After a much needed sleep in from our 6 hour photography tour the night before, we start the day in true Spanish style at 10.30 am! I truly believe I am destined to live a Spanish lifestyle, siestas in the afternoon, late nights due to a second wind from said siesta, and lazy mornings, what’s not to love?

As we head off for brekky at our favourite market to enjoy our usual fare, Hugh is suffering for his art from the night prior, with a very sore ankle from being on his feet for 6 hours straight. As he hobbles along the laneways I am tempted to put an empty cup in his hand to see if he can’t generate enough donations for our last night in Barcelona!!!

Due to the lateness of brekky we are almost tempted to enjoy a glass of Cava, but cannot go past a coffee to kick start our day. With nothing planned we head off towards the Picasso Museum to try our luck for a second time. Upon arrival it takes us no time to decide that with a queue 100m long we can wait until Paris to see his other museum.

There is a wonderful hat shop around the corner from where we are staying and each day as we walk past Hugh is besotted by a Castor (Fedora). Having already passed up the opportunity to buy one in Venice 2 years ago for €400 this was surely a bargain at €170. As Hugh encourages me to go in and buy a new hat to replace my very old one, I am pleased that for €30 I am now the proud owner of not one, but two hats, a bargain in anyone’s language. What I didn’t foresee was the intended purpose of this visit, and the underhandedness of Hugh’s true intention, when miraculously we walk out with the Castor and one very happy man.
(ed….I plead the 5th!!!)

Onwards we walk around this beautiful city of Barcelona. Having learnt our lesson from the previous day we grab lunch along the way before heading down to the harbour for some much needed respite in the Mediterranean Sea for Hugh’s ankle.

We are pleasantly surprised to find that the beach of Barcelona actually has sand. It is not hard to distinguish the locals from the tourists as our lack of tan gives us away immediately. As we walk along the beach we are confronted by bar after bar and therefore decide a beer on the beach is a must do in Barcelona

Suitably replenished we push on and stumble across a beach gym where the locals work out with the most amazing views. As I watch to ensure their technique is accurate I am pulled away reluctantly as we head towards our intended target, the shimmering fish.

Heading back towards home through the El Born district we stumble across a groovy looking bar. As the heat of the day starts to hit its peak, we are forced to hydrate over a couple of Sangrias, which are made to perfection. As we dream of the wine bar we will one day open back home, for now it’s back to reality working at the ‘K’ and Dromana Estate

Back in our apartment Hugh begins his blog whilst I take the necessary siesta to get through another late night. As I wake from my slumber and Hugh becomes aware of the time, we are now running late for our visit to La Pedrera, also known as Casa Mila, another Gaudi masterpiece.
The rooftop of this apartment block has to be seen to be believed, rolling along like the sea, full of sculpture figures, highlighted by the light show we went at nighttime to see.
La Pedrera was Gaudi’s last private commission, as he cracked it with the owners over money, and vowed never to design for anyone again. He spent the rest of his life dedicated to Sagrada Familia.
Seeing such bold, inspirational architecture makes you realise the importance of visionary figures breaking with convention to create unique, spellbinding structures to enjoyed of generations. We can only hope that such vision is never stifled

As we head back to find one of our food tour bars, Bar Colmado, we finally come across it, and once again partook in the Spanish tapas and a glass of Vermouth before hitting the streets to photograph Casa Balljo, another Gaudi masterpiece on our way back home.

As we hit the pillow for our final night in Spain, we are exhausted from all the walking, the late nights and the wonderful sights, but wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Tomorrow we head off for Madrid, where our Spanish travels continue

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