The day after the symposium, my husband and I wandered around the quieter Sunday streets admiring the beautiful architecture in Barcelona. I did some quick sketches of some of Gaudi's buildings; Casa Comalat...
Casa Batllo...
and Casa Mila...
I also sketched a non-Gaudi building, Casa de les Punxes...
and the view from our hotel terrace....
On the final night in Barcelona, my husband and I were having a late dinner at a restaurant near our hotel. We ordered Cava, appetizers, and paella. We got our Cava, but after half an hour, our waitress came to see if we had our appetizers (we didn't) and apologized. She brought us our bread with tomatoes. After awhile, she came back and said that the paella order hadn't been started, and she brought us some more glasses of Cava. Since it was going to be another half hour before the paella arrived, I started sketching our view from our table. After awhile, the man next to us (Augustin) engaged us in a conversation (with his limited English and my meager Castillian Spanish). Eventually, a woman on the other side (Yolanda) was brought into the conversation, and with her basic English and limited French, and some back and forth between them in Catalan, we had a conversation. Our paella arrived and we contiued talking. As the night wore on, we put all our tables together and shared tastes of desserts and more wine.
We were having a wonderful time but the hour was late, and we were going to have to return to the hotel for our flight out the next day. Unexpectedly, Augustin paid for both our dinners, drinks, and desserts and those of our other dinner companion, Yolanda.
We had hugs and kisses and bid farewell to these warm and generous people. It was a magical night, and it all started with a sketch (and some late paella:)
9 comments:
Outstanding Vicky! You learned a lot and getting loose is so helpful,even if it is not how you want to proceed.
I think it adds to your compositions,simpler and clearer.
Just lovely! The descriptions of the dinner your last night remind me why we love to travel.
Thank you, Linda.
I'm glad this looseness seems to be helping, because it sure is fun!
Hi Vicky! What a great story! I love it. Your sketches are great too. I love the people in particular. I also love the yellow cathedral in the last post. And the food.
Thanks, Andrea.
I'm missing that food--among other things.
What a wonderful way to end your stay in Barcelona! Your sketch of Augustin in the restaurant really brings the story to life. Your sketches of architecture are fabulous!!
Thank you so much, Janene!
What a great story. I have heard Spaniards like to dine very late. And what a great place to vacation.
Great images, and awesome story. It's fun to see how sometime when things don't go the way we planned, we end up better off for it with great experiences.
Thank you Helen and MJ.
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