Every morning that I wake up in Barcelona, I look out at my landmark view…

…and there is a lone seagull perched on the head of the statue of a naked man seated on a strange bird. The seagull sits there for a time gazing out to sea meditating on his life perhaps. I do the same from my room, writing to understand my life as I gaze upon my blank page

I am so fortunate to be having this time in Spain. So fortunate to be away from the chaos that is the USA at this moment. So fortunate for a reprieve to fill my artistic self with beauty every day. So many times a day I sigh, or gawk with jaw dropping shakes of my head and say how lucky I am, how blessed, how extraordinary my life is.

Today the taxis are back in service so we head up to Montjuïc Castle, a fortress on the mountain overlooking the Balearic Sea and Barcelona. It started out as a lookout tower in 1641 and then was built into a military fortress complete with a moat. 

The Catalans have an independent spirit and wanted to be free of Spanish rule back in the 1700s but Spain was having none of that and did atrocious things to subjugate the Catalans of Barcelona. We read of executions and tortures that took place in the beautiful castle overlooking the turquoise sea and of the moat that ran red with the blood of rebels. It was a sobering, if informative, couple of hours and provided some of the best views of the trip so far.

We could see out to the Iberian waters and 360° to the hills and city of Barcelona. Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia dominates the landscape wherever you look and I use it to get my bearings.

We take a cable car down to the Joan Miro museum to experience Miro’s artwork on a large scale. He was born here in Barcelona and I loved seeing his sculptural pieces.

We found another cable car that took us out over the mountain and to the coast and beach. How could we not stop to have another sangria at our beach bar? It is an assured way to find a bathroom as well.

Susanna had booked us tickets to a historic circus (without any abused animals) in a tent beside old caravans with painted sides. We saw beautiful trapeze artists, contortionists, amusing clowns and three motorcyclists riding in circles around each other inside a small metal ball. Craziness! One small miscalculation and it would have been carnage.  A fantastic way to spend an evening with cotton candy and popcorn.

We leave tomorrow so it is time to pack the suitcase again and head to Madrid by fast speed train. It will be sad to go, but my feet will welcome the break, if my heart won’t. I will return to Barcelona, I can feel it.