The Zapata Rosa.

The Gaudi in Gracia.

He even put tiles UNDER the balconies!

Imagine living next door to this?!

Life is funny sometimes. Today was a blissful day here in blue-skied Barcelona. On my walk to Virreina Bar (since it reopened!) I made a criss-cross of my path there and not the usual direct route and serendipitously found myself staring at an art supply store! This is funny because not only had I decided two days ago to seek out a store but I had put it on my list of to-dos for the day and thought I would have to trek to the Barri Gotic where the waiter in the café yesterday had told me I could possibly find an art store (or a store that sold paints, as I had asked him. I tried to do a google search and all that came up were stores that sold paint for houses and cars.). This store was exactly what I had been looking for and the owner was a very nice woman who worked there with her teenage daughter. We spoke in Spanish and taught each other the word for “eraser” in each of our languages and I purchased a notebook of watercolor paper, two drawing pencils and an eraser. This afternoon I put my new purchases to use and sat in Plaza Virreina for about 3 and a half hours drawing the church of Sant Joan that sits at one end. Towards the end, as I was finishing drawing in the steps and staring at them intently from a bench across the way, the slightly loco man who sits in the Plaza and yells things out loud in Spanish (though I learned today he also speaks English in what sounds like an Italian accent) and also knows everybody who comes through, sat on the steps I was attempting to draw and was waving at me. I don’t know if he knows but he was not part of the drawing.

Earlier in the day I went to my Spanish school to see what time class started on Monday as well as what form of payment they took. Just walking into the office and feeling the energy of learning made me so excited to start in just three days! Spanish classes are something I have been wanting to take since college (but couldn’t fit in my schedule with art studios) and even while living in NYC (but couldn’t find the time with work).

From the school I wandered through Gracia until I found the one Gaudi building (see above photos) that my Spain guidebook had told me about. It definitely looks like it was an earlier piece of work compared with the others I have seen so far. same in terms of the multitude of materials and processes but different in that it was less organically formed and there was no signature broken colored glass like Gaudi likes to use. However, it definitely stood out on the block!

I should also mention one odd thing I noticed today that should have been a sign of strange things possibly to come – the pink shoe was missing. What pink shoe? You might ask (this first photo above was taken a few days ago). Well, there has been a pink shoe on the windowsill of the third floor in my building where I am living. Everyday since the day I moved in when I walk up the stairs it is there. When I walk down the stairs it is there. In fact, I have joked with Sonja that if I was to write a book about Spain and our time here, it would be called “La casa con la zapata rosa” (The House with the Pink Shoe). I think it has a nice ring to it, don’t you? Anyhow, on my trip out to school earlier this afternoon I noticed the shoe was gone. Had I thought about it longer I might have thought to myself that perhaps the winds were changing or something would be occurring.

Everything happens for a reason; or so I believe. After a most blissful day of art, sun, coffee, writing, photographing, and Gaudi I came back to my flat to be told by my flatmate, Andrea, (an hour and a half after I returned) that she would like me to move out. I will not go into full detail but lets just say (and my friends and family will find this highly ironic) she doesn’t think I talk enough to her and try to make conversation. Again, I am not using this blog to complain or rant so what transpired in our kitchen will be kept private (or I can tell you over email if you really want to know) but I will just say that this might have been a blessing in disguise. I will keep you posted on Barcelona Flat-Hunting: Part Dos!