facebook just isn't enough for all the thoughts, images and experience that travelling inspires.I really enjoyed my brief stay in Kuala Lumpur on the way over, the sights sounds and smells of Asia always feel like home – but four days ago, when I left there, feels like an eternity away so I am going to journal my travels as they happen before it all disappears into the next chapter.
SO here I am now in beautiful Barcelona, a place so full of history and ARCHITECTURE! There must be some massive quarries here, because the city is huge. Yes, this must be a very rocky place: all the thousands of buildings are built from local stone - huge cathedrals, medieval palaces, government buildings, unbelievable ancient roman walls - all made from stone. Incredibly beautiful city, Gaudi is but a part of it... the more I see, the more I understand the influences on his work.. There are high rise apartments everywhere: right up to the beach, fronting the cathedrals, along medieval lanes ...not a bungalow to be seen. It's fantastic the way that history merges with the present everywhere – cafes and squares full of people (mostly tourists!) where Roman chariots once rolled by, people drinking coffee where Franco's bombs once killed children. These buildings are so old, wherever the rendering is worn you can see patched and repatched stonework that has survived for centuries. One corner of a building was worn and scraped, most likely by chariots repeatedly driven at speed. It all combines to give a sense of enduring culture that is very powerful. 
I have had the amazing good fortune to be staying with my beautiful generous couchsurfing host, Elena, who loves her city and loves sharing it. Ever since I made contact with her I have felt at home here. She is so welcoming and friendly and so keen to show me her beautiful city. It might be better if the neighbours weren't so noisy at night (it's an apartment building with a big ventilation well in the centre that everyone's bedroom windows open onto, so it's a bit like sleeping with 50 people!), but I am coping well and really enjoying it despite feeling a little jetlagged...
It is also extremely HOT! I have been catching the metro everywhere and the winds that blow down the metro stairs from above are really welcome. Shops are airconditioned but houses not - all these highrise flats everywhere, with little tiny balconies. This district is called Gracia, was once a village but now part of Barcelona city. Gaudi's PArc Nuell is just up the hill, a short walk to fantasy. I love it - imaginative architecture that uses rockwork to create beautiful organic spaces. And the famed gingerbread house buildings with rounded corners and fantastic shapes and mosaics are just lovely. I can't really afford to go inside but am enjoying the outsides - I keep thinking of Gaudi as an exterior (rather than interior) decorator – although I know they will be equally beautiful and exotic within.
Elena has taken me to see the old walled original town, with parts of the original Roman wall intact and even more parts that have been incorporated into medieval buildings - narrow cobbled winding streets full of magic, fascinating little shops and tourists! And buskers, there is entertainment everywhere. Opera in the .street and even a drunk interrupting to make it feel like home...
Yesterday I went to the market and just now finished off the glorious fresh figs and strawberries I bought there - the stalls are fantastic, they take so much trouble to make their displays absolute works of art - you can't just pick the fruit you want because it would interrupt their creations! There was every delectable imaginable and I brought home salmon to cook for our dinner, which Elena appreciated. She is so lovely and so keen to practise her English because she is going to England for a months holiday soon. It is amazing to feel so welcomed by a stranger - we get on really well and I feel absolutely at home here. It is a climb up 5 flights of stairs to her flat, great exercise too! Her block of flats is on the corner of Carrer Providencia and Carrer Alegre de Dalt - providence and happiness in the village of Grace, very apt!
Many of the museums in Barca are free Sundays after 3 pm - Elena says most of the good Picassos are all over the world, but I went to the Picasso museum anyway and didn't regret it, nor even the 45 minute queue in the muggy heat. The museum covers his whole life and works, fascinating to see how his skills developed and changed from a very young age.
It was a museum sort of day – I peeked at the pre-Columbian South American museum, so validating of their culture – modern art has so much in common with Indigenous art in capturing essence. And then Elena and I went back in time to the Museum of History – unbelievable! The basement of the building has been excavated and we walked among the layers of history there – from Roman through to Gothic and Medieval – such a brilliant way to experience history. My inner archaeologist was in bliss! And my feet were verging on being in blisters, we walked so far on my last day, all over the beautiful old city.
Now I am in Granada and the next chapter begins! Nearly missed my plane, arrived after check-in, but an angel heard me and the plane was delayed three hours – magical country, this.I don't know if it's from all the praying done here, but there are certainly angels.
