“When you travel in a camper van, the world is your garden.” In her Mexican boots, with braided and feather tipped hair, coiled in handmade jewelry made from materials from around the world, the Spanish girl sitting beside us on the plane finished recounting her travels with this beautiful piece of inspiration. Barcelona was waiting to be explored!
Exams finished last week, and the anti-climax which followed was of course inevitable. A city break with my Mam for a few days was nevertheless a much anticipated award after 6 weeks of toil, and did not disappoint à la post-Shakespeare. As we only had three days, we were pretty much walked off our feet in the attempt to cram as much as possible into our short time (luckily this is something I have had much practice in lately). I was unsure of the place at the beginning, but although we couldn’t cover the whole area I still managed by the third day to really appreciate the character and personality of the city, and will definitely be going back! Weather wise, the forecast predicted the doom of thunderstorms, rain and cloud. The first afternoon saw the sky shed the overcast gloom for clear skies, while we stopped at a large roundabout for an hour to soak up the heat. Sun is my fuel. I wouldn’t be surprised if I turned into one of those sun-eaters who survive on sun rays alone. Which is why I was extremely irritated when the rain did come towards the end of the second day, catching us on the bikes no less, and while my mother was exhilarated by the novelty of cycling, I just felt like I was biking back in the rain from college with my head down, livid expression, freezing. But I managed to get over my rain-sensitive self, still vitalized by the trip to the luxurious Hamman baths and massage, followed by classical guitarists, street dancers, football stadiums, tapas bars, funky beach cafes, ripe bananas, fascinating streets…and many, many glasses of cava.
Aoibheann Schwartz Photography 