getting the travel bug

Hola Espana!

I hve always been a traveler, and when I finally took the plunge and booked my latest adventure- I knew I wanted it to be to Spain & Portugal. I was very excited to see and experience the diverse architecture & culture. Barcelona is home to many wonderful whimsical works by Antonio Gaudi, while traveling south through the Andalusia region, you can find some of the greatest examples of Moorish architecture. What amazed me most about all that I saw was the amount of detail. They cut no corners, spared no expense. Everything was thought through to the nth degree, from the mosaic tile patterns to the stained glass design, to ensuring even amounts of light spill into a room like at Casa Batllo.

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia is still being constructed from plans that he created to finish his masterpiece. It truly is a masterpiece in every sense of the word, from the flower like ceiling inside to the climbing spires & the massive metal carved doors, my favorite detail. His work can only be continued to be built through donations & grants. It is fascinating to visit the studio where they are actually building & constructing using Gaudi's own plans. It is my plan to visit Barcelona again when it is finally complete.

As a complete contrast to the Modernism & Art Nouveau Gaudi, the must-see place in Spain is La Alhambra de Granada. La Alhambra is a palace or fortress constructed in the 14th century by the Moorish rulers of the Nasrid dynasty. It covers a massive amount of ground, over 1.5 million square feet, with 6 palaces, spectacular sprawling gardens & pools, as well panoramic views of the city from atop the hill. It attracts millions of tourists every year and has become such a popular attraction that they limit the amount of visitors each day to the site.

Here's to the next adventure & inspiration.