One Thing I Really Love...

about travelling is the freedom to wander.

So much of our lives is about getting from A-B as quickly as possible, meeting this or that deadline, being and doing what others expect and want from us.

So when I have a break I like to not be too regimented. If its a country I've not visited before I will have a wish-list of places I want to see, but if its somewhere I've already visited I like to have no plans at all.

This is my fourth time in Barcelona and I've "done" the sights in the past. Sagrada Familia - check. Park Guell - check. Picasso Museum - check. Joan Miro Foundation - check. You get the idea. I arrived with only one desire, to see the beach. Bizarrely, I've never made it there before.

I've spent the last three days just wandering about, I've found the beach and sunbathed on it, not to mention checked out the architecture!


As I've wandered I've stumbled across some amazing buildings I'd not seen before and some I have. I went back to Sargrada Familia the other night, it's been 15 years since I last saw it, and I have to say the building work is coming along! Watching its slow progression reminds me of the time I got my bathroom fitted by Dolphin!


I also had a look at Richard Meier's gorgeous building for MACBA, the contemporary art museum. There was a terrifically inspiration exhibition by French artist Gil J Wolman, who takes my phrase "artist with words" to its logical conclusion.


This really is a beautiful city, during my afternoon on the beach yesterday I watched as children and adults made their way down here after school and work. Imagine being able to do that! It would make having a 'real' job a lot more attractive!

The street art is cool too!