Barcelona, the land of Gaudi

Hola!

My parents-in-law are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and in lieu of a party, they decided to sponsor a family trip and have all family members travel together. What a great idea, right? I hope when the hubby and I get to our 5oth, we can do the same!

My super organized, travel expert sister-in-law organized the logistics and after a year of planning, off we went: 3 weeks of holidays (the longest holiday I have taken in my life!). We were signed up for a 2-week Mediterranean cruise with start and end at the beautiful city of Barcelona, Spain.

Here is the beautiful view of the tree-lined Passeig de Gracia (Barcelona's Rodeo Drive) from the penthouse balcony of the apartment we stayed at.

We enjoyed the view of the streets and for the shopaholics, the view of top designer stores such as Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc. that were within line of sight - excellent window shopping exercise!

Along Passeig de Gracia are also some landmark buildings by the extraordinary Spanish architect Antonin Gaudi such as the Casa Mila and the Casa Batllo below.

Unfortunately, the photographs cannot do justice to the real thing. You really have to see these in person to fully appreciate the creative genius of Gaudi. Every detail is like an element from a fairy tale. I can imagine waking up in such a house and thinking that I must be Alice in wonderland (in a good way)!

I can imagine not everyone will be a fan but you have to give Gaudi props for his fearless imagination and drive to innovate - making the mundane into something unique and extraordinary and not allowing the limitations of current materials or technology stop him from achieving his vision.

We also got to visit his masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia and that deserves a post on its own so stay tuned for more!