Un Cortado, Une Noisette

I've just returned from a FABULOUS trip to Barcelona, Costa Brav and the South of France. 

When I close my eyes, I am still feeling the Mediterranean sun and the sea breeze, see the glorious tiled roofs and the exquisite palette and of course, tasting my morning cortado and noisette.

First up was the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Barcelona. If you can imagine over 300 people, from over 20 countries!, just covering the city drawing on location. Pretty spectacular! 

Barcelona is Gaudi central and is really magical. 

With my apologies to my architect friends, I am posting my drawings of Sagrada Familia, 

and other Gaudi extravaganzas. Oh, my intentions were in the right place, trying to get the perspective right, the scale in place, all of the nooks and crannies clear, but alas, this aging rocker got so excited and singing Sagrada Familia, baby (in my mind) to the tune of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly, (most of you reading will not know who I am talking about!) my hand got ahead of me:

I could have stayed here all day looking up into this glimmering sky of mosaics, 

all at once celestial and expansive, awe-inspiring and in spite of the throngs of people weaving in and out of the columns, it did feel as if I was there all by myself.

And the treats kept coming...leaving Barcelona up the coast, we arrived to Tossa de Mar, 

a gorgeous beach town where the sea was steps away from our beautiful, Gaudi inspired, of course, hotel. Days on the beach, boat rides, paella and great cortado!

I'll leave you here for today, before we head to the South of France....