, ventilation, structural support and drainage. We were grateful for the helpful audioguide that really helped us recognized the unique features of the house and the era in which it was built. There is an underwater theme throughout the entire house. As you move from room to room, colours change, to work with the lighting and window placement. The walls were lightly textured, and all had the pattern of a turtle back, painted in different hues to capture amazing light. The houses’ woodwork is amazing, beautiful wood carved in a very fluid, that adds strength and character to all of the rooms. The ceilings, lighting, and stairs add so much to the immersive experience. Stain glass, strategically placed in some of the windows enhances the light hues throughout the building. His designs are truly inspirational and make some of our very modern designs seem boring.
While we were in Barcelona, Spain was hit with the devastating rainstorm leading to huge floods in the Valencia province with at least 200 dead or missing. We had one day with immense rainstorm, it came on very abruptly and I was caught while out getting lunch supplies, I immediately took shelter in a coffee shop. Luckily there was no flooding in Barcelona or the rest of the country. The dangers of climate change are real and devastating.