The folklore is reason enough to visit the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat near Barcelona. Like the fantastic claims of this being the ‘Castle of Munsalvaesche’ where the Holy Grail is believed to be hidden! Or those of miraclulous occurences in 890 AD, that led shepherd boys to the ‘La Moreneta’ (the little dark […]
The heavens decided to open up while we were in the vicinity of Rue des Petits-Champs in Paris after many, many hours in the Louvre and a wonderful souffle lunch at – where else but – Le Souffle! So we ducked into the Galerie Vivienne, one of the historic ‘Passages Couverts’ in Paris.Galerie Vivienne – 4 Rue Petits Champs Built specifically […]
The scaffolding covered structure that towered over us was underwhelming. Not that I had expected much else. As mentioned before, I had never been a Gaudi fan. But again, delving into the symbolism inherent in every stone and more importantly, the principles of construction, the designer in me could not help but be drawn into the […]
I had always thought Antoni Gaudi’s buildings were…well gaudy. My minimalist aesthetics were offended by all that ornamentation and I never really paid much attention to his work. But as soon as I stepped inside this iconic building in Barcelona, I knew I had been so mistaken. About Gaudi and about modernist architecture. One of […]
We couldn’t see the Caldera from the main road. The manager of our hotel was waiting for us with her dishy looking assistant, who hoisted our (very) heavy bags casually over his shoulders and sprinted across the narrow path to their gate. We followed him past the gate to the top of the stairs, and gasped! […]
Bright sunny morning, freshly squeezed orange juice, flaky croissants, creamy cheese, fresh fruit and fragrant coffee served on our very own private terrace…….perfection!