Barcelona!

Let’s all face the worst together – Summer at the moment just is not going to happen. The strawberries are flowering, the cream is flowing, the Pimms is just aching to be drunk but the rain just keeps on falling… Depressing is not the word. Frankly bizarre is one word, as is annoying and those are both closely followed by typical. Dear Blighty, I love you deeply but really, is this necessary?!?

Given the frankly appalling meteorological state of the nation (isn’t it wonderful we can complain about the weather rather than the economy for a change?) the thought of four days in the sun was not something I was going to turn down lightly. When my +1 had the Barcelona Brainwave I was sold immediately. Stepping out into hot sunshine when we landed assuaged my guilt at leaving these rain lashed shores , as did the great food, stunning hotel and amazing culture we surrounded ourselves with.

The W Hotel is an architectural gem, and one which you simply cannot miss on the skyline - it screams luxury and doesn't disappoint. In a city which is still heavily traditional in terms of style, this is a beautiful addition and points to a bright architectural future.

So, what can I tell you about Barcelona – or Peckham on Sea (long story and probably says more about my +1 and I’s grand designs for world domination than anything else) – that will make you want to visit. Well… there is absolutely nothing not to like, and by like I mean love and want to go back again and again and again. I’ll limit myself to the culture though since that’s what I’m best at, well, that and food – oh MAN was the food good. Oodles of seafood, everything fresh, great flavours, yummy wine… yummy!

The market on La Ramblas is the perfect place to kick back with some amazing food and do a little people watching... Bliss!

Right, the culture of this amazing city deserves a huge mention as once you get off the beach you can’t turn a corner in the old city without seeing a beautiful church, cobbled street, museum or local gallery selling beautiful pottery. We started our cultural eager beavering at the Museum of Contemporary Art which was a beautiful modern construct, surrounded by sun bleached stone buildings and cool shady side streets. The MACBA building explodes visually onto the quiet Catalan square – bright white, geometrically striking and almost Bauhaus in style and internal structure. Enter its quiet interior and be transported from the bright bustle outside to the calm and serene contemporary haven that it is. The exhibitions are varied and definitely lean more toward the visually challenging – as all contemporary art should do – and even i found myself questioning whether this really was art. Unlike the Tate Modern which mixes modern and contemporary, this place is for the cutting edge; the new wave of sculptors and installation artists who are making a name for themselves. 

MACBA is Barcelona's modern art mecca. If cutting edge and contemporary are your thing then head over to see the next big name.

Next stop: the Sagrada Familia. There aren’t words enough to describe this amazing building to you. It is a monument to natural processes as much as to religion, a testament to architectural vision and enduring passion, beautiful and slightly grotesque all at once. Getting off the metro I couldn’t quite believe the site of the cathedral which when you first look at it appears to have grown of its own accord from the bedrock of the city. Sitting amidst modern apartments buildings and dusty parks, the Sagrada Familia is truly monstrous in proportion; a seemingly gothic giant which has no right to be there. Like all amazing artwork though, the more you look, the more you see, and in this case come to understand about the building. Gaudi was a lover of all things natural, and frequently used motifs derived from the natural world within his work. When he took over the building of what was to be a church, he steadily adapted the design to bring in more and more of the naturalistic elements which he so admired. His vision outgrew the original project, and a beautiful cathedral was conceived. Once you get your head around the detail outside – and when I say detail, it is honestly utterly mind-blowing – the inside will transport you. It reminded me of stepping into a forest, but one which was bathed in all the colours of the rainbow. Gaudi was a genius, and the sacred nature of the space has been mixed seamlessly with the greater idea of natural creation, to create a space which is spiritual but not religious.

This is one place everyone should visit once in their lives...

Whilst we pottered around all manner of places over our four days, the only other one really of note here is the Picasso Museum. Now many of you will know my feelings on Picasso after the blog about the Tate exhibition of his work… (the condensed version being: I like him, a lot) and visiting this small museum in a city which the artist loved hasn’t changed my feelings about him. Unlike the London exhibition which focussed on the main stylistic periods of Picasso’s life, the Barcelona museum went chronologically from his earliest drawings to some of his latest paintings. What can I say? The guy really can paint incredibly well; he wouldn’t have been out of place amongst an old masters exhibition at the National Gallery. For me, this was one of the highlights of the museum as you can trace very slowly the evolution of his style from stately and proper beginnings, through impressionism into cubism and modernism. For those who want a complete portrait of Picasso as an artist, this place is a must, for those who don’t there is a great ice cream shop just down the street which you can enjoy just as much!

One of the great things about the Picasso museum is the building it is housed in -  traditional Spanish style stonework and plaster mixes seamlessly with the artwork giving the feeling of a grand (if modernist) house.

Barcelona is somewhere I always wanted to go, and it didn’t disappoint. Whether you want to wander through the packed streets, spend time on the beach or simply relax in a museum, there is something there for everybody. Go, immediately if not sooner, you won’t regret it for a second…