Homage to Antoni Gaudi, Barcelona

Sagrada Familia: 1866 - 1882 -2026

Sagrada Familia, the never finishing and most famous symbol of Catalan Culture at first shocked me. I thought it was so bad, that it was good. We were lucky to be staying within walking distance of Sagrada Famila and I watched it being constructed, reinterpreted, for 4 days and nights of my trip to Barcelona. As I learned more about Gaudi's work and person, I grew to appreciate his vision. I had never seen anything like his work before, nothing! It gave me a whole new perspective, and shattered my ideas about what architecture should be like. 

It opened my mind.

 I absolutely loved the stained glass windows inside the Sagrada Familia. The colour flowed from yellows to reds and from greens to blues. It was magical and the picture don't do any justice to them.

Life around Sagrada Familia was busy with the metro station right next to it. You can clearly see the old and the new in this structure, and I have to say that I prefer the old.

Read more about Sagrada Familia and Gaudi here: http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/antoni-gaudi

La Pedrera: The Stone Quarry : 1906 to 1912 

Sea Weed Iron Railings

 Bringing the outside in! The inside courtyard.

 One of the entrances.

 Views from top.

 Armour wearing chimneys!

 Views from the terrace with Sagrada Familia in the background.

Below the terrace is the reptilian space to provide insulation to the structure and now houses the museum!

Home tour within La Pedrera!

 I would love one of these, thank you!

 Haberdashery, Sewing and Laundry Room

 Delicate Curtain Detail

 Second Bedroom

 Kitchen

Parlour

Dining Room

 Master Bedroom

 Family Bathroom

Ceiling Detail

More about La Pedrera here: https://www.lapedrera.com/en/what-is-casa-mila

Park Guell : 1900

When I saw these houses with their ceramic mosaic roofs, it reminded me of gingerbread houses, Christmas , Russian architecture, Rock Garden in Chandigarh and NID Terrace.

I was so tired and this park was perfect for respite along with spectacular views of the city. I enjoyed the park more and clicked less. Bought different kinds of olives and apricots and peaches on the way to the park from a non english speaking shopkeeper who was patient and full of smiles for us!

Find out more about the park here: http://www.parkguell.cat/en/park-gueell/origin-and-creation

Shop with us this Sunday, 12th June!

Catch us at the lovely Artisan Market this Sunday, 12th June 2016, Heron Square, 

Richmond, TW9 1EP.

Organised by Duck Pond Market, this event is sure to be a lot of fun and a must attend if you haven't been to one of their events already.

Find the best local artists, crafters, food producers and ethical businesses. 
There are locally made arts crafts, gifts, vintage, homewares and clothing.A tempting choice of locally made food both to eat here and take home. Musicians perform live. There are always famous faces to be spotted at this hip little market!
In the centre of Richmond, tucked between Hill Street, Bridge Street and the riverside is elegant Heron Square. On sunny days the atmosphere is amazing, the riverside is packed with people, all enjoying the beautiful setting right on the Thames! You can rent a bike, a row boat or take a cruise down to Hampton Court or Kingston. People watching is our favourite pastime in Richmond, and you're almost certain to get some celeb spotting in if you keep your eyes peeled!

Heron Square, Richmond TW9 1EP
Apple directions
Cars park for £2.35 under the market (enter on Whittaker Avenue, off Hill Street)
Tube & train Richmond Station is 10 minutes walk for District line and overground
Bikes park for free!
Dogs are welcome on a lead

In the recent past we attended 2 markets by the same organisers, one at Pinner and the other at Ruislip. So if you missed us there, be sure to catch us at Richmond this Sunday!

Find out more about Duck Pond Markets here: http://www.duckpondmarket.com

Barcelona, May 2016

Ola amigos!

Husband and I have just returned ( roasted and baked) from our trip to Barcelona and Madrid. We were joined by friends in Barcelona who left for France after and we made our way to Madrid. I am grateful to be travelling so much around Europe. I am grateful too for sunny skies, perfect weather, good food and for friends who made this trip so much better!

Here are some photographs of my trip to Barcelona, minus Gaudi for that will make for another post!

Sunny skies and a gorgeous beaches, whats not to like? As our taxi driver famously said....this is where the beach starts and goes all the way up to France! I should have asked for his name.

 

Where there aren't tourists, there are old people sitting outside, on the benches, soaking up the sun!

Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau 

 Barri Gotic, or the Gothic Quarters, center of the Old City of Barcelona, and my favourite part of the trip! Many buildings here date from the Medieval Times and are breathtaking! Many of course may be much later additions to the city, made to look old, but then this is what makes history more interesting!

Catedral De Barcelona, when you go spend sometime sitting outside, on the steps listening to music, played by many talented street musicians.

There were beautiful street performances at every corner! This man was playing El Condor Pasa by Simon and Garfunkel, it is the song I play to reset my systems, every now and again.

The gothic curches were as beautiful from inside as they were from the outside. So tall. They were all functional and we managed to catch a church choir in progress too!

So many building facades were beautiful and so varied, with etchings and relief work and mosaics and colours. We need to bring this kind of craftsmanship back, the shiny glass and steel buildings will not make for very happy blog posts, and will certainly not tell you which city I am talking about!

The city was densely populated with one building after another and tiny Juliet Balconies. There we very few individual houses. Barcelona did have many plazas and all the cafes were pouring out to the streets and open squares.

The nighlife is buzzing in Barcelona with many night clubs by the beach overflowing with Sangrias, Mojitos and Tapas. Food was generally good everywhere, however I have had better tapas in London and no other city beats the London food scene in my humble opinion.

Find some of Gaudi's work in my next post! See you later. Oh and we went for a day trip to Sitges, beautiful!

Love,
Kanika

Psst...no, Zara and Mango are not around the corner, at every corner, this mind is a funny little thing :)