Laura and I left our hotel on Mallorca for PMI around 11 am, and boarded our Vueling flight to Barcelona with little incident. The little incident was our flight moving two gates down but being replaced by a Barcelona flight leaving 15 minutes earlier by the same airline.
Our arrival was a little bumpy too. Part of the Barcelona city center is closed for Formula 1, which meant our cab could only take us as far as the Monument a Colom, a roundabout featuring a statue of Columbus, without another 20 minutes of driving. From there we walked ten minutes to Hostal Sol i Ka, located in the heart of the Barri Gòtic, the preserved gothic quarter of Barcelona.
After a bit of much-needed rest from the summer heat, we took the metro over to Casa Battló, one of Antoni Gaudí’s most impressive apartment blocks. I’d “heard” of Gaudí but was immediately blown away by the structure.
Here is a guy experiencing life on a completely different plane than most of us. The mastery of color and light, the ability to manipulate lines and shapes, attention to detail, never forgetting human function, the mimicry of nature’s own patterns in his constructions. A guy who leveraged his knowledge to design everything from the building roof down to the chairs you sat in. Nine out of 10 builders probably hate him.
We turned in early because I’m determined to absolutely run Laura into the ground tomorrow. Some people vacation, some people travel. Laura and I are still finding our balance!
