CONTRASTS

I can’t tell you how gloomy it feels to be back in autumnal England (imagine finding clusters of ripe blackberries in my garden) after the baking warmth of Barcelona! It was definitely the place to be. And surprisingly for a continental coastal city, it’s even got special restaurants just for veggies! It was also funny to have been on holiday with almost the entire population of France as, at times, I heard almost more conversations in French than in Spanish. Maybe it was the influence of these former that gave rise to a worrying occurrence: I queue jumped. Admittedly, it was for ice cream so I could just about be forgiven but by rights I really should’ve been eaten alive by the queue devils. But it was wonderful to wake up to warm sunshine and to wander around Gaudi’s city, studying his fluid, organic, sinuous architecture, knowing that the next time I go back, Sagrada Familia will have evolved still more.