...In which I see the world, or a small part anyway!

Hello dear readers, 

this year has been a year of changes, both small and large and constant. If there is one constant in life it is change!
One thing was that I squirrelled my long service leave money and wages and booked that trip, the one I always said I would do.
I booked a trip to Barcelona, Paris and London...epic for us. 
To travel anywhere from Australia is epic as we natives know, Europe is at least 15 hours away, actually Dubai is 15 hours away then its another 5 or 7 hours to your final stop. 

We made it without too many problems....except the car we booked to take us to the airport didn't turn up so it was a bit stressful ringing for a taxi to get us cross town on time. Again in Australia it takes hours to get through security checks, we are required to be at the airport at least 3 hours before the flight....we did alright even with the hiccough because I always leave plenty of time for just these types of events happening.....but not the way you want to start a long journey that has been planned for 12 months!!!!

We ( husband and daughter...son didn't want to travel so he minded the dogs) snoozed quite well and landed in Barcelona, all starry eyed and looking forward to what lay ahead.

Barcelona didn't disappoint, the people are lovely and geared to tourism. Everyone spoke English and the food was wonderful, fresh tasty and exquisite decor.

I was in Barcelona for one thing only that being the works of Gaudi.
We had three days to get around the sights, and I wish we had booked more. Gaudi and his architecture is a big draw card but there is so much more...
I have taken hundreds of photos and spent days editing and cropping and tweaking so be prepared to be bombarded.
NOooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! 

Its alright but I will have to trickle them through, there is too much to digest and Gaudi deserves to be really observed closely and thoughtfully. The man still blows me away with his artistry, vision and singlemindedness. He never married and seriously I don't think he would have ever had time for a relationship, his work was his life and what a body of work it is. 

 My first glimpse of Guell Parc. A complete jewel, the sun was glistening off all the mosaic surfaces and shining brightly. This made getting the correct colour very tricky as my camera and me could not quite cope with the right exposure and I did have grumbles of "can we move on now" from my companions.

 This is my beautiful daughter standing in a grotto, notice the angle of the pillars, all done in stone work. Each pillar was a work of art intended to look natural.

 See the variations?

 A detail of the seating around the parks open space, all unique. The gargoyles allow water to be dispelled from the seats and spilled onto planting below.

A classic shot of the passage in the grotto....almost like an ocean wave.

 Hand made gates.....this guy did not like straight lines or mass produced items. Everything had an artists touch.

 In this shot I managed to place the famous church (that is still to be completed).....The Sagrada Familia in the background....it is where the cranes are in the distance.
The tiled roof is of a gatehouse building at the parks entrance.

 This is a fluke shot.......see the person framed in the window? Never could have actually achieved this if I had planned it!!!

 Iguana at the entrance.

 

 Yes!!!! The classic shot...done and done!!
All the roof is mosaic tiles, the detail is mind blowing, not a single straight surface. The tower at the back in blue and white has an undulating twisting construction. His workers must have all been artisans to produce such beauty. 
This was constructed in 1900 folks...even today a building like this would be considered modern! 
I know I bang on about this but he was so ahead of the pack, where did we lose the courage to create beauty like this? 
Why are our buildings so straight, and bland? (she sobs quietly...)
I know the answer is economic but we need artistry in our lives and this Park brings money to Barcelona and joy to all who visit.

 Detail of mosaic on ceiling...would love to try this at home, like in the shower perhaps?

 

Just as we were leaving the sun illuminated the face of the washer woman....one of the pillars in the grotto. Did I mention each one was unique?

 

 Did not attempt these stairs!

Well I hope this didn't bore you. I downloaded 110 photos so I have been kind and edited the better ones. 
Stay tuned this was only the first morning of the first day............